The weekend of the 7th October saw the first camp of the 2023-2024 season for the Welsh Triathlon Academy Programme athletes. 15 athletes headed to Plas Menai in Caernarfon, North Wales for the weekend of swim and run training. With this being the first camp of the new season, the focus was on team building and integrating the new athletes onto the programme, along with swim technique and analysis. It was also the first time the academy had Slam Media at the camp, who joined for the Saturday to document some of the camp for a piece that will be shown on S4C.
Following the athlete induction and briefing, the weekend kicked off with a trip to Newborough Forest for some orienteering. This activity gave the athletes the opportunity to test their teamwork and map reading skills. The athletes had fun and worked well together, even though some of map reading didn’t go exactly to plan!
After some down time and stretching, the athletes headed to the pool for a technique session including some underwater filming. The athletes then had some time to give and receive feedback on their swim videos on the Saturday evening. This was a great opportunity for athletes to catch up with, or for the new athletes to meet their mentor for the first time.
As something that wouldn’t usually be included in their training weeks, a particular highlight for many was the challenge of a mountain run on the Sunday morning. The athletes and coaches set off to run to the top of Yr Wyddfa and back with lots of enthusiasm – it’s safe to say there were some sore legs on the Monday morning!
The next camp will also take place in North Wales in December, where the focus will be on pool based open water swim skills, run drills and technique, and nutrition/athlete health. We will also have athletes from our affiliate squad joining us for the Saturday.
To find out more about the Welsh Triathlon Academy Programme, please see HERE.
