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Triathlon Time
Is Your Child Ready for a Triathlon?
By Leigh Brown Perkins
Triathlon is special, too, because it's a lifelong sport, says Kevin Mackinnon, former professional triathlete, coach and author. "I love team sports, but it's a lot more difficult to make hockey or baseball a lifestyle when you're 30 or 60 years old. You can still swim, run and bike even when you're a senior."
Mackinnon's children – Chelsea, 11; Ian, 9; and Sean, 6 – have competed in triathlons in their native Canada. They are just three of the thousands who have gotten pumped up about tris in the past few years.
Their popularity has surprised even race organizers. The director of the FitKids 2003 triathlon in West Palm Beach, Fla., where Mac did his first, ran out of T-shirts. They had hoped to have 50 entrants on race morning. Almost 200 showed up. California's Davis Kids Triathlon started three years ago with 300 athletes; this year they have had to limit the field to 1,000. IronKids hosted its first kids triathlon in 1985 (when a teenage Lance Armstrong came in second). Since then more than 40,000 children have competed as IronKids.
In many ways, Tyler and Ashley Reback are typical of those signing up. They had done swim team, soccer, T-ball, golf and tennis; then they decided to try a triathlon as a fun family experience. It's their family, though, that makes Ashley and Tyler a little less typical. Their father is John Reback, USA Triathlon's Age Group Trithlete of the Year, and their aunt is Laura Reback, the No. 2 women's triathlete in the world. A legacy like that could put a lot of pressure on Tyler and Ashley.