The swim was canceled, turning the race into an unexpected run-bike-run Seven OC Youth Tri athletes adjusted, raced well, and gave us a good day while we wait to hear the team results.
If you do triathlon long enough, you will have a race where the swim is canceled. And I'm thankful for that in general because the swim is the most dangerous part of a race. The race organizers announced the swim cancellation the night before, so everyone knew the modified race the morning of. It would be a run-bike-run. They didn't call it a duathlon, but that's exactly what a duathlon is. It would start with a 1.2 mile run, then a shortened 8 mile bike, and then the standard 3 mile run.
The kids had mostly good attitudes about the change. Most were bummed about no swim (our youngest was stoked), but their spirits remained good. One specifically said "they replaced my best leg with my worst", and that is true for several of them. But nobody talked about backing out or spent their morning complaining.
The race started with a run, and they went two at a time, time trial style. Of course, most of ours were anxious to go and got near the front of their pack.
Everyone did well. I was a little worried about riding on wet roads, but we have practiced this on rainy days and I also reviewed the important concepts the morning of. There were no problems on course and everyone finished looking strong.
We did have six club members participating in the high school division, and it takes six to be eligible for a state championship. Unfortunately, the team results aren't announced at the race, so we wait until we hear how we did. Last year it was about 6 weeks. Hopefully this year is much quicker.
No matter what, it was a good day.