Hi there,
We are planning on starting a Triathlon programme for the kids in our Tri-club and I am looking at any ideas, recommendations, comments, experiences that you guys may have related to this subject.
Background : so far, we only have had adult members, but we organise a Triathlon for the kids every year and get every year more questions from parents and kids about what to do if they want to take up Triathlon.
Thanks a lot in advance,
Laurent
And I thought lots of you guys would jump on the occasion and share your immense knowledge (even a little would be welcome though). Man I was wrong. C’mon, kids don’t like to wait…
Swimming, and a lot of it. Make em be swimmers who ocassionaly bike and run (hmm I wonder who said this 
We are planning on starting a Triathlon programme for the kids in our Tri-club and I am looking at any ideas, recommendations, comments, experiences that you guys may have related to this subject.
If you’re talking about “kids” as in 14 years old and under, and “programme” as in training and development… leave that up to the parents or consult the regional USAT Development Chairperson regarding local coaches.
Being on a swim team is certainly a requirement for a competitive kid or youth triathlete, but if they want to be a triathlete they have to train in all three disciplines. They can’t be swimmers who occasionaly bike and run because sprint and shorter courses (which are what 14 and unders should be doing) don’t have a long enough swim for them to gain a substantial advantage, and the bike and run is long enough that they get passed by the “bikers” and “runners” who didn’t lose much to them in the short swim.
That’s only in the US. The standard 13-15 Distance is 500m-12k-3k, then when you moved up to 16-19 its 750m-20k-5k.
This is related as to why the US doesn’t produce good triathletes. The super-short distance for kids isn’t very challenging and doesn’t require a lot of training. I lived in the US for 6 years, but I did not compete in any triathlons spare one (which had a 1k run…)
The IronKids program is great, lots of enthusiasm and positive attitude, but lets face it, it doesn’t take a lot of training to do those distances (what are they, 200-10-2?), especially when you’re 14.
That’s the problem with such a big country. Are there orginized events for the older kids, or are they stuck between doing the short local triathlons, or the Olympic distance?
Anyway I think we’ve had this discussion before. If the kids in your club are in it for the fun, then make it fun and incorparate games and stuff into training, and let the kids decide if they wanna get serious later on. The problem with this is it’s realllllllyyyyy hard to catch up (especially in the swimming. Actually it can be pretty easy to catch up in the bike and run, but swimming is a huge obstacle). If you are interested in the longrun, have you triathletes swim A LOT. I think someone here will back me up =)
Freestyle, you’re such a groupie, do you ride a Cervelo? 
Anyway, for the original question, where are you Laurent? have you tried to contact your Federation? In Europe most Federation have programs for triathlon schools and also coaching programs for those schools.
Paulo
IronDad,
Just one question, do you want your kids to have fun now and win races in 5-10 years, or to be winning races now and have fun 5-10 years from now?
For MY kids?
Neither… I encourage my children to ALWAYS have fun doing what they do, and if they win then that’s icing on the cake. That applies today, 5-10 years from now, and when they have children and grow old.
That happens to be my personal philosophy too.
That’s only in the US. The standard 13-15 Distance is 500m-12k-3k, then when you moved up to 16-19 its 750m-20k-5k.
So… again, as I said in my post… 14 and under compete in sprint distance triathlons.
I understand you come from this as a 14-year-old, but when you get older you’ll realize that there is no hurry to be Peter Reid or Lori Bowden (or whoever you want to be) by the time you’re 18, because you don’t peak in this sport until you’re in your early thirties.
Talk to any US Cycling, USA Track and Field, US Swimming and USA Triathlon coach or youth development coordinator (as I have), and they all agree that there is more harm in too much and too long when you’re too young, than the opposite.
I challenge you to find many elite triathletes who even competed in triathlons before college, let alone during.
Have fun when you’re young, and compete in lots of different sports.
Be patient, young grashopper.
i think our original poster should clarify what the goals of his programme are. age? location ?? goals ??? etc.
for example the idea for a young 14 y/o with an eye on going to olympics would be quite a bit different from a high school kid looking to start a school participatory team who would be different from a 12 year old looking to try the local danskin with her mom would be different from an 8 year old rank beginner or from a 10 year old ironkid veteran whose dad fliies them to events across the country.
who are we talking about?
it has come to my attention that that last comment could be seen ( was seen . . . . ) as a personal comment toward a specific kid and or dad - and somehow in a negative vein at that. that was neither my intent nor meaning, altho i will note that irondad’s stories did serve as inspiration for the point i was trying to make. my point was that a young triathlete, well supported and experienced and involved with an established program of competition would have unique and different needs than kids without that background and/or goals, not too mention “kids” of entirely different age brackets. no negative connotation was intended ( nor, i believe - written).
sorry in advance for the long disorganized post.
That children are different can not be disputed. My boy rode his first century at 10years old. There were many opportunities for him to stop and go home since it was always nearby. He is perhaps not the fastest, but faster than many adults. He is smaller than some and this seems to be a part of the speed difference. His ability to keep going makes him prefer longer events. He loves running when it is longer than a mile. He seems born w/ a loooong lasting battery. Sometimes I worry abt him but he would rather keep going than go home. I have looked for symptoms of damage and credible info on limits I "should " impose on his exercise but do not find. He seems healthy and growing and loving exercise. He loves to race but hasn’t tried to win. I don’t push him. He pushes himself. Begs to ride up the local mountain. How do I reconcile the limit on upper gear for juniors by USAC w/ the gear he uses to climb mountains? How to understand the limited length courses avail? comments?
dunno danb. i have a daughter that rides and races road and mountain bike. she too rode long at 10 years old and liked it ( 12 now ). she rides a road bike with a little ring of 41 - that gearing thing has never come up, we just go do the event and hang out - we are not trying to be world champions or anything. at the local non-uscf races nobody ever checked. personally i think that grearing thing is whack, as there is no such in mountain biking and she does fine grinding up a ski hill headwall in whatever gear she likes. she enjoys adult sprint tri’s, and is not interested in those kid length events, i asked her. i think they sound pretty short, myself but whatever. so, she just enters in whatever the lowest AG is in adult tri’s and enjoys herself. on occasion we have had to ask the RD if it will be OK, and only rarely get turned down - usually at a big-time event such as the Birkebeiner. most smaller races and tri’s are happy to let her in, and some even look for her at the finish to make a fuss on the PA. anyway, i moght suggest looking into mt bike racing, which IMHO does a better job of incorporating kids genuinely but loosely into the mileau. and, it ( mt bike ) is not so cruel a sport - more of an individual thing. let them go as long as they want, say i. why not? we kinda asked our girl to hold back in mt bike distances not because of some, as you say “credible” limit - but simply because she weighed 80 pounds and would have been out there in the dust with 500 other guys, clydes, olympic wannabes, etc on a 5 mile course. she is a little bigger now and can do whatever she wants. for tri just pick a nice small race and maybe do it with him? do a team ?? worst case it is too far and you stop - no big deal, go get ice cream and laugh about it.