The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It was almost love at first sight with Terri-Lynn Mack and the sport of triathlon. Triathlons are races when athletes swim, bike and run. It was three years ago when 11-year-old Terri-Lynn got involved after seeing a poster at school with information. "I decided I wanted to try it, and after I tried it I liked it," says Terri-Lynn. Her younger sister Joanne, who is nine-years old, has been doing it for a year. They competed in five races this year and found themselves on the podium every time. On August 21 in Wasagaming, Clear Lake, Joanne competed in the 500m run/ five km bike/ one km run and finished third with a time of 23 minutes 48 seconds, 30 seconds behind first place. Terri-Lynn, competing against 12 and 13-year-olds because of age rules, raced in the one km run/10 km bike/ two km run and finished third. She was 41 seconds off the pace for first. On Sept. 11, they competed in Birds Hill Provincial Park and Joanne won her competition in 100m swim/ five km bike/ one km run with a time of 26 minutes 34 seconds. Her sister finished second in the 200m swim/ 10k bike/ two km run with a time of 39 minutes 22 seconds. When their parents, Doug and Nicole, realized how serious they were about the sport they decided to do something about it. "For a birthday present and Christmas we got them the road bikes," says Nicole. "That has helped immensely with the training." The sisters train three or four days a week. Terri runs four km and bikes 10km, while Joanne runs two km, and bikes 5 km. The girls also swim with the Aqua Jets during the summer. "They want to train," says their mother. "In fact we have to hold them back and say that's enough." So why do they train so hard? Their competition, part of Swim Manitoba, is so good. They're underdogs to their competition in Southern Manitoba, who don't expect much from Terri-Lynn and Joanne . Doug told a story where Joanne was in a race in Pinawa and overheard her competition discussing how they would fare. "Joanne was very quiet and she just sat back, and I could hear this," he recalls. "They're kind of picking well you're gonna be first, second, third, well they were party crashers there. She (Joanne) wrecked the order." The hard work has paid off for the eldest sister, who will begin her training in November. "Terri-Lynn has been asked to join the provincial youth team," says Doug. "She will be e-mailed all her work outs with the hope that she will race in the Manitoba/Saskatchewan regionals in August 2006. "Right now it looks like she'll be the only northerner," Doug says with a smile. While both girls keep training because they love to race, Terri-Lynn has a new motivating factor to keep going. "My goal is to be in the Olympics when I get older," says Terri-Lynn. Last November she met Olympian Sharon Donnelly, gold medal winner at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. She was in The Pas for a workshop and Doug took the girls there, which he says was the turning point. "The girls had more enthusiasm after," he says. The Manitoba Summer Games last year was also a huge turning point because they received an eye-opener with the competition. To the girls' father, the girls being involved in the triathlon goes beyond races and Olympic aspirations though. "I think what we enjoy is the family time," Doug says, "on the road too and the training. That's what we really enjoy... It's really special."
