Three-way pressure on triathlete

Thomas McLaughlin is one school pupil who has learnt the importance of managing his time.

The year 11 student from Hamilton Boys' High School competes in one sport but has to train for three – and that's the beauty or otherwise of triathlon.

Tomorrow McLaughlin competes in the Waikato-Bay of Plenty schools teams' triathlon at Lake Karapiro, where he will complete the 16km bike and his HBHS team-mates will take care of the 500m swim and 4km run – not that the other two disciplines are a worry for the 15-year-old.

A fortnight ago he won the under-16 section of the Waikato secondary schools triathlon, over the same distance at the same venue, in a time of 52 minutes 58 seconds.

"Yeah it was pretty cool, it was a decent time," McLaughlin said of his efforts.

"The swim was pretty close, there were two girls in front, but I caught them on the bike.

"I felt pretty good and I just pushed hard on the bike to stay away and that's probably what made it."

That will stand McLaughlin in good stead for tomorrow.

"Hopefully HBHS will do well but you never know what teams are going to turn up from different schools," he said.

McLaughlin took up the sport in year 7 and since starting year 9 as a boarder at HBHS, he has continued to progress under the guidance of teacher Craig Radley, who McLaughlin says has played a big part in his preparation for this month's New Zealand Schools Triathlon.

The pair discuss a training schedule, which varies week to week, and McLaughlin admits that it can be pretty taxing to fit in everything.

"Yeah it's pretty hard sometimes with homework and stuff but if you get on top of it it's all right.

"If you get with the right people it's easier but heaps of it is pretty hard."

McLaughlin finished in the top three at the Contact Tri Series event in Kinloch and has had other good results this season, and at the national schools event he is wanting to make a big impact.

"I'm aiming for a top-five position, it would be good to be further up but anything can happen on the day," he said.

McLaughlin siad someone who he looks to for inspiration is elite Olympic distance triathlete Clark Ellice, who was a supervisor at one of McLaughlin's swimming trainings. "You can ask him questions and stuff so it's pretty cool."

The chance to meet people, the enjoyment and challenge of the sport keep McLaughlin interested and he would love to become a professional one day. "That's obviously the ultimate goal. That's definitely where I want to head."

- © Fairfax NZ News