The B.C. Summer Games kick off this Thursday, July 17 in Nanaimo and over 3200 of BC’s best emerging high performance talents have registered to take part in the four day event. Kimberley will be well represented as usual.
One of the athletes heading to the Island is carrying on a family tradition in triathlon.
Sierra Cooper will represent the Kootenay Zone in triathlon and though only 13 years old, has been entering the Wasa Triathlon since she was four. Her involvement in the endurance sport can be directly related to dad Charlie, who has organized the Wasa event for years. He will be attending as an assistant coach for the triathlon athletes.
“She’s done 10 full triathlons since she was four,” Charlie said of his daughter. “My wife and I both participate and our whole family really enjoy it. Every year we prepare for Wasa together. Usually for training we just keep them moving. But this year, with the Summer Games coming up we’ve built a training schedule. Sierra is doing laps in the pool, and then we’re throwing in some speed — biking and running.”
There are actually five Triathlon events over three days, an Aquathlon (300m Swim/1km Run) on Friday, July 18, followed by a Duathlon (1km Run/5km Bike/1km Run). On Saturday there is a Sprint Triathlon (500m Swim/ 10km Bike/3km run) followed by a Mixed Relay (4 X F1 triathlon). On Sunday, it’s the Triathlon itself, (200m Swim/3km Bike/1km Run).
Charlie and Sierra are heading out on Wednesday for the Games and will be followed by the rest of the family for the weekend. Charlie says Kimberley’s high altitude for training may come into play and assist Sierra, at least for the first couple of events.
Joining Sierra in representing Kimberley are
Alysha Buchy, Kira Dereniwsky and Justin Sawley in golf; James Rota, Hunter Zawada and Joshua Zawada in Lacrosse; Madeline Hill in Swimming; Hanna Searle and Cailyn Strachan in Beach Volleyball and Zak Campbell in Boys Volleyball.
You can check results of all sports through the weekend at www.bcgames.org