Herald Neighbors

Students swim, run and bike toward goals in Lynbrook program

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On Thursday evenings throughout the summer, 30 middle school-aged students could be found swimming laps in the Lynbrook Village Pool and following it up with hard-working bike rides and running sessions at Greis Park. The effort was part of the Fly with the Owls Middle School Triathlon Program, an eight-week endeavor with a mission to help the children achieve goals they set for themselves.

The program is an annual summer event, where coaches train students entering sixth through eighth grades in all three legs of a triathlon each Thursday in June and July. The training concluded with the students participating in an enduring triathlon on July 26.

“The premise of the program is basically to teach children in middle school or going into middle school about goal-setting,” said TJ Moore, who has coached the students in the swimming portion of the program for the past six years. “We go after that regular kid … and we teach them that we’re gonna set a goal and we’re gonna work hard toward it.”

Ironwoman athlete Kathleen Hannan founded the program in 2011, when she teamed up with the non-profit Fly with the Owls to organize it. Moore works with the children on their swimming technique at the Village Pool, while Kevin Maloney is the bicycle trainer and former ironman athlete Bob Speina mentors the participants and gets them ready for the running portion.

“I’ve never seen anybody who’s fantastic at all three of them,” said Moore, who also coaches the St. Raymond’s School swim team, of the events. “It’s more of an individual sport with a lot of people encouraging you and helping you out.”

Participants were expected to attend every practice to reach their goals, and encouraged to support one another and complete home workouts that were sent to them via email each Monday.

The program has many sponsors and volunteers who helped throughout the eight-week training process and at the triathlon itself. Some of the volunteers are high school students who once partook in the program.

This year, the endeavor began in May with a five-week spin class held on Thursdays at Fitness 13 in Malverne, which prepared the students for the training sessions. On the eve of the triathlon, the Lynbrook Deli sponsored a pasta party.

Moore said the race itself was “perfect,” and that the participants were asked to attend every practice and rewarded with ice cream once everyone crossed the finish line. The event included a 400-yard swim, a five-mile bike ride and a 1.5-mile run through Greis Park. 

“The summer comes and a lot of people have nothing to do,” Moore said. “To see these kids smile and their parents smile when they reach the finish, it’s quite emotional.”