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After a successful Training & Competition Camp in
Australia in 2003, 5 athletes from the Indian Triathlon Academy once again
ventured “down under” to experience the unique lifestyle of living,
training and competing in Australia. As in 2003, the Academy set up base
at Shoalhaven Heads on the beautiful South Coast of NSW. |
Academy Athletes with Swim Squad at Bomaderry Pool, Australia |
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The Athletes accompanied by National Triathlon Coach,
Brett Mace along with High Performance Consultant Rob Pickard were:
T.S Kavya
S. Kanthamani
Mahesh Shinde
S. Mani Singh
Syed Jabir |
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The Camp was
held from February to April, and as was the case last year, the Indian
Triathlon Federation and the Indian Triathlon Academy were very grateful for
the support of The Shoalhaven City Council through Mayor Greg Watson and
John Wells who assisted the Academy in a number of areas. Combined with
the generous support of the local community of Shoalhaven Heads through the
Chamber of Commerce and people like Ken Merrifield and Rod Larkin, the
Academy was once again made very welcome and indeed very well looked after.
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Fun and games near the Academy Base on the South Coast of NSW, Australia |
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Indian Female Junior Triathletes with Host Family in Indian Dress |
On arrival the Team was greeted again by many familiar
and friendly faces, but unlike last year the Team had very little time to
settle in as the time in Australia was limited due to the Asian Triathlon
Championships, which doubles as the Asian Olympic Qualifying event was being
held early on April 3/4 in Subic Bay, Philippines.
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The weekend
after arrival, the Team headed off to the Port Stephens Triathlon which
produced a wet and cold race, not quite what the athletes were looking for,
but a good event all the same, and a good chance for a ‘hitout’. Mani
Singh, competing in his first foreign event was the best performed of the
Indian Team closely followed by Syed Jabir and then Mahesh Shinde, who
didn’t enjoy a good race at all. |
Indian Triathletes above Wollongong in Australia |
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Indian Triathletes before departure to Australia for 2004 Camp |
Kavya was besieged by bad luck by not only
having a puncture on the first of two laps on the cycle, but
experienced a second puncture soon after repairing the first. Her
race ended in the back of the ‘sag wagon’ which was disappointing
after placing 2nd in the juniors of the same event last
year. Kanthamani didn’t compete in this Olympic Distance event as
she is relatively new to the sport and has only previously competed
in 2 sprint events and was in Australia mainly to gain experience
for the future.
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The following
weekend saw the Academy athlete’s competing at their favourite ‘local’
event, the Berry Biathlon. This long standing event consists of an 800m
swim followed by a very scenic 5km run. Once again the Indian athletes
were very prominent but as was the case last year, were unable to crack the
number 1 position in the male and female open events, however Kanthamani
managed to take out the Junior Girls event. |
Khatoon or Mausi as the Academy Athletes call her |
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Mani Singh comes into contact with a Kangaroo for the 1st time |
In the men’s
open event Mahesh Shinde led most of the way on the run only to be caught in
the ‘shadow’ of the finishing line, while Mani Singh finished a strong 3rd
and Syed Jabir finished 4th for the second year in a row. In
the Open Women’s event Kavya was once again the bridesmaid finishing runner
up for the second year in a row |
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The busy schedule continued 5 days later with an
invitation for the Indian Team to compete at the NSW All Schools Triathlon
Championships at the International Regatta Centre, west of Sydney which
played host to the Olympic rowing and kayaking events at the 2000 Olympics.
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Taking instruction from the Academy's Swim Coach in Australia Mark
Terechovs |
In the senior category of the School Championships held
over the sprint distance (750/20/5) Kavya and Syed Jabir were the Indian
Team representatives with Kavya finishing 6th and Syed Jabir also
in 6th. This was a particularly good result given that a number
of athletes in this category are members of the NSW Junior Elite Triathlon
Squad.
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In the
Intermediate Category, Mani Singh continued his outstanding form by
finishing a very strong 4th just behind a number of outstanding
up and coming Australian athletes. Kanthamani continued to gain experience
and despite a poor swim managed to gain a number of places on the cycle and
the run. Unfortunately Mahesh Shinde was too old to compete and did an
outstanding job as Team Manager for the day. |
'Grandma' Robyn Morgan with Brett & Lynette Mace |
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Kanthamani competing in NSW Schools Championships, Australia |
Just 2 days later the Team was back in action again
with yet another invitation to compete at the Illawarra Club Triathlon in
Wollongong. Despite looking forward to fine and mild racing conditions,
the Team was greeted with cold, wet and windy conditions. Luckily the
rain held off for the race but unfortunately not the wind and cold making
for a very bumpy swim and a tough cycle and run over an up and down course.
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Also accepting an invitation to this event was the NSW
Institute of Sport Squad who were in camp on the South Coast preparing for
the World Championships to be held in Madeira, Portugal. Though this
added a lot of strength to the field, the Academy athletes in their last
event before the Asian Championships in 2 weeks and their 3rd
event in 8 days, along with the tough conditions competed very well
finishing just behind the Australian Elite Juniors. We thank the Illawarra
Triathlon Club for their warm and friendly welcome and we look forward to
future events with them
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Kavya & Jabir Pre Race NSW Schools Triathlon Championships at
International Regatta Centre, Australia |
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Kavya exits the water, Schools
Triathlon Chamnpionships, Australia |
The last
weekend before the departure to Subic Bay saw the Indian athletes at another
of their favourite events, the Nowra Cross Country at Willandra. This
event is always popular with the team with its beautiful scenery, friendly
people and challenging course. Rob Pickard, the Indian Triathlon Academy
Coaching Consultant managed to show the Academy athletes that despite his
50+ years he is not ready to let them win so easily, especially Kavya who
has shared many hours of racing and training with Rob. |
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Afterwards Rob, who lives nearby at Berry, hosted the
Academy athletes to a tennis afternoon and barbeque as the Academy athletes
began to wind up what had been a very busy but successful trip once again to
Australia.
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Kavya on her way to 6th position, Schools Triathlon Championships ,
Australia |
The Indian Triathlon Federation and Academy are indeed
very grateful and privileged to have the services of Rob Pickard. Not only
is he very knowledgeable in the many areas of Triathlon, but he has become a
very good friend to all in the Academy and the Federation visiting India on
a regular basis and assisting the team when in Australia. Rob has
contributed much to the success of the Program and we all look forward to
his visit to Indian again in the near future.
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Another contributor to the success of the Academy
athletes while in Australia and the Asian Championships was Swim Coach Mark
Terechovs. With the kind support of John Wells from Shoalhaven City
Council, the Academy were fortunate enough to swim each day with Mark’s
Squad at Bomaderry Pool. This also enabled the Academy to not only
develop their swim stroke under Mark’s watchful eye, but also gave the
athletes the opportunity to meet and train with young Australian athletes on
a regular basis.
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Mani Singh finishing 4th Schools Triathlon Championships , Australia |
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Pre Race Briefing, NSW Schools Championships |
It would be remiss of us not to mention our dear
friends Khatoon Wotton (affectionately known as Mausi) and her daughter
Naomi who are an invaluable support to the Team.
Another great friend of the Academy is Mick and Razz
Morgan and their children Josh & Bianca who host us each year, though soon
after our arrival they headed off on a 6 month odyssey around Australia.
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In their
place was Robyn and Noel Morgan (known to the Team as Grandma and
Grandpa). They became the Team’s surrogate “Grand Parents” this year
with Robyn “mothering” all in the Team and Noels attending to the most
important of duties which included helping everyone with the preparation
of fishing gear (in the small amount of spare time available) and of
course the cleaning of the fish on the few occasions the team was
successful, and not to mention chasing and catching snakes in the
laundry |
Start, NSW Schools Triathlon Championships |
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In hindsight it was a very successful trip to Australia
as the Indian Team turned in the best all-round performance ever by an
Indian Team at an Asian Championship and much of that credit goes to all
those above who have assisted the Academy. We thank you all.
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