Kids at the Lakewood Trumbull YMCA didn’t run outside in the heat Tuesday afternoon, but they did strap on helmets and ride their bicycles, while training for this year’s Race4Chase Triathlon at Camp Sloper in Southington this Saturday. Next they hit the pool to swim laps.
Coach Nina Gagnon, of Monroe, blew a whistle that hung around her neck, then called out, “three laps for the big kids!”
Gagnon had been a substitute teacher, middle school and high school teacher, but never a coach before this summer. She had just finished competing in a half marathon when Joanne Orenstein, health and wellness director of the Lakewood Trumbull YMCA, asked her to coach kids for the Race4Chase.
“She said, ‘you’re a teacher. You have two kids.’ I hemmed and hawed, but I decided to do it,” Gagnon recalled, while sitting at a table in the pool area. “It’s been good. I was very nervous. At first I over-planned, but you can never over-plan for kids.”
Gagnon has been coaching 53 campers ranging in ages from 6- to 12-years-old. Many had participated in the triathlon before, but some kids had never ridden a bicycle or only used training wheels, and some had to learn how to swim.
One girl, who couldn’t swim can now swim the length of the pool, according to Gagnon, who said she has been enjoying seeing children gain confidence as they progress.
For the bike riding portion of the Race4Chase, the organizers allow children to use training wheels if they still need to.
“The whole goal of the Race4Chase is progress, not perfection,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon said some of the children have challenged her to races and won, and many do more than she asks of them.
She said, “every time we do a run I say, ‘let’s do five laps’ and some say, ‘Coach Nina, I did seven!'”
The Race4Chase
The Race4Chase is a the Kowalski family’s legacy project in memory of Chase Michael Anthony Kowalski, a little boy whose life was cut short in the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Chase was an athletic child, who began running competitively in track races at age 2 and entered into his first triathlon by age 6, winning for his age group.
The mission of the CMAK Sandy Hook Memorial Foundation is to “capture Chase’s competitive spirit and vitality in creating a charity in his honor with a focus on health and wellness for children and their families.”
The nonprofit has pursued programs and initiatives encouraging personal improvement, healthy lifestyles and strong family and communities.
Chase used to be a member of the Lakewood Trumbull YMCA, participating in its recreation programs since he was three-years-old. Orenstein said some staff members still remember him.
She said Lakewood Trumbull was one of the original sites for the Race4Chase in 2014. “We’ve had it and it’s expanded,” Orenstein said.
“It’s a great partnership, because CMAK and our missions are aligned,” YMCA Executive Director Andrew Bramlett said of the two organization’s goals of a healthy spirit, mind and body.
The Race4Chase started with 90 athletes at the sites of three YMCAs close to Sandy Hook in 2014, and grew to over 800 athletes at 30 sites in five states by 2024. It is now held at places in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina and New York with the goal of being nationwide.
‘Chomping at the bit’
The Race4Chase has three categories, Group A (ages 5-8), Group B (ages 9-10) and Group C (ages 11-13). On Saturday, children in groups A and B will do a 50 meter swim (one lap at the lake), a two kilometer bike ride (1.24 miles) (walk-bike 2/10 mile) and complete a one mile run.
The course for the older kids in Group C is the same with the exception of the swim portion, which is 100 meters (two laps at the lake).
“It’s completely free for the families,” Bramlett said of the triathlon.
“They give bikes to kids who don’t have them,” Orenstein said of CMAK.
She said seven Lakewood Trumbull YMCA kids got bicycles, which they can keep. In other cases, Orenstein said the Lakewood Trumbull YMCA gives away bicycles that people donate.
Of the 53 kids the local YMCA is training for Saturday, most are from Monroe, while others hail from Trumbull and Bridgeport.
Orenstein said some kids have participated in the triathlon several times before, adding the event is something families eagerly anticipate.
“We make an announcement of it coming in February,” she said. “But they can’t apply until the end of April — and they’re chomping at the bit.”
Orenstein said the YMCA only turned away kids who are too young or too old this year, adding some of the older kids love the Race4Chase so much, they volunteer their time helping the coach when they can no longer participate.
Coach Nina
Among the kids riding bikes on the Lakewood Trumbull YMCA’s grounds Tuesday was Dylan Chap, 10, of Monroe. “This is my third time,” he said of competing in the Race4Chase. “Biking’s really fun.”
Chap said this week’s sweltering heat has made training a tougher challenge.
“It’s been tough,” he said. “The coach tells us to drink water all the time and they pour water over our heads.”
Angelica Saintilus, 9, of Trumbull, who will be competing, along with her little brother, Sage, 6, shared her favorite part of the triathlon. “Swimming, because it’s fun and it cools us down,” she said with a smile. “Sage likes swimming too.”
“I really like biking, because it’s fun to pedal as fast as you can up and down hill,” said Nick Schwegel, 10, of Trumbull.
Enya Rai, 8, of Trumbull, said she trained last year, but didn’t participate in the race, because of a family vacation. “It’s a fun way to exercise,” she said of the training.
Sisters, Megan Gabriel, 8, and Kendra, 7, of Bridgeport, both plan to compete in the Race4Chase.
“I love swimming and the fresh air,” Kendra said.
Megan said she likes biking and swimming.
Whether they enjoy swimming, running or biking most, the children are depending on Coach Nina Gagnon to bring out their best.
“She’s fantastic,” Orenstein said of Gagnon. “She is so organized and so connected to the kids. She’s a dream, and she’s good at delegating too.”
Gagnon will make the trip to Southington with her sons, Cooper, 12, and Oliver, 10, who are both competing this Saturday.
“I’m happy that I did it,” she said of coaching. “It’s been very fulfilling and I’m happy to have my kids with me. I might do it next year.”
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