WITH just four races to his credit Jack Reen is still very much a triathlon rookie, but on Sunday the newcomer showed he is someone to keep an eye on.
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The 16-year-old placed second in the Bathurst Wallabies Triathlon Club’s long course event, with only the more experienced and in-form Nick North covering the 500 metres swim, 16 kilometre cycle and 5km run faster.
Reen has a strong background in running – he placed in the top 10 outright in the second edition of the Mount Panorama Punish last month – and that showed on Sunday.
He covered the final 5km leg quicker than anyone else in the field, clocking a 19 minutes, 33 seconds split.
“That is my strength,” Reen said.
“I had a running background and I’d always been doing a bit of swimming – like swimming lessons and that kind of thing. Then I started riding to school, so it kind of made sense to mix the three sports together.”
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Thought that sort of speed in the run is impressive, Reen was also the second out of the pool behind North (7.10 split) and handy on the bike (27.06). Those times will only improve too.
“It’s [long course] one I enjoy, I’d say I came into the long course prepared. I had been doing a lot of extra kays to build myself into it, so I felt I was ready,” he said.
“I am going to keep doing it, I’ll keep moving forward.
“The atmosphere is good, like everyone around the club has said, it’s really supportive.”