Each year ETU provides the opportunity for juniors from emerging nations and coaches to work together under the supervision of Europe’s best coaches and mentors. Not only is it a chance for the new athletes to begin the all-important “net-working” but also a chance for them to step up from racing and training at national level to the faster and more intense international level that they will encounter when they begin to race the ETU Circuit.
ETU President, Renato Bertrandi, “Each year we fund the delivery of Development Camps, which are run under the careful guidance of our best coaches and facilitators, led by Željko Bijuk, our Development Co-Ordinator. Last year Alicante proved to be a great and popular success and we are delighted that we could return in 2017. This is an essential area of work for ETU and we are proud that such dedication is seen from all those who were involved. Thanks to the Spanish Federation and the Municipality, our athletes will go on to race this year stronger, fitter and much more prepared.”
We have seen over the years that the determination from these young athletes, selected from the emerging nations, is so very keen. They have been given a great opportunity and treat this chance with the respect and gratitude that really is a delight to see.
Following another successful Development Camp, we now have a chance to hear from those who were there and learn just what they did. It will be a chance to hear from just some of young athletes who are our sport’s future, to hear from some of the coaches and from our Development Co-Ordinator.
First up comes one of the Romanian coaches, Filip Grigorescu, “First of all I want to let you know that the Romanian crew is fine. We are back home and already missing the time spent with you at the camp in Alicante. It's was a great experience for me as a coach and for them as athletes too. On the way back home we discussed a lot of things regarding our experience and relationship there; remember good things; funny and hard moments. We made comments, drew conclusions and made commitments for future. All possible due to you and this Camp! Next, I want to thank you for your kindness, understanding and support. For us, who are at the beginning of discovering this great sport, sharing your knowledge and experience with us, means a lot. A big THANK YOU!'
From Bulgaria (on the left), Deyan “Dido” manages three or four camps each year with his swimmers and over the years has built up quite some experience in running such camps. He explained that he knew well that it would not be an “easy ride”. “I didn't come for holidays, I came to exchange information and learn. In particular, I want to work with swimming … but in Alicante I learned more about triathlon cycling and running. That was my goal for this camp, but it wasn't enough.” It is this comment that really shows the determination of our coaches. An intense period of coaching and training and sharing ideas but … we need more. The more will come soon, with the Bulgarian Duathlon Championships and then in June, the ETU European Championship for Juniors in Kitzbühel. Will you come again Dido? “Thanks for that chance, I would like to be part of some camps in the near future.”
Also from Bulgaria and now quite experienced on the international circuit, comes Velizar Velizarow (On the right of the photo). “The ETU development camp Alicante 2017 was my first international camp. I was not apprehensive because I knew that I was going to learn something new for triathlon, some other views of this sport and also to meet friendly athletes from other countries. I realised that it would be fun early, already at the time when I understood, that I'd been selected for this camp. I felt very nice and the hard working didn't put me off, because I want to progress and that is the right way! There are no specific areas that I want to improve; much more that I want to improve on everything; every detail is important in triathlon. I wanted to understand where I had made mistakes before and what was stopping me to develop and improve my skills in this sport. In this camp I got a better perspective on my running. I know now that I must work on the bio-mechanics and the organizers and coaches there helped me to understand that. I'm thankful for that! My next race is going to be the Duathlon Nationals and then it's time for loads of triathlon races and I know now that my preparation will be different thanks to this camp. Hopefully different in a better way.”
The athletes were really tested during the camp. With run sessions, bike sessions at the Velodrome and with general body strengthening sessions.
From Lithuania, we hear from another coach. Coach, Mum and Athlete, Alina Ranceva explained that Alicante was her second camp and was delighted to get the confirmation that she had been selected to participate. “I knew I'd get a huge amount of knowledge and experience, but also I was a bit worried about my English being weak, and being responsible for 3 athletes coming with me.” There was no evidence during the camp that her English was not up to standard and she worked hard with the athletes! Alina recognised that she has the chance to learn a lot. “I think of myself as a young coach. I'm not speaking about my age, I mean my experience. I have a lot of room for improvement and I'm interested in all of the disciplines - swim, bike and run, techniques and technologies and communications with other athletes and coaches.” She was given the opportunity in Alicante to practice her skills, working “with a big group of athletes, especially when they are not the same level. We learned how to prepare for the workouts, to create options, to be ready for everything and how to adapt so that the athletes could understand my demands. I will take home amazing experience and news, also many new friends. I was a part of coaching team and I'm very excited how we worked as a team!”
Accompanying her and also from Lithuania comes Tadas Cesevičius. It was his first development camp and of course, such a step up from national level brings with it a degree of apprehension. “I realised that it was going to be hard work and fun at the first day but I came here to work on running and especially the bike. It was great. I learned a variety of training methods, exercises and techniques. Coming to the ETU Development Camp I had the opportunity to train with other athletes. I had a good time. I learned some new things and made new friends. I really got great motivation to work hard and this has inspired me not to give up when the going gets tough.'
For Beatričė Vinciūnaitė this was also her first camp, so Alina automatically was tested with two new athletes stepping into the international world. For Beatričė the understandable fear was, “I thought that I was going to be the slowest of all triathletes and the youngest but then I saw the training schedule and felt much better. I came here wanting to learn more about transitions and to gain skills in the exercises for running and cycling. I certainly will go home with much more experience now. I race next at a pool-based triathlon in Panevežys, which is where the Youth Festival will be held later this year. This event, on 29th April, is the 1st Baltic Cup Competition and the Lithuanian championships.”
From Greece comes Alex Gelis. It was his first camp and of course there was great excitement in the build up to the trip to sunny Spain. Alex has experience of ITU Development and has already participated in coaches’ seminars level one and two, “I knew what to expect so I was prepared to work hard, meet coaches and athletes, exchange knowledge and experiences, interact, collaborate and have fun. As I am organizing a kids’ development camp for the second consecutive year in Greece, I wanted to have a holistic approach of how to run a development camp by very experienced facilitators like Željko Bijuk and Miloš Petelin but also with the other coaches and athletes. I liked very much how the weekly program was set up, with the running test and how to prepare an interval session according to the results. The velodrome experience was just amazing!”
When asked if this Development Camp in Alicante had helped him, Alex said, “Totally yes! It was a great experience that every coach should take part. Lots of ideas on how to train athletes of higher level and older than my athletes that now are 10-14 yrs. but I also got many ideas on how to structure a development camp. I will go away from Alicante and return to Greece where I am preparing my athletes for the Greek national championships in Aquathlon and Triathlon. Many thanks to our great facilitators Željko Bijuk and Miloš Petelin, but also to our amazing hosts Sergio Sellés Pérez and Alberto Ferriz for their warm welcome and hospitality. Guys you made us feel at home. It was a unique experience for athletes and coaches, certainly to recommend. Thank you ITU & ETU for making it happen!!!”
For multi-talented George Lavdas, this was his second camp. “My first was in Greece, Loutraki and it was a chance to focus on all areas of our sport. I certainly came away from the camp with some extra skills that I can use in the transition area. I also learned that the most important thing that matters in combination with training is recovery. That's the key to success. My next race is in Greece, Spetses (Spetsathlon)'
From Slovenia comes Jan Škrjanc. He is no stranger to the ETU Development Camps as he was one of the participants last year in Tiszaújváros for a week. He knew, before travelling to Alicante that some of the same athletes would be here and of course this is how the junior athletes are able to build their all-important networks. From the very start he realised that it would be fun and his determination to enjoy himself enabled him to work on exercises for flexibility and to build on areas of swimming technique. He also worked on learning and practicing more drills for stretching and strength and so improved his running and swimming techniques too. “It was such a pleasure to be a part of the camp because I met some amazing people here and got a lot of new knowledge. My next race is going to be in Italy, it is going to be my first Sprint Distance race so I hope it will go well. This camp will absolutely help with my result.'
Also from Slovenia is Katja Hočevar. “This was my second ETU development camp and I really enjoyed it. My first camp was in Medulin. At first I was a little bit worried about coming to the camp, but I realised pretty soon that all athletes just wanted to have fun and they wanted to make new friends. I knew from the beginning that it would be fun but also a lot of hard work. I really enjoyed the open water swimming and the work in the velodrome. I got to work on new skills on the bike and I learned some new running drills. Coming to Alicante was a big opportunity to meet new people and to learn something new from everyone. My next race is going to be in Italy.'
Third up from Slovenia comes Tjaša Vrtačič. “This wasn't my first camp. I have already participated in the ETU Development Camps in Rio Major and Tiszaújváros. This time around I knew what to expect and what it was going to be like. The coaches were really nice and I had the opportunity to try many different ways of trainings. I experienced riding at the velodrome, which was really fun. Like always I met many athletes and some I already knew from before. My next big race is going to be European championships in Kitzbühel, if my injury will heal.” ETU wishes Tjaša a speedy and full recovery and look forwards to seeing her race in Austria in June.
From one of the smallest nations but certainly a nation with a big heart, comes Malta’s Nikol Micallef. Not his first camp and so he was quite relaxed about the whole thing. He settled in once he had seen the timetable of events. In particular he wanted to work on his swimming and acquire some extra skills to improve stroke, stamina and speed. “The whole course helped me a lot since I got new experiences and skills and I hope to see this all work at my next race, which is going to be the national Maltese duathlon.”
The last word, of course, goes to our hard-working Željko, “From my side I can express satisfaction that all athletes and coaches gave their best during the camp and left Alicante with a lot of new skills, which should be refined and polished back home.”
If you want to learn more about any aspect of development in Europe, as an athlete or coach, then contact Željko Bijuk, ETU Development Co-ordinator.
We have a great selection of photos and videos. Without the hard work of Nik Zobec, we would not have these images. So a big thank you to Nik.
