The statistics are disheartening: just nine per cent of children get enough daily exercise – that’s at least 60 minutes of medium to intense physical activity each day – and the obesity rate among Canadian children has tripled over the past 30 years.<\/p>\n
“This generation (of children) has a lower life expectancy than their parents,” says Morven Barnes, Manager of Aquatics for the Town of Huntsville. “But children who have a good physical literacy base have a better chance of becoming active adults.”<\/p>\n
Barnes wants to encourage kids to become more physically literate, and the addition of 10 Hydroriders – stationary aquatic bikes that sit on the pool floor – at Centennial Pool has provided an opportunity to increase their physical skills base. Local area schools have been invited to bring students in grades 5 and up to try out the new aquabikes.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to introduce kids to a greater variety of sports,” said Barnes. “Triathlon is one of those sports that if you don’t have family interested in it, you might not get involved. (These sessions) are an introduction to triathlon that we’ve offered free to the schools.”<\/p>\n
The students complete three, 15-minute stations – water running, swim training, and aquabiking – and then have a fun competition in a short, all-water triathlon consisting of three laps of the large pool, four water running laps of the small pool, and one minute of aquabiking.<\/p>\n\n\t\t