First Triathlon for Kids & Youths held by Triathlon Malta

The Malta Triathlon Federation reached another milestone in its short history with the first ever Children’s race held at the Salina Coast Road with the assistance of Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club, on Sunday 25thAugust. The race was held as part of the Youth Triathlon Academy Programme which started this summer and has seen over 27 children, of ages between 6 and 16 take part in three weekly sessions consisting of swimming, cycling and running.

The race was also open to children not forming part of the Malta Youth Triathlon Academy and this race saw over 41 participants battling it out in the two categories, Under 12 and Under 16. The children taking part in Under 12 category were required to cover a distance of 50m swim, 2km cycle and a 500 m run. The second race that of the Under 16 category was held immediately after and children had to cover double the distance, i.e. 100m swim, 4km cycle and a 1km run. The races were held under the watchful eyes of the coaching team, namely Dermot Galea, Head Coach, ably assisted by Matt Azzopardi and John Scicluna. Participation medals were presented to all the children taking part in today’s race by the Malta Triathlon Federation Secretary Maria Vella-Galea.

“Today is a very special milestone for the Triathlon Federation as we are in the first steps of building our sport’s future” said Cyprian Dalli, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation. “We are of course indebted to the European Triathlon Union and Kunsill Malti Ghall-iSports, who have supported this initiative throughout. The response received has been very encouraging and we will be continuing with the Academy programme even in the winter months.

The Federation is planning further children’s races. More information can be obtained by either sending an email to info@triathlonmalta.org or visiting the Federation website – www.triathlonmalta.org