Solid Turnout For This Year's Hamptons Youth Triathlon

Although there were a number of changes, the fourth annual Hamptons Youth Triathlon at Long Beach in Sag Harbor saw one of its biggest group of participants with 125 finishers at this year’s race on Saturday morning.

Typically the race is held on a weekday evening, but local police municipalities urged directors of the event to change the date and time with safety concerns due to the high traffic volume in and around the area during the particular time the race had begun, usually around 5 p.m. After conferring with the town, I-Tri athletic director Sharon McCobb explained, the race was moved to Saturday morning, set for early enough in the morning to be finished before beachgoers started showing up.

The date and time changes also led to a few other changes. The start of the race began at the opposite end of the parking lot where it used to be, and that, in turn, led to a slightly shorter bike ride of six miles. Since it’s a youth triathlon, the course distances are shorter than that of a typical triathlon, beginning with a 300-yard open water swim just off the shore of Long Beach, followed by the now 6-mile bike ride before a 1.5-mile run to the finish line.

Tyler Pawlowski, a 15-year-old Garden City resident who attends Long Island Lutheran, a private school in Brookville in Nassau County, won the Hamptons Youth Triathlon for the third straight year, crossing the finish line in 30:15.35, besting last year’s time of 35:19.60, which was on a slightly longer course. Caelyn Clayton, a 14-year-old from Huntington, finished second overall but was the first girl to finish in 37:26.54. Michael Benin, 14, of East Northport placed third in 39:56.80, Isabella Tarbet, last year’s female champion, placed fourth overall, second among girls, in 39:56.80, and Avery Brull, 14, of Rockville Center, placed fifth overall, third among girls, in 40:53.11. Tatum Norris of Green Cove Spring, Florida, was the first 13-year-old to finish (sixth overall) in 42:18.36. Matt DiSunno, 15, placed seventh overall in 42:32.89; Charlie Goldsmith, 15, finished eighth overall in 42:38.66; Audrey Ryan, 14, of East Northport, finished ninth overall in 43:11.91; and Neve Hehir, 15, of Tappan, New York, rounded out the top ten, finishing in 43:57.

Full results can be found on elitefeats.com.

The main beneficiary of the Hamptons Youth Triathlon is I-Tri, a group that promotes confidence and self-esteem for young girls through various initiatives, including a several weeks-long training regimen that begins in February specifically in preparation for the triathlon. Leslie Samuel, 12, of Springs, was the first I-Tri girl to finish in 41:02.56, which was tops among 12-and-under participants.

McCobb liked what she saw from all of the competitors.

“I think what really struck me is, we go through these practices and the girls are not always into it, some of them aren’t really that athletic, but seeing them on race day and watching them taking it in, they’re excited and they really become competitive,” she said. “I thought they did great. You see more fire on race day.”

Alyssa Channin is the program leader for I-Tri and has the year-round task with getting the athletes prepared mentally for their triathlon training in what she calls “empowerment sessions.” In those sessions Channin will share different tools with the girls to make them successful, not only for the triathlon but in life.

“We work on visualization, we talk about powerful affirmations, we try and have them be media savvy and talk about positive body imaging and talk about when images have been photoshopped,” she explained. “We work mostly on empowering their self esteem.”

A resident of Plainview, Channin travels well over an hour to meet with the girls who attend middle schools across the East End, plus William Paca Middle School in Mastic Beach in the William Floyd School District. Despite those long days, she said she loves her job.

“I think, for most of them, the scariest part was standing on the beach just before the race. They looked so nervous, and as much as I wanted to be with them in the water, they were all comforting each other,” she said. “I could hear them saying, ‘It’s okay, I’m here, we’re going to be okay, we did this before.’ It was so, so sweet. “On the bike course, there was one girl who fell off her bike,” Channin continued. “She wanted to stop and quit, and a coach came up to her and said, ‘You’re okay. Your bike is okay.’ They gave her a Band-Aid and she wound up finishing and she was so proud to cross that finish line.”