Lynbrook Kids Participate in Mini-Triathlon

A little bit of threatening weather didn’t hold back a dedicated group of young athletes on Thursday evening.

Fly With the Owls, a Lynbrook nonprofit, hosted its middle school mini-triathlon at  with eager kids showing off how their hard work and dedicated training paid off. The event consisted of 12 youths - all from Lynbrook - participating in a 400-yard swim, a five-mile bike ride and a 1.5 mile run throughout the park.

Though this is the first year that Fly With the Owls hosted the triathlon, Kathleen Hannon, one of the head coaches of the event, started this program about five years ago with another organization as a way for kids to get involved with the sport at a young age.

“I got involved with the sport years ago and it was fantastic – life changing,” Hannan said. “A couple of years ago a few friends of mine said that we wanted to give back to the sport.”

The kids have been training for seven-weeks, and practicing once a week together with a certified USA Triathlon coach and numerous volunteers from the community. Additionally, the participants had a training schedule online that they followed daily.

“It was just about getting kids exposed to the sport of triathlon to give them a positive activity to engage in – something that would steer them away from things like alcohol and drugs and those types of behaviors," said assistant coach and administrative volunteer Cathy Papandrew, who has resided in Lynbrook for 22 years.

Papandrew explained that there are no winners or losers in the race. She said that everybody crosses the finish line and all participants are triathletes.

“We have varying degrees of ability here,” she said. “We have some real superstar athletes and we have some kids that it didn’t come naturally to them when they started. It is amazing to watch how they progressed over the course of the seven weeks. The confidence that they have gained and the abilities that they have gained in terms of fitness – they are all ready to go.”

The triathlon fosters a sense of teamwork between the children, Hannan said.

Anthony Mastroianni, 11, a student at Lynbrook Middle School, said that it was “really fun” preparing for the event and the race was “very tiring.” His favorite part of the triathlon was the swimming portion.

“That is the whole idea, to make it something that they will have for a lifetime, something that they will want to be part of their life,” Hannan added.