Caledon Kinetico Kids of Steel race a success for the eighth straight year

There was plenty of excitement in the three-to-six year old non-timed competition Sunday in the Kids of Steel Triathlon at Caledon Central Public School. (Top) Brianne Dainty, 6, of Orangeville was competing in the Kids of Steel event for the first time. Here, she completes the cycling portion of the event. (Left) Kelly Johnston, 5, of Mississauga was running toward the finish line.

The sun came out, the children from the local area and across the province showed up in record numbers and the eighth annual Caledon Kinetico Kids of Steel Triathlon was a banner day.

"Our reason for sponsoring this community event is to see healthy families" said Kinetico President Philip Adsetts.

Highlights of the day included the 100 children in the three to six year old category and the C3 High Performance Team captained, by local Caledon triathlon stars Sean Bechtel and Andrew Yorke. Both boys went to school in Caledon, swam for the local Dorado Stars Swim Team and one day hope to represent Canada at the Olympic games.

The Caledon race also acted as the qualifier for the 2009 Canada Games, which is being held in Prince Edward Island.

Photos by Bill Rea

C3 athletes won the majority of the races over the day and then spent their free time helping the volunteers.

"The entire C3 operation did an incredible job hosting the event today and race director Stewart Barclay deserves a tremendous amount of respect for his awesome job," said C3 Chairman Rick Jenner.

C3 youth triathlon coach Trudy Dixon has been working with a dozen youngsters who had great performances in the yearly triathlon. Dixon's summer C3 youth program is continuing on throughout the summer and will include three one-week camps in July. Those interested in the youth program, the teen program or the age group summer club workouts should check out the C3 Web site for more information, at www.c3online.ca