Destination Delaware

National triathlon women’s champion Chara Hinds has earned an athletic scholarship to Delaware State University (DSU) where she will represent the Hornets women’s triathlon team while pursuing her studies in engineering.

The Harrison College student who leaves in August to begin her newest chapter as a student-athlete at the tertiary level, said all her have sacrifices paid off. She added she never envisioned acquiring a scholarship through sports.

“Initially, no, but if you would have asked me this maybe two years ago, I wouldn’t have thought so when I was just swimming. But working with Darren Treasure in the Junior Emerging Athletes Program (JEAP) and the other coaches, I made so many improvements,” Hind said.

During a telephone interview with Barbados TODAY, Hinds who has had the distinction of representing the Barbados Aquatic Sports Association in swimming and the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes, said she was happy to be part of the Delaware triathlon family.

“I started looking at Universities late so I was not expecting such a response from the coaches but I had quite a few options. I chose Delaware because of the location; it is close to family and their triathlon coach specialises in cycling.

“I have a swimming and running background, so cycling is where I would need to make my biggest improvements,” stated Hinds who will be coached by Eric Kirouac, head of the Delaware women’s triathlon team.

DSU is a Division 1 school and was recently ranked first in the nation in academics amongst all public (historically black colleges and universities) institutions.

The 17-year-old explained how much hard work, dedication and commitment it took in realising her pursuits as a national athlete and student.

“I made a lot of sacrifices because most weekends children my age are out, going to parties hanging out and I have to be in bed because I have three hours of training the next morning.

“I would have to get up at 4 a.m. during the week to go cycling, so a lot of sacrifice on the weekend in terms of going out. And then the school work, it was more stressful because I came home tired but the school work must be done. So, juggling that was difficult and it impacted my social life a lot. But I would say that it was worth it,” Hinds explained.   

While at Delaware, Hinds has a few goals in mind that she would like to focus on.

“My focus in the coming months is to compete in Collegiate triathlon and improve. Also, to be able to represent Barbados while in Delaware. The Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games as well. Also, I would be the first female in Barbados to take triathlon to that level, so I would want to set an example for those that come after me,” she added.

According to Hinds with an overall best time of one hour and 52 seconds, triathlon gives her a lot of opportunities and allows her to make a name for herself. She encouraged other females or anyone for that matter to get involved.

“There are a lot of opportunities in the sport now, especially in Barbados, that Darren Treasure is running BFIT. Although it is hard work, almost like everything else, the benefits that you reap from doing triathlon are worth it.

“We also get to interact with different people, the swimmers, cyclists and runners. That also helps with opportunities, so I would say it is worth a try once you can make the sacrifices,” Hinds explained.

Several coaches work closely with Hinds. President of BFIT Darren Treasure (running, cycling) is one of them along with two-time national men’s champion Oein Josiah (swimming, running, cycling), Philip Gaskin (strength coach) and Olympian Jason Wilson (create training programs).

In the past, Hinds represented Barbados at the age eight and under Goodwill Swimming Championship and also CARIFTA on two occasions in the open water event.

For the continued development of the sport locally, Hinds praised the great work of president Darren Treasure and said she hopes to see more members of the public getting involved.

“A lot of work has been done by Darren. But I would say more support is needed from the public in terms of coming out to the races. It is a sport that anyone can do and even if you don’t do triathlon, there is aquathlon and it is fun. Even if you are not a professional, it is a fun sport to get involved in,” Hinds said.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb