London Fields triathlon organiser wants to make event part of sporting calendar for Hackney primary schools

Primary School Triathalon held in London Fields on 28.09.16. Year 5 girls prepare for their 50m swim (Image: Archant)

London Fields Lido was awash with Year 6 and Year 7 students from Jubilee Primary School, Gayhurst Community School and London Fields Primary School for the 50-metre swim, which was followed by a 2km cycle and a 1km run in the London Fields.

The event was the brainchild of Mark Conn, who organised the event solely for Jubilee Primary School – where he is a PE co-ordinator – last year.

Mark said: “I wanted to give the children a real challenge and decided to organise a triathlon just for our students.

“The event went really well and the children had such a great time that I decided to open the event to other schools in our area.

Primary School Triathalon held in London Fields on 28.09.16. 1km run around the park (Image: Archant)

“Hackney has some great young athletes and it is about giving them the opportunity to find their sport.

“We place an emphasis on variety so that there is something for everyone.

The challenge on the day for the children taking part was to master the three disciplines, with some students shooting ahead in the swimming, but struggling in the cycling.

Mark added: “There was some great talent out there, with many of the students taking a real shine to certain events.

“Everyone who took part felt like they had achieved something and the school had such a buzz in the lead-up to the day.

“We asked students to bring in their own bikes, which meant we had a real assortment on the day, but next year we hope to provide the cycles ourselves.

“After the success of last week in London Fields, we want to make the event even bigger next year by opening it out to secondary schools.

“We had more than 40 kids there, but we want even more.”