Why do a junior triathlon?

Social benefits
The great thing about doing three sports is that you can meet all sorts of people. You can join a triathlon society or club – or just join a running, cycling or swimming one. This can be at school, outside school or when you get to university. This gives you the chance to meet lots of cool people and enables a great social life in your teenage and early adult years.

You’ll become an all-round badass athlete
Most people are one trick ponies – basically just runners, cyclists or swimmers. Doing triathlon (no matter the finish time) makes you an athlete in three different sports and this compete fitness means it will be even easier to take part in other sports too like waterpolo, mountain biking, netball.

You’ll be seen as an athlete (athletes are cool)
When you complete a triathlon, (no matter the finish time) you will automatically become one of the cool athletic ones. If you say you’ve completed a triathlon, the chances are most people don’t know what the distances are or what it involves – but they’ll be impressed. More on distances and what a triathlon involves in the article 'what is a junior triathlon?'

You will develop a more athletic looking physique
If you swim, bike or run consistently (at least once a week without taking too much time off) and have a well-balanced diet then you are likely to develop some lean muscle mass, especially in the age range of 16-19. This is basically where some bits of fat turn into muscle and your overall body percentage of muscle increases making you look more athletic. Most importantly, you’ll feel more athletic and confident as you’ll be lighter and stronger.

Bragging rights
Let’s be honest, there probably will be a bit of bragging to your friends, family and maybe even teachers when you tell them that you’ve finished a triathlon and are now a triathlete. Nothing wrong with a humble brag – you deserve it for challenging yourself to do something new!

You’ll end up eating more
You’ll be burning calories so you’ll get hungry and you’ll need to replace them with food. It’s up to you how you decide to replace them… but if you eat a healthy well-rounded diet then you’ll get even stronger and faster compared with just snacking on junk food.

The event expos are awesome
The area at the finish is called an expo which is basically a big festival with great food, music and good vibes. This is one of the best things about doing events as the post-race party is often just as fun as the triathlon itself!

Cool places to travel to
Triathlon events for juniors and adults are all over the country and the world. Triathlon can take you to some of the most beautiful and interesting places around the world – that maybe you wouldn’t otherwise go to. It certainly has for me! You can take part in a triathlon along white sandy beaches abroad and cycle or run through some awesome parks or race tracks.

You get awesome medals
You always get a medal at the end of a triathlon and who doesn’t like a bit of silverware to show off in the house or at school. You can even start to develop quite the collection!

You will have more energy
When I stop exercising regularly, I start to feel tired. There’s actually a lot of science to back this up but regular moderate exercise actually gives you more energy. So, if you are finding yourself tired at school, besides having a good sleep – this could be the answer!

Mental Benefits
Once you cross the finish line of a triathlon, you’ll become more confident with a can-do attitude. Finishing a triathlon often comes with overcoming a few challenges like event nerves or maybe overcoming the fear of swimming in a lake. You’ll come across lots of challenges in your teenage years, but being a triathlete will give you the confidence to welcome these challenges and see them as an opportunity to grow stronger. After all, a strong body is a strong mind.

You will be more productive
This means doing more quality work per unit of time. Training for a triathlon will clear your mind and sharpen your focus. When you are ages 16-18 and revising for external exams - instead of looking for products that will improve your focus when it comes to long revision days - go for a jog instead to break up your day. You’ll find you procrastinate less and work with more focus. Think of going for a jog as giving you more time to work as you’ll not only do it more productively but you’ll also be getting fitter too!

Proving people wrong
Triathlon is a chance to show everyone what you’re made of. Maybe you weren’t picked for a school team and you want a chance to show just how fit and strong mentally you are. This is your perfect chance to prove the doubters wrong.

Develop good bike handling skills
More time on the bike means that you’ll become a more confident cyclist. So, when you’re older you can start cycling to and from places as a way of transport. This is pretty darn useful - I do it all the time as an adult!

More confident in the water
By practising swimming, trips to the beach and sea swims will become more enjoyable as you’ll be more confident and safer in the water.

Your mood will improve
There’s a whole bucket load of science which shows that exercise improves your mood. It’s totally normal to feel moody at times, especially as your brain is growing during your teenage years. So, if you’re looking for a way to feel energised and more positive then get out there and enjoy some swimming, cycling or running!

You can wear some cool triathlon merchandise
Being able to wear your triathlon finisher t-shirt in public is always a good conversation starter and will impress people.

The kit
At Swim Bicycle Fun we want to show you just how easy it is to take part in triathlon and to do these events with low-cost everyday kit that you’d wear in P.E. lessons. However, as you get further along down the triathlon journey and start to upgrade, you’ll find that all of the tri kit is dead cool. From the tri suits, (singlets) which are like superhero suits, to the spaceship looking aero helmets.

You will Sleep better
There are lots of factors which determine whether you’ll sleep well or not but when you exercise there’s a whole load of science to explain that your sleep quality will improve. Improved sleep has lots of benefits, but maybe most importantly in your teenage years is that your mind and body will grow stronger.

Teachers, universities and future employers will be impressed
You’ll be constantly told by adults that you need things that will make you stand out when thinking about things outside school to add to your CV. Trust me, triathlon will stand out and will say a lot about how physically and mentally strong you are.

Triathlon is fun
Swimming, cycling and running is fun and taking part in a triathlon event may just be one of the best days of your life. I don’t know anyone that’s finished just the one triathlon. Once they’ve finished one, they keep coming back for more. It takes courage to do something new, but I promise that it’s far less scary than you think and becoming a triathlete has the power to change your life forever!