An estimated 150 I-Tri girls, members of Theresa Roden’s widely praised empowerment program that is in middle schools spanning Mastic to Montauk, participated Sunday in a youth triathlon (300-yard swim, six-mile bike, and 1.5-mile run) at Noyac’s Long Beach, a race won, in 40 minutes and 12.10 seconds, by Vanesssa Rizzo, 14, who finished fifth last year.
Roden, whose I-Tri motto is “Transformation Through Triathlon,” said it was the biggest turnout the event has had.
There were three starting “waves” in the swim, with most of the I-Tri girls in the second one, Sharon McCobb, the race director, said. James Whitsett, a 15-year-old Chaminade High School student who rows with that school’s eight-man crew, was the first male over the line, but it turned out that an 11-year-old, Daniel Magnani, who, according to McCobb, “ran like the wind,” wound up with the fastest time among the 14 boys who competed. Placing third over all, Magnani covered the course in 41:40.59; Whitsett, who was seventh, did so in 43:30.14.
There were three Rizzos among the race’s top five — Vanessa and her sisters, Evelyn, 10, who was fourth in 42:19.48, and Heidi, 12, who was fifth in 42:31.15. Heidi was also the first I-Tri finisher, McCobb said, adding that the Rizzos are members of the East Hampton Y.M.C.A.’s youth swim team, the Hurricanes, and of East Hampton Town’s junior lifeguard program.
Others in the race’s top 10 were Catherine Bailey, 12, second in 41:36.55; Annabel Case, 15, sixth in 43:16.42; Francie Millstone, 15, eighth in 43:47.89; Ari Nadel, 11, ninth in 44:19.41, and Juliet Dessey, 10, in 44:28.36.
The I-Tri girls — McCobb estimated that at least 100 were first-timers — began training under her direction at the end of February, swimming in the Y’s pool here and in the Suffolk Community College pool in Riverhead. During that period, she also taught about a dozen of the program’s members how to ride a bicycle.
It was gratifying, said McCobb, who has been the Old Montauk Athletic Club’s president since 2013, to see youngsters work toward a goal and achieve it.
