Laila McIntyre powered to two wins as a seven-member Barbados team delivered a strong showing at last weekend’s Clermont Draft Legal Series in Florida.
The team’s performance was particularly notable as five athletes competed on the course for the first time.
Dr Garth McIntyre, President of the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes, praised the squad’s efforts, saying the races presented an opportunity to expose the team to a different race and environment, in a high level of competition.
“We had three boys in the youth category (13–15): Sebastian Clarke, Liam Beckles and Elijah Telford, and they finished in that order amongst the Barbadians; Sebastian, then Liam and Elijah on both days. Sebastian was 12th on day one and 11th on day two. Liam was 17th on day one and 13th on day two and Elijah 21st on day one and 22nd on day number two.
“They are all enthusiastic athletes, they have competed at CARIFTA before, so it was really the exposure for them to see what’s out there and race different people in a different environment,” Dr McIntyre told Barbados TODAY.
Fifteen-year-old Laila McIntyre continued her impressive streak at the event, competing for the third consecutive year.
“She delivered again. She was first on Saturday and first on Sunday. In the juniors meanwhile, our competitors were racing against a combination of juniors and some more seasoned athletes. Alexis Lashley was our female in that age group and she performed very well. She finished 6th out of a field of 82 starters and definitely faced some prominent junior athletes in that category,” the president said.
Barbados was represented in the male junior category by Luke McIntyre and Matthew Lashley. Competing in a field of 74 starters, McIntyre was 16th and Lashley 44th, with the latter racing again after a recent injury.
“We had a combination of experience and new faces and most importantly for us, the kids enjoyed the experience and everybody left feeling encouraged to return and tackle the event again in the future.”
The passage of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica last year has resulted in a change of date and venue for this year’s CARIFTA Triathlon, Aquathlon & Mixed Relay Championships, which was scheduled to be hosted by that island in August. Dr McIntyre says the competitors will have to adjust their training and competition schedules accordingly.
“Bermuda has stepped in and that’s looking like an October date. So the athletes, including some of those who were at Clermont, may attend some of USA triathlon series races. They have a series of five races for juniors and youths, which run from Easter through to July,” he revealed.
“We try to keep the environment within the federation positive and focus a lot on participation and keeping the kids in it and enjoying it, while healthy and injury free. It’s really thanks to the media for promoting what we do, because we’re still a small federation. We do try to organise ourselves well and that seems to have been noticed by people islandwide.”
kurtishinds@barbadostoday.bb
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