I-tri’s Annual Triathlon Is Virtual This Year

The annual i-tri BNB Hamptons Youth Triathlon is virtual this year due to COVID-19. The event will take place on June 20 on Zoom, and is only open to girls participating in i-tri.

The East End non-profit organization created in 2010, i-tri — Transformation Through Triathlon, is dedicated to connecting and empowering adolescent girls through triathlon training and workshops. According to its website, the i-tri girls meet for immersive training programs that include empowerment sessions, fitness experiences, triathlon specific training, family nutrition workshops and science of triathlon integrated curriculum. There is no cost to the girls to participate in the organization, and all equipment is provided.

“Over the course of 10 years, we’ve grown from one group of eight girls at Springs School to this year we’ve served close to 200 girls from 11 different schools from Montauk to Mastic,” said Theresa Roden, i-tri founder and chief visionary officer. She currently lives in Springs.

The BNB Hamptons Youth Triathlon is a culminating event for these middle school girls. In the age of social distancing, the triathlon cannot be completed as before. But Roden planned to hold the virtual event to continue empowering adolescent girls through mind, body, and soul.

“We’ve changed the finish line for them. … [It is] challenges instead of a triathlon,” Roden said. “The fear factor has also changed, the fear of corona. Some girls have lost family members and friends.”

Each challenge is 10 minutes, mimicking the strenuous activity of each triathlon event: swimming, cycling, and running.

Roden and other board members have enlisted the help of Olympic and professional triathletes. Those who will be spearheading the event will be Olympian Katie Zaferes, Olympian Gwen Jorgensen, Olympian Dara Torres, and triathlete Sarah Piampiano.

Zaferes, Jorgensen, Torres, and Piampiano have pre-recorded videos of them doing exercises for the girls to complete during each challenge.

On Saturday, May 23, the board members of i-tri held a Zoom meeting with Torres to further empower the girls. The girls wore the colors of the American flag — red, white, and blue — to the meeting. Torres spoke about her career as an Olympian, spoke words of encouragement to the girls, discussed dealing with change and negativity, answered questions, and then led them through a warm-up.

“One of the things that’s hardest for an athlete is dealing with change. The fact that you guys are still out there training via Zoom is awesome,” Torres said on the Zoom call. “That’s what athletes are doing [now].”

The girls in the program have been meeting on Zoom throughout the quarantine to practice confidence, healthy habits, leadership skills, and working out.

Piampiano has been on the board of i-tri for approximately seven years. Even before she ran triathlons, she wanted to become a part of a charitable organization, and i-tri caught her eye, she said. She helped run sessions with the girls, did Q and A’s, and started a charity ride.

Piampiano originally lived and worked in New York City as an investment banker. In 2009, she randomly did a triathlon and fell in love with it. After completing another triathlon, she moved to Los Angeles in 2012. After moving to Sonoma, California, she started the Ride and Wine charity event in 2017. This is Piampiano’s first year participating in the annual triathlon as she travels for training and is unable to come to the East End.

“I think that the event in particular does a number of things: It brings everybody together over Zoom, it challenges them physically and mentally, but obviously with the limitations that we’re all facing,” Piampiano said.