Durban — A Durban North pupil who excelled at the recent SA Triathlon Championships is a step closer to qualifying for the Commonwealth Youth Games, which will be hosted in August.
Ava Moore, 14, a Grade 9 pupil at Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School, was placed second in the championship race in the youth section, and has now been selected to participate in a special race to be held as part of the Sun City Ultra on May 7.
The SA Triathlon Championships were held at Maselspoort Dam and Resort in Bloemfontein on February 26.
“By virtue of my placing, I have now been selected to participate in a special race to be held as part of the Sun City Ultra on May 7, which will be the selection race for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago between August 4 and 11,” said Ava.
Ava said she was very disciplined in her training, as she spent between two and three hours a day on two disciplines.
She said her endurance training included longer cycling and running sessions on the weekends, while her strength training was part of the elite triathlon team training with the Prime High-Performance Centre at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“I train all year and through the holidays, so my training remains consistent. Before this SA championships race, we did sessions in the heat of the day to prepare, as the race was scheduled for 2.30pm, and the heat can play a big role in your performance,” said Ava.
Ava said she had first competed in a triathlon in May 2021, and started off as a runner. She said she really enjoyed it and did well at cross-country racing. In terms of swimming, she said she had done it since Grade R, and swam in her school’s A team. She also enjoyed mountain biking, so it was easy for her to start cycling.
“My coach trained both runners and triathletes, so when he suggested I try a Tinman, I did, and I really enjoyed it. I did my first Tinman on my mountain bike and grew into a triathlete thereafter. I have loved it ever since,” said Ava.
“I wanted to do well and had worked hard on improving my swim time, but I also wanted to go out there and enjoy it and have fun while racing hard. I wanted to see that improvement pay off, which it did. I moved from seventh place last year to second this year.”
Among the three disciplines, Ava said running was her strongest discipline, followed closely by cycling.
Ava’s coach and mentor for the past four years, Justin Hand, said she was a committed, dedicated and passionate athlete who was focused on achieveing her goals. He said she loved what she was doing and had an awesome work ethic.
“It is easy with Ava, as she is consistent with her training and listens to what I ask of her.
“We do a few special workouts that I have been using with all my junior athletes over the past few years, coaching juniors for the SA Triathlon Championships.
“We will focus on speed for the upcoming race in May, as the distances will be short and she needs to be fast,” said Hand.
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