These will take place 7th & 8th September 2013 at New Hall School. Chelmsford

The regional academy programme is the first stage of the British Triathlon World Class Performance Pathway.  Whist the final stages, the Olympic Podium and Olympic Academy squads, are GB-wide the first two stages - the Regional and Home Nations Academies - are under the remit of England, Scotland and Wales. 

The Regional Academies are for Youth and Junior athletes, and exclusively focussed on Olympic format triathlon - i.e. Draft-legal racing up to Olympic distance.  Non-drafting triathlon is not an Olympic sport and consequently does not receive any governmental support.

The nature of draft-legal triathlon, and the remit of the World Class Programme (to deliver Olympic medals) determine the type of young performer that the programme seeks to recruit into its academies, and therefore the selection process and standards.

To compete effectively in draft-legal triathlon, competitors must  be able to swim well enough not to get left behind.  As the best competitors are excellent swimmers everyone must be an excellent swimmer.  To be succesful in draft-legal triathlon competitors must be able to run well enough to beat the oppostion head-to-head.  As the best competitors are excellent runners anyone who hopes to be succesful must also be an excellent runner.

How excellent?

At the top level the men swim approximately 17minutes for 1500m in open water.  That equates to about 4:15 for 400m in the pool.  The top women are about a minute slower.

The top men then run approximately 30 minutes for 10km.  The women approximately 33 minutes.

The very best juniors and youths are capable of similar speeds over shorter distances.  Without the basic speed even the most amazing fitness is of little use. 

Accordingly selection for World Class Programmes includes speed trials for swimming and running.

The miniumum standard for consideration for Regional Academies is a score of 310 (Silver) on the British Triathlon points table.  That's an age and gender dependant aggregate of swim and run time.  As an indication the following combinations of times score 310.

• 14yr old Boy:  200 swim time 2:22 with 1500m run time of 4:57.
  14yr old Girl:  200m swim time 2:30 with 1500m run time of 5:25.
• 17yr old Boy:  400m swim time 4:43 with 3000m run time of 10:04
  17yr old Girl:  400m swim time of 5:05 with 3000m run time of 11:15

For National Squad the standard is Gold+, a score of 360.  As an indication these combinations score 360

• 14yr old Boy:  200 swim time 2:07 with 1500m run time of 4:27.
  14yr old Girl:  200m swim time 2:15 with 1500m run time of 4:54
• 17yr old Boy:  400m swim time 4:14 with 3000m run time of 9:02
  17yr old Girl:  400m swim time of 4:33 with 3000m run time of 10:06

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, there is much, much more to triathlon than basic swim and run speed.  The Programme is interested in athletes who have the potential to become senior triathletes in the future:  this entails a significant commitment to training for, and competing at, triathlon over a substantial period of time.  Triathletes, unlike swimmers, do not reach competitive maturity until at least their mid-twenties. 

As you might have noticed, cycling does not feature in these early trials.  Why's that?   Swimming and, to a slightly lesser degree, running are early development, sports.  They require a large amout of time (thousands of hours) to master and as a consequence are very difficult to master as an adult, because there is not time. Swimmers win Olympic medals in their teens.  Runners mature later (few teenage Olympians) but the movement patterns for running fast have to be developed young.  With age come power and endurance.  Cycling, on the other hand, is a late development sport.  It requires excellent cardio vascular fitness but is technically relatively simple.  Many of the worlds best cyclists converted to cycling having developed their cardio-vascular engines in other sports.  

However, becoming a cyclist is an essential part of becoming a triathlete, and though it is possible to make up the ground on those who cycled from a young age, it requires serious commitment, a lot of hard work and cannot be done in isolation. 

In order to join the Academy you will have to demonstrate that your home training environment and committment will enable you to make good progress. 

- you must be able to train regularly with a swimming club or squad (at least four times a week)
- you must be able to cycle regularly (weekly) with cyclists (e.g. a cycling or triathlon club)
- you must be able to run weekly in a good quality running environment
- you must be able to commit to triathlon racing and academy training sessions
- you must commit to keeping a training diary
- you must be able to prioritise triathlon over the individual sports

Over time, you will have to commit to following a triathlon based training structure.  

As a member of the Regional Academy you will be invited to training sessions through the year.  These are predominantly at weekends, with a regular programme of mid week evening bike rides during the summer.   The most significant benefits, however, are the opportunities to learn from people that you meet at those sessions.  You'll be training with some of the best young triathletes in the country under the guidance of Regional Head Coach Tim Williams, who has been guiding triathletes and cyclists to domestic, international and Olympic success for many, many years.

Trials

There will be trials on the afternoons Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September at New Hall School, Chelmsford.   The trial will comprise a swim trial followed by a run trial.  The swim is in an indoor pool and the run is on a tartan track.  The distances are:

Those aged 16 or under on the day :  200m swim, 1500m run. 

Those aged 17 or over on the day:  400m swim, 3000m run

You  may dive at the start of the swim.
You may wear spikes to run.

You will have time to warm up and prepare for each trial as you wish. 

Trials are open to anyone eligible to represent GB.  However you must let the Region's Head coach, Tim Williams (tim@perfectcondition.ltd.uk) know in advance that you wish to come, and on which day. He will confirm your time.