On Saturday 26th November the cadets and staff of 1140 (Steyning) Squadron completed a gruelling triathlon at the Steyning Leisure Centre to raise funds for sports and radio equipment.

The team swam the distance of the university boat race, ran a marathon and then cycled from London to Brighton. They exceeded their sponsorship target of £500 and are now waiting for the sports kit to arrive.

Back in the summer the cadets were tasked with identifying, planning and running a fund-raising project. They were set a target of £500 and agreed with the staff team that they wanted sports kit from the proceeds.

The cadets then set about identifying the event and there were quickly two front runners – a sponsored swim and a sponsored cycle. These two ideas were merged and quickly turned into a team triathlon.

With the guidance and support of the staff a plan began to crystallise. The cadets were then tasked with working out what well known distances were achievable.

Steyning Leisure Centre quickly came on board to sponsor the event in two ways – by hosting the triathlon and offering prizes for the sponsorship competition.

Each cadet and member of staff were then required to raise as much sponsorship as possible by asking friends and family to contribute £2 for every guess of the total effort (in man hours) that would be required to complete the three challenges.

On the day of the event the team started with the swimming.

• The boat race covers 4 miles 374 yards – or to the cadets that was 271 lengths! To achieve this, the team swam a relay with 4 swimmers on the go at any one time.
• Once the swimming was over it was into the gym and onto the cycling machines. Four machines were used initially with each rider cycling for 1 km before swapping with someone else until the 95 km were achieved.
• Finally, the running machines were put to the test, as all six machines were in operation with each runner limited to 500m legs to achieve the 42 km (or 26 miles etc in old money).

Officer Commanding 1140 Squadron commented afterwards “I’ve never seen the cadets so motivated. They were superb and everybody has contributed to their own personal limits. It’s fantastic. Young people today are knocked for their commitment and fitness but this Squadron has shown what many young people are really like and what they can achieve.”

To add to this achievement, many of the cadets then took part in the Sussex ATC cross country meeting the following morning with two cadets winning their races and the junior boys team coming second overall – obviously the triathlon was just a warm up for them! 

Pictures of the cycling - click on the image to view full size and press back to return