Young Owls train for August triathlon

Biking is part of the triathlon training.

Brian Croce/Herald

Kathleen hannan, program coordinator for the Fly with the Owls triathlon program, directed one of the middle schoolers in the Lynbrook pool.

Brian Croce/Herald

Thirty-five middle school students take part in the triathlon training program’s weekly practices at swimming, biking and running in Lynbrook’s Greis Park. The Fly with the Owls Triathlon will take place on Aug. 16 after the conclusion of the eight-week training program.

Brian Croce/Herald

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On June 21, 35 middle-school students — the members of Lynbrook’s Fly with the Owls Triathlon Program — began eight weeks of athletic preparation designed to prepare them for the second annual triathlon of the same name, to be held Aug. 16.

The competition comprises a 400-yard swim, a 5½-mile bike ride and a 1½-mile run. This year, all three segments of the event will take place at Greis Park.

Kathleen Hannan, the program’s coordinator, has taken part in several marathons and triathlons, and shares her passion and knowledge of the sport every week with the athletes in the pool and on the course. “My main goal out of all of this,” Hannan said, “is to see kids benefit from an awesome sport that they normally otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to do.”

Each week the training becomes more difficult, but the students are spurred on with the encouragement from Hannan and other volunteer coaches. Jack Hunter, who will be a seventh grader at North Middle School and is an avid swimmer, said that he feels most comfortable in the pool. He added that he signed up after Fly with the Owls Inc. President Cathy Papandrew came to a health fair at North because “it seemed fun,” and Hunter had friends who were already in the program.

First-time triathlete Briana Kelhetter, a soon-to-be seventh grader at South Middle School, said she also likes swimming best and wanted to sign up after a health fair at her school. “It seemed really interesting,” she said, “so I decided to join.”

Fly with the Owls is a nonprofit organization that serves the Lynbrook community and its youth. During the school year, Papandrew, a Lynbrook Board of Education trustee, went to North and South to speak to students about the triathlon. Last month, she explained, there was an informational meeting about the event for parents and children.