For many successful athletes, the phrase "I'm going to Disney World" is something they yell out in joy after victory.
For local young triathlete Eli Chappell, it was a reality.
Chappell, who competed in the IronKids triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday (Oct. 3), placed ninth in his age group and then celebrated his performance by spending four days with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy.
"Apparently, they were having a cold wave in Florida during the race," said Larry Chappell, Eli's father. "But the heat for us was definitely the hardest part. A lot of the kids who raced were from hotter areas and were used to the heat. Eli wasn't."
Chappell also said his son was at a slight disadvantage as they took a late flight and had to wait for Eli's bike, which had to be shipped across the country.
But that didn't deter the 11-year-old, who faced 47 other kids in his division.
A total of 550 racers from four different countries took part in the event. Kids were divided into three different age groups: six to eight, nine to 11 and 12 to 15.
Racers had to first swim 150 yards, then bike four miles, then run one mile to finish. Eli finished with an overall time of 24 minutes, including an impressive time of 6:50 to complete the one-mile run.
According to Chappell, his son thoroughly enjoyed the competition.
"He thought it was a really good time," he said. "He definitely beat his best time but the only problem he had was with the transitions."
This will be Eli's last race of the season but Chappell said his son wants to compete again next year and mentioned he wants to create something locally for the many interested young triathletes in town.
"Eli definitely wants to continue competing next year," he said. "Another thing we're going to try and do is get some sort of youth triathlon group started in Squamish. I think there is a lot of interest locally for a kids triathlon group."
Besides Chappell, another 麻豆社国产local fared extremely well in Florida. Seven-year-old Charlotte Ross placed fourth in her age group.
Ross had to swim 50 yards, bike two miles and run 500 yards. Ross excelled in the biking portion of the race, posting one of the top times in her age group and 59th best out of all the girls at the event.
"Charlotte did just great," Chappell said. "I'm sure she made her family proud."
Both Ross and Eli are members of the 麻豆社国产Pirates swimming club and Chappell said that experience helped a great deal during competition.
"It seemed like a lot of the parents I talked to felt that the swimming portion was their child's weakness," he said. "The Pirates have really helped prepare both my son and Charlotte for these kinds of races."
The Pirates is recruiting again on Tuesday (Oct. 12). The Pirates fall session runs until mid-December. Participants can choose to train Tuesdays or Thursdays and must be able to swim 25 metres unassisted or have achieved Swim Kid 4.
Registration begins at 4 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 12) in the Brennan Park aquatic centre lobby. For more information, e-mail the club at [email protected].
