Winning a medal at the Saskatchewan Summer Games is not easy.
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Despite his great accomplishment, 13-year-old triathlete Reece Gilbert of Unity was just as excited to be part of the event as he was with picking up a bronze medal.
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鈥淚 was thrilled to be there,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淚 enjoyed the whole experience. The volunteers, the coaches and the entire community in Estevan were all fantastic.
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鈥淕oing into the competition I really didn't expect to medal. My main goal was to achieve a personal best time so to be able to do both of those things was a pretty awesome feeling.鈥�
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Competing in the male 14-15 division, Gilbert completed a 500m swim, 10km bike ride and a 5km run in 52 minutes and seven seconds.
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鈥淚 felt like I had a really good run and that was probably what I was the happiest about from my performance,鈥� Gilbert said.
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鈥淚 swam and biked as hard as I could and as I got to the run I was feeling really comfortable. My coach (Aiden Katz of Saskatoon) really helped me out with that a lot during the week with staying at ease.鈥�
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While he's competed in cross country running races for the last four years, Gilbert is still relatively new to the triathlon scene.
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鈥淚 went to Saskatoon and became an affiliate member of the Saskatoon Triathlon Club this last year, and I've really enjoyed it,鈥� Gilbert said. 鈥淚 practice there often and I've also been to a couple of biking clinics in North Battleford and Lloydminster.
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鈥淚 hadn't swam or biked competitively before so that was something to get used to. My coach RossAnn Edwards has really helped me out with that, along with everyone else in Saskatoon.鈥�
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Although Gilbert will be to old for the next Saskatchewan Summer Games, he hopes to make the provincial triathlon squad for the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg next year.
