This was the first full season as an independent squad with no assistance from anyone else. It was an upsetting series of incidences that lead to the squad becoming full time under head coach but, those incidents have tested us and made us stronger.
We started swimming as a group in August and from then on have not looked back, having one coach run all the sessions makes everything more streamlined and allows both athlete and coach to constantly evaluate and adapt to suit environment and how the athletes were feeling and traveling.
The squad has gone from strength to strength. Every athlete has achieved a PB every time they stepped onto the track or into the pool for TEP Time Trials. This is something I could only dream of as a coach, having the athletes always step up and perform makes me feel very proud and proves that we made the right decisions.
Athletes have cleaned up all across the country. The season started off with a bang at National Duathlon Champs with Ben Walton and Carly Scott both claiming their Age Group National Championship. Following this the squad went into a training camp to get ready for State School Triathlon Champs. The squad had a very successful State Schools Champ and came away with 8 athletes qualifying to represent the State.
Following on from this DETS experienced great success at all of the Telstra Tri Events Series Races, consistently gaining podiums and having Joshua Roberts and Kaitlyn Illingworth both win the Series for their age groups.
Joshua and Elliot Roberts also chose to travel to Australian Youth Triathlon Champs at Twin Waters and experienced the pressure of draft legal racing, both boys have come home stronger and are looking very excited to start the winter season and get ready for a big 2014/15 season. Tegan Scott and Cambell Smith qualified for TEP and traveled to Runaway Bay and Penrith. The first two races of the ITU Junior Series. Both events were big learning curves for both athletes and they have both come away stronger.
The last big event of the season was School Sport National Triathlon Champs held in Bendigo, Victoria. Despite the very wet and difficult conditions all athletes performed well and represented DETS and WA with outstanding results. Tegan Scott came home with a silver medal in the Senior Girls age group individual race. An amazing result helped by producing the fastest bike split of the day and one of the quickest run splits. On relay day DETS had athletes come home with medals and success in the Intermediate Girls Relay, Senior Girls and Senior Boys Relay's. All the DETS athletes showed what it meant to be racing for WA and made everyone proud.
It has been an amazing first full season and I can not wait for the winter training to start and the next racing season to arrive. I must say thanks to all the parents for driving the athletes around and their continual support and belief in the program. Must also thank Food Risk Management and Al's Cycle Surgery for their continual support.
Looking forward to a big exciting winter...
