Splashing through the Seymour High School pool and cycling and dashing on local streets, 24 local boys and girls can call themselves triathletes.
The ninth annual Boys and Girls Club of Seymour Youth Triathlon on Saturday was deemed a success by organizer Kendra Zumhingst.
“If you look at these kids, they are not your star ballplayers, but guess what? They are your runners, they are your swimmers,” she said. “It’s just a good combination of a multisport athlete.”
The event is for boys and girls ages 6 to 14. The distances are 100 yards of swimming, 2 miles of biking and a half-mile run for 6- to 10-year-olds, while they are 200 yards, 4 miles and 1 mile, respectively, for 11- to 14-year-olds.
Each finisher received a medal from Seymour Mayor Matt Nicholson, and the top two in each age category were awarded.
Several of the participants are multisport athletes.
Jenna Woods, 10, was the 6-10 winner in 16 minutes, 3.9 seconds. She said she swims for her school, runs with the South Central Indiana Running Club and bikes on her own, and that helped her be successful in the triathlon.
This was her second time completing the triathlon, and she said she came back this year because it was fun the first time.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” she said, smiling, of how she felt crossing the finish line. “It feels good knowing I finished.”
Anna Jablonski, 9, finished second in that age group, timing 17:43.6.
She said she runs for her school.
“My whole family does it, so I decided to do it again,” she said of the triathlon. “It’s kind of hard because I don’t swim a lot, and then the bike, I feel like it’s just easier, and then the run, I’m always super tired, but it feels great to finish afterwards. It feels great doing all of it.”
Like Woods, this was only Jablonski’s second time doing the triathlon, and she looks forward to continuing it in the years to come.
Her brother, Micah Jablonski, 14, was the 11-14 winner. He finished in 27:35.
He said this was his fifth time doing the triathlon.
“I love the three sports in it,” he said. “I do most of those sports, and just adding them together, I like doing those all three together.”
Micah is on the swimming, cross-country and track and field teams for his school, and he bikes just for fun, so the triathlon is right up his alley.
While he felt a little tired after Saturday’s race, he said it was great finishing another one, especially with people gathered at the finish line cheering on each athlete.
“It makes you feel proud because you accomplished something hard,” Micah said.
At the same time, he said it was bittersweet because this was his final year being eligible for the youth triathlon. Still, though, he plans to stay active in his sports.
Aidda Schepman, 12, finished second to Micah, timing 27:59.8. She also has done the youth triathlon multiple times.
“It’s fun, and I have friends that do it,” she said of what brings her back every year.
The only sport she does outside of the triathlon is swimming. She said she likes biking because it’s easy, and she felt good finishing with a run.
Zumhingst said she looks forward to next year’s youth triathlon because it will be the 10th anniversary.
At a glance
For information about the youth triathlon or to be a sponsor, contact Kendra Zumhingst at 812-528-8093 or [email protected] or visit facebook.com/bgcyouthtriathlon.