Young triathletes have eyes on future
Kate Ross and Lauren Goldstein-Kral, both 18, spent Friday night like most Olympic Training Center residents.
At dinner, they sat at tables adorned with red, white and blue tablecloths and smiled at the Chinese food being served in honor of the Opening Ceremony, passing it over for more race-friendly fare.
"I still had pasta," Goldstein-Kral said.
Later, the roommates - members of the USA Triathlon junior national team who have spent the past four weeks training at the OTC - watched every last minute of the footage from Beijing.
And Saturday, at the junior elite triathlon national championships at Memorial Park, Ross and Goldstein-Kral finished one-two in the girls' race - for ages 16 to 19 - which consisted of a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike and a 5-kilometer run.
Both hope it's the first of many times they're on the podium.
"I definitely have them as goals," Ross said of the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games.
The Doylestown, Pa., native will continue training at the OTC after she starts at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs later this month.
Nearly 200 youth between the ages of 7 and 15 participated in age-group races, which were followed by youth and junior elite triathlon national championships.
Both the youth elite (ages 13 to 15) and junior elite (16 to 19) were draft-legal races - meaning cyclists were allowed to ride together, forming a peloton (a common sight in the Tour de France) - giving participants a chance to experience an international-, elite-style triathlon such as that of the Olympic Games.
"We try to put them through the same protocols that they'd experience at a major international competition," said Steve Kelley, USAT's athlete development coordinator. "The 2012 team might be a little tight, but for some of these athletes, 2016 is very realistic."
Don't tell Lukas Verzbicas, 15, that.
The winner of the male youth elite race, who led after the swim and was able to walk across the finish line with minutes to spare, has his sights set on London in 2012.
"Watching the Opening Ceremony was inspiring - you want to be there," said Verzbicas, who runs a 4-minute, 21-second mile and began competing in triathlons three years ago.
Jenn Howland, a 15-year-old from Elburn, Ill., got introduced to the sport five years ago when her swim team coach put out a sign-up sheet.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," said Howland, who captured her third consecutive youth elite national championship. "I just did it for the fun of it."
Howland can hardly wait to watch the Olympic triathlon and take notes on the triathletes' strategies.
And four or eight years down the road, Howland hopes to be the one watched.
