Successful year for Otago Triathlon Academy
The Otago Triathlon Academy is a partnership between the Otago Polytechnic Institute of Sport and Adventure, Triathlon New Zealand and the Dunedin Triathlon and Multisport Club.
The Academy aims to bridge the gap between promising triathletes and elite performer. Nearing the end of 2011 the Otago Triathlon Academy has eight first year athletes and ten second year athletes who will graduate in November, 2011.
The Otago Triathlon Academy started off 2011 with a new head coach, Rob Creasy. Assisting Rob are two other specialist coaches as well as the administration staff who were responsible for designing the new 2011 Otago Triathlon Academy uniform.
Many of the first year athletes had come from specialist backgrounds and had never swam in a squad or cycled in a bunch before. As the year has progressed these athletes were assisted by the coaches, as well as the second year athletes who helped encourage them.
The year started off extremely well with the Otago Triathlon Champs where 12 of the athletes competed. Bex Grant won the Open Women section, Angus McDonald placed second in the Open Mens section, while Deb Lynch finished first in the Junior Women section.
Many of the first year athletes also placed extremely well in this event. Sam Osbourne had an extremely successful race at the New Zealand Triathlon Champs in Wellington in March finishing in fifth place behind some extremely tough competitors, and Rebecca Grant finished fifth in the Elite Women’s race.
In the age groupers Katie Menzies finished second overall behind Flossie Van Dyke who finished first women overall in an amazing time of 2 hours 13 minutes. As the Dunedin weather got colder and the nights got darker the athletes focused on getting some winter training in. Flossie Van Dyke left us for a university exchange in Spain where she is still competing to an extremely high level in triathlon. Sam Osbourne spent a few months overseas where he competed in Mooloolaba where he as the placed 14th elite male, Seoul (40th elite male), and San Francisco (14th elite male). Sam returned to New Zealand and competed in the New Zealand Duathlon Champs where he placed second in the under 23 race. Katie Menzies has just also left us for the World Triathlon Champs in Beijing where she hopes to place in the top ten.
With a busy year nearly over many of the athletes are heading into their exams at the University. They will compete in the Auckland ITU race in November before they head home for a deserved holiday with family and friends. While the second years graduate, the first year students will return to the Academy in February 2012, along with a number of new first year athletes.
The Otago Triathlon Academy is currently accepting applications for the 2012 academic year. Applications are open until February, if places are available. However, the Academy would like to receive applications by November 1 for due diligence in the selection process. For more information about the academy, athletes or applications visit the website: www.otagotriathlonacademy.com.