I’m trying to get some 7th-8th graders into tris, but I’ve been dissapointed with the local offerings for kids. First, there aren’t many kids races out there. 2nd, many of them are ridiculously short. This race coming up in a couple months is 50m, 1mile, .5 mile. I think that is too short, considering I know 7th and 8th graders banging out 5:30-6min miles, so a 10min race for 20 bucks doesn’t seem like a good deal to me. Maybe it’s good to learn at a young age that tris are expensive!
What about a short sprint (1/2, 10mi, 5k). Might be a little long for a 13/14 year old, but can they enter these?
Most 1/2 and full IM distance races have a minimum age (and for good reason), but for Sprint and Oly events I think that it’s generally up to the parent’s discretion. I’d think that a fit, properly conditioned 14-16 year old kid could probably handle an oly race, and that most could safely do a shorter Sprint race without worry. Hell - the swimmer/track kids would probably beat my sorry ass! It would probably be best to start them all at a Sprint distance though, regardless of their fitness and training.
The local Kids of Steel series has races for kids starting at 6, and goes up 'till 15. At 16 I guess they either go Elite/Provincial Team or start the AG ranks. For comparison, here are some of the KOS race distances:
Here is a link to the Triathlon Canada maximum distances for various ages (see the table on p2). It’s interesting to note that they don’t allow full Olympic distance until 18-19. I don’t think that many Olympic distance races actually restrict kids younger (say 17) from entering as most don’t offer a KOS division after 15. The TriCan recommendations may be on the protective side, but it gives you an idea…
My opinion is that when a kid can easily do the race distances then they should be fine to race it.
In Ontario, Canada they have some bs rules against kids under 16 doing the try-a-tri races. It was presented in a manner that it was all about kids doing the kids of steel races for “development”. When I spoke to some race directors they indicated that the only real reason for it was insurance… they were afraid some 40 year old guy would crash his bike into an 11 year old and cause some big hassles. My 12 year old daughter can lap me in a 400m swim (and I have on occasion, won provincial titles for my age group and overall but obviously swimming is not my background), and runs 20-21 minute range for 5k but is not permitted to do the try-a-tri races of 375m-10k-2.5k distance which baffles me. The kids races she does are 200m-10k-2.5k but she is not allowed to race with the adults until she is 16. The problem with this approach is that it forces us to choose which one can race on a given weekend instead of picking a race where there is a distance for both of us.
when is was 15 last year, i did my first kids tri. it was a 200m indoor pool swim, 6 mi bike, 1.2 mi run. I know a series that i might do this year is like 400m, 13mi, 3mi.
Short sprint, I’d say 11-13 for girls and 12-14 for boys, accounting for where they are on the developmental curve. Youngest I’ve seen in these parts is probably 9 years old in a supersprint with a bay swim & closed bike course. Non-USAT race, and the kid had a parent right there with him (but outside the draft zone on the bike) the whole time.
I did my first tri at 15, moved up to full sprints and won my fist race overall at 16, and now, at 17 I am doing olympic tri’s no problem. My friend is doing half ironmans at 17. I wouldn’t recommend anyone under 16 going to half or full ironmans just because of the stress you put on your body, but every other distance is doable.
Some 12 year olds can do an adult triathlon, but you should not let them. I am pretty sure some 14 - 15 year olds could finish an IM but that would be some stupid thing to permit. Stick with USAT formats for each kid age group.
The answer to this question depends on the opinion of two adults: the child’s parents and the race director. Contact your local RDs and ask what their policys are. We have a 13 year old kid who regularly shows up for races around here and does exceedingly well (beats most of the adult competitors easily). Your mileage may vary.
He also has a $3k tri bike with Zipp wheels - which tells you what the other adults in his world think about it.
Our daughter (now 29) started doing kid’s Tris at 6 yrs old. She moved into adult Sprints at 11, mostly because the kids races were too short and not a challenge anymore. This was in the early 90s and there weren’t many girls under 18 at races. She was racing with her Dad of course, so he could keep an eye on her. Still, she was considered an anomaly back then. Today, lots of 12 year olds are doing adult sprints.
She got a kick out of one of our local races. She ran into some some boys from her High School who were bragging about doing a triathlon as a team. She said, I am too. They asked her what “leg” of the race she was doing. She answered, “leg”?, I am doing the whole thing. They suddenly weren’t so “tough”.
She did not continue doing tris after college, she is more into equestrian events. I can verify doing the tris as a kid did nothing to inferfere with her development or long term health.
