Kampar, Malaysia, July 15, 2024: It was back to the classroom after a hectic weekend of races and a flying rest and relaxation visit to Ipoh, the capital city of the Malaysian state Perak, for athletes and coaches at the OCA triathlon youth development camp.
And the first lesson from World Triathlon development officer Vicent Beltran had on Monday was on how to review and reflect on the individual performances during the series of races at the Asian Triathlon Junior Cup Kampar.
“I want to ask have you met your goals you set for your race, or did you fail to achieve it,” asked Beltran as he brought everyone down to earth after a well-deserved city break on Sunday afternoon.
The Spanish coach had always maintained that results were of secondary importance and what mattered was performance. To reinforce his viewpoint, Beltran came up with a few ways the 48 young athletes from 25 Asian National Olympic Committees could review their efforts over the weekend.
· Athletes have to take responsibility for their training, especially areas where they feel they are lacking.
· To adjust future training plans based on your experiences in your race.
· Focus on performance and not on results
· Athletes take responsibility for their careers.
· Don’t let social media compromise your careers.
· Always be prepared and have a contingency plan - for example if you have a flat tire on your way to the race, you must have the spares to fix it.
Malaysian instructor Lini Kasim also pointed out the crucial aspect of “learning the rules of triathlon’ for all athletes. During the mixed team relay race, five teams from the development group were penalised for rule violations – one team twice – and had ten seconds penalties slapped.
“What is the point of all your months of training if you don’t know the rules and are given time penalties? This will cost you the race,” Beltran pointed out.
It was also brought up that during the races some athletes had been slow to get to the start line for swimming. “We had to go looking for the athletes and tell them to hurry up. This shows they did not have a pre-race plan. What’s the use of all your efforts if you cannot race on the day because you missed the start,” asked Beltran.
The World Triathlon official also underlined how fortunate the athletes at this camp were to get special attention, and as such not to take things for granted.
“Do you know how much it cost to get each of you here? Do you know how much the OCA is spending on airfares, accommodation, meals, entry fees for race and other stuff? There is a financial cost and you must appreciate it and make the most of this opportunity,” Beltran added.
After a welcome break, it was back to reality for the young athletes.
