Last update - 00:00 02/07/2007
A mere after-school swim, bike ride and run
By Danit Nitzan
Gal Levi, 13, arrives at her Caesarea home at 8:20 P.M. Tuesday night, after training for a triathlon. She gets home at this time four nights a week, carrying a heavy bag containing a bathing suit, goggles, fins and a towel for swimming; a helmet, different goggles, cycling pants, cycling shoes and socks for biking; and a track suit, running shoes and drinks for running. Levi, like many children, is on a triathlon team, a phenomenon that has been expanding in Israel over the last three years and includes children as young as nine.
Levi is not tired. Though it is almost 9 P.M., she is alert and energetic as she raves about her hobby. "I discovered I can do it - that I have the power," she says. "I also have friends on the team, and I really enjoy the competition and the thrill right before I dive into the water."
Her mother, Chava, is also a triathlete. The pair competed in all the local triathlons last season. "I am incredibly anxious when I watch her enter the water at the beginning of a competition," Chava Levi says. "I am tremendously relieved when I see her get out, and then my division begins. After she gets out of the water, it is easier for me to handle my own competition."
When Danielle Drori, 12 of Hod Hasharon, fell in love with this sport, her life changed, too. She trains five times a week. "I don't have much time for other things," she says. "But I find time for my friends."
Drori has taken first place in her age group several times this year, although until recently, she was afraid to enter the sea. "Last year, I cried and I didn't compete because of the sea. This year, I got brave and swam in the sea before the competition, so I could get used to it, and I got over my fear," she says.
Her sister, Dolev Drori, 9, also is on a triathlon team. "I started when I was 7," she says. "I've made new friends on the team. We talk before and after training. I train four times a week, on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. That leaves me a little free time." She finds competitions somewhat stressful, she admits, "but in the end, I have a really good time. Sometimes, during a competition, I feel like just starting, finishing and getting it over with, so I can talk with my friends and play."
Danielle and Dolev's mother, Shibolet, is not a triathlete. "I think there's something amazing about it - that it's their own private world. It's their choice, their commitment and their pleasure." Despite that, she does not deny that her daughters' hobby demands a commitment from her as well. "We wake them in the morning, drive them to training and competitions, lug equipment around, wake up on Shabbat at 6 A.M. for bicycle training, and sometimes drive behind the group to make sure there are no accidents."
Children's triathlons have become more popular here due to the growing popularity of adult triathlons, says Ilan Falchi, head of the Maccabi Tel Aviv children's triathlon division. Most of the participants are the children of triathletes - which is a problem, he says. "Triathlete parents are over-involved. They interfere in their children's training. Some of them take their kids biking for 30 kilometers, or running for seven kilometers, and they are demanding and have expectations of their children. They want their children to succeed, and try to fulfill their own dreams by means of their children. In addition, parents who compete can't cheer for their children, because they are competing themselves," he says.
Tahel Ben Porat believes training has had a positive effect on her daughter Noa, 11. "Triathlons give children more than I can describe in words: Self-confidence, focus, empowerment. Noa sees her efforts and investment mean something, and the feeling of success does not necessarily come from victory, but from trying. I see the kids smile when they reach the finish line, regardless of their time, even if they come in last."
Noa describes how she began: "My father competes, and he took me to his competition. I saw it was fun and that made me want to do it, so I joined a team. Since then, I have participated in more than 10 triathlons in Tel Aviv, the Jordan Valley, Eilat, Ein Gedi, Herzliya, Caesarea, Sdot Yam, and a duathlon in Ramat Hasharon."
She is anxiously waiting for summer to "go to training camp in [the Negev town of] Lehavim. We call it the 'Gibushon' (social event)." There she will meet children she sees only at competitions. "Children are friends with people on their team as well as other teams. We text message each other, and I've made new friends that way."
Don't you occasionally feel like skipping training?
"There are really hard days. Sometimes, if I come home and have to go to practice right after school, at 3:30 P.M., I don't always feel like it. But you get over it. I like training more than competition, because during practice the whole group is together, and we get there early and talk."
Falchi says the social aspect plays a significant role in children's triathlon teams, and the Israeli Triathlon Association (ITA) invests considerable resources in nurturing this. "Two weeks ago, we had a fun night for four teams. We met at the Ramat Hasharon country club pool. We made them a 'health' meal of spaghetti with tomato sauce, chicken kabobs, tahini and salad - no junk food. There were 70 kids, and they interacted very pleasantly. This gives them another benefit for their commitment." In addition, he adds, the ITA organized a weekend at Lehavim for 200 children.
Groups of children are divided according to age: 8- to 9-year-olds swim 100 meters, bike three kilometers and run one kilometer; 10- to 11-year-olds swim 200 meters, bike five kilometers and run 1.5 kilometers; 11- to 12-year-olds swim 300 meters, ride eight kilometers, and run two kilometers. Most groups train between three and four times a week. Many children train on their own as well.
There are children's triathlon teams around the country. Falchi says children typically compete in eight triathlons a year. "Coaches decide on the extent and type of participation, based on the children's capabilities and desires. Some children train just for fun and do not compete."