Three local triathletes have made the Queensland triathlon team.
Matthew Thomas, Benjamin Rudd and Lily Vella will join a select group of triathletes from around Queensland, after all three were chosen to be part of the Youth Queensland Triathlon team.
Rebecca Jenner from Next Jenneration Coaching Squad coached the young triathlon stars and said the three of them were some of the region’s best.
“Honestly, all three of the juniors that have made it to the Queensland team are so dedicated,” said Rebecca
“I help coach them and obviously give them a program, but they’re the ones who have to go out there and stay motivated, especially this season where a lot of their training was done in isolation due to COVID.”
Training in isolation posed its own difficulties said Rebecca, although all three came up with innovative ways to continue training.
“We just kept in contact and the kids did a lot of training indoors and online,” Rebecca said.
“They were able to meet up with other people in online programs and race virtually with other people by using exercise bikes.
“Wide Bay School Sport also held a virtual cross-country event and that helped to keep them motivated, so they were still training despite restrictions, it was just a bit different.
“They did a lot more aerobic fitness rather than high intensity anaerobic, but they’ve all come out of COVID really fit.”
Lily Vella made the Youth Queensland triathlon team for the second time in a row this year and was ecstatic to have made the team again.
“It definitely gave me a bit of a confidence boost and certainly a big pay off to all the training,” Lily said.
“But I couldn’t have done it without help from Rebecca whose provided all the training programs, and also my family who all do triathlon and I’ve been able to train with them during COVID restrictions.”
