The first Welsh Development Academy (WDA) camp of the 2019-2020 season took place in Betws-y-Coed during the Autumn half term.

The purpose of the camp was for athletes to kick off their winter training by getting some valuable benchmark data around their mobility, S&C, run technique and swim conditioning. There was also a focus on challenging the athletes with activities that they might not traditionally do in their day to day training.  In addition to this it was a chance for the squad to get to know one another better as well as training with other pathway athletes from the East Midlands regional academy.

The athletes took part in a mixture of activities including mountain biking, orienteering, strength and mobility screening and run movement analysis. A particular highlight for many was the challenge to run up Snowdon and back, one taken on with great enthusiasm by all the athletes (and the coaches!).

In addition to their training the athletes were responsible for cooking all the evening meals. No easy feat when there are 30+ hungry mouths to feed.

Vicky Johnston, Welsh Triathlons Development Coach;

“It was a great first camp to kick off with. Everyone got stuck into the sessions and the highlight for me was definitely seeing athletes reach the top on the run up Snowdon! It was great to collaborate with East Midlands and provided a great atmosphere for learning and socialising.”

This was also the first time athletes were able to meet their WDA Athlete Mentor for the year. The two Mentors Rhys Thomas (Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club) and Zoe Thomas (NTPCW) took athletes through their first Individual Development Plan session with the aim of supporting the athletes to understand what their goals are for the year and how they can go about achieving them.

Welsh Triathlon would like to extend a their thanks to;

• Jess Parry Willams- Welsh Tri Physio
• Jack Sanders- Welsh Tri S&C Coach
• Zoe & Rhys- Athlete Mentors
• Rob Bridges & Harry Leleu- East Midlands coaching team
• Steve Beech- MTB Coach (Wheelism)

Who all helped to make our first camp such a success.