Returning to Loughborough University, the School Games is taking place this week with swim, bike, run action taking place over three days this week.
Bringing together young athletes from across the UK to compete in the multi-sport event, the School Games will feature individual triathlon and paratriathlon activities and a mixed relay triathlon race, with the action being streamed live on YouTube.
Thursday 2 September is the first day of activity and sees an aquathlon (swim/run) take place in the university pool and grounds.
Starting on poolside, there will be 14 athletes in each heat who will dive into the water and swim 320m around the course marked out in the pool. Having completed the swim, the athletes will then complete three-lap 2.3km run around the grounds outside the pool to the finish. The aquathlon will comprise heats and finals, with the times in the two finals being taken forward.
The following day, Friday 3 September, the triathlon action will move to Prestwold Racing Circuit for two cycling events. The first activity is a timed skills test that will see competitors pass a start/finish line to mount their bike before cycling 100m and completing ten figure of eight laps around two markers.
Having completed their laps, the athletes will then cycle back to the start/finish line, dismounting before the line to stop the clock. The combined aquathlon finals and skills test time will provide a start list for the final individual triathlon activity.
The final activity, is a 10km bike race around two 5km laps at Prestwold. Athletes will set off from T1 at intervals depending on their cumulative times in a straight out bike race, through T2 to drop off their bikes and a short run to the finish. The first across the line will take the overall victory.
Saturday 4 September is the final day of swim, bike, run and will see paratriathlon activity take place as well as mixed relay triathlon.
The paratriathlon event will incorporate both drill and race activities across swim, bike and run, with all three disciplines taking place on the university campus on Saturday.
There will be a range of ages and paratriathlon classifications represented, with the event also an opportunity for young triathletes to develop their skills as guides for visually impaired paratriathletes.
With the variety of classifications represented at the event, the results for the paratriathlon activities won’t be based around competition performance, instead awards will be made around the School Games values of passion, honesty, self-belief, team work, respect and determination.
The mixed relay will see teams of two male and two female athletes complete their own consecutive swim, bike, run. The whole race will take place at the university with the swim in the pool, the technical bike course around the eastern part of the campus and the run in the same area around the pool as the aquathlon.
As well as the activities, there will also be educational sessions to help the athletes develop and understand more about the life of an athlete and balancing that with their education and the opportunities available to them.
More information about the swim, bike, run action from the School Games, including live streams for the activities, is available on the event website on the button below.
