A new Border based triathlon group is looking to make waves in the Indigo Shire and the North East region by making the sport affordable and inclusive for all ages.
Border Triathlon Squad have been in the thick of their first full season as a club holding well-attended duathlons in Tangambalanga and Wodonga in recent months.
But the club will be bringing their first major triathlon to Rutherglen and the Indigo Shire for the women’s triathlon to be held on 29 November, the first of their Rutherglen series for the 2025/26 season.
Club secretary Nadine Seymour said the club would be hoping to attract a capacity field of 300 competitors and the excitement was already building.
“We've got a heap of registrations already in, which is amazing,” she said.
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“Some are new registrations where people haven't done one before.
“The idea is to have a platform where women feel comfortable… to try something if they haven't done it before.
“It's to give them a bit of confidence and to promote women in sport, it's very supportive and an amazing atmosphere.”
The triathlon will be held all across town and done in reverse, starting with a run through the recreation reserve and the golf club, then out for a bike ride to Herrins Road and back through the township and finishing with the swim to be completed at Rutherglen’s 33m pool with altering laps.
Distances vary across multiple age groups from age seven to nine who will complete a 500m run, 2km bike ride and 60m swim to the long course 16+ age bracket of a 6km run, 20km bike ride and 400m swim.
Ms Seymour said the group was highly invested in growing junior participation into the sport, holding weekly training sessions for juniors as young as five at Wodonga every Wednesday throughout their season, inviting all juniors across the North East.
The sessions alternate across the three disciplines of a triathlon and strength each week and are hosted by qualified trainers including Refuel Fitness and Supports.
“Our sponsors are subsidising those training sessions for our kids and we were fortunate enough to get an active grant from Indigo Shire,” Ms Seymour said.
At the club’s August duathlon in Wodonga, more than half of their 48 participants were juniors.
The Rutherglen event will be assisted by the local SES and other volunteer organisations and local businesses who are helping promote and deliver the triathlon.
Ms Seymour said branching out into community organisations and giving back to host communities was a big focal point for the club.
“We're all about giving back to the community… we don’t want to come in, run an event and take all of the profit,” she said.
“We've already got people signed up from Melbourne and outside of our region, which is amazing.
“That obviously means they're spending time in the region, hopefully hitting up some wineries and some food places and everything like that while they're here.
“We’re trying to do it at a low cost too, the cost of living is so expensive at the moment.”
The kids will start off the day from 1pm before the women hit the short course event from 3pm and the long course from 3:30pm.
Registrations are open and can be made via the link: https://my.raceresult.com/354841/registration
There is also an option to complete the triathlon in a team in the short course and long course event and break up the three legs between different people.
The women’s triathlon will be followed by a second Rutherglen triathlon set for 28 February next year as part of the Victorian Regional Series.
