Building Bonds Through Triathlon: USA Triathlon Welcomes Bermuda Juniors for Training and Racing

This summer, USA Triathlon hosted a group of junior athletes and their coach from Bermuda for a week of training, racing, and relationship-building thanks to support from a U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee International Relations Grant.

The idea was simple but powerful: bring together young triathletes from the Americas to share training experiences, learn from one another, and compete side by side. When invitations went out to select federations in the Americas, Bermuda eagerly accepted.

That’s how Bermuda coach Richard Lau and son Jasper Lau (15) and brother and sister Carina Bortoli (17), Luca Bortoli (16), found themselves in Dallas, Texas, training with Team Playtri under the guidance of USA Triathlon Certified Coach Morgan Hoffman.

For a week, the Bermudian athletes trained shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. juniors, jumping into group sessions, tackling swim stroke work, riding the endless miles of roads (a welcome change from the limited cycling options on the tiny island of Bermuda), and gaining exposure to different coaching perspectives. But the experience went far beyond intervals and drills.

“All of the kids had a lot of fun training with each other and learning from each other. Triathlon is such a global sport, and it’s so beneficial for the kids to be exposed to different cultures, different ideas, different ways of thinking,” said Hoffman, who has been a part of the Team Playtri coaching staff since 2010. A designated USA Triathlon High Performance Team program for many years, Team Playtri plays an important part in the Olympic and Paralympic pipeline. Its program has supported the development of national champions, All-Americans, NCAA Division I recruits, and professional athletes.

After training in Dallas, the group traveled with Playtri to Iowa for the Flatland Cup, a USA Triathlon Junior Development Series race in Des Moines. There, they tested their skills against a strong domestic field while building friendships that extended across teams and nationalities.

The experience also had a lasting developmental impact. Luca Bortoli earned qualification for USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Nationals, a milestone made possible by his time in the U.S. At Nationals in West Chester, Ohio, in August, Luca teamed up with Playtri juniors in a mixed relay — proof of the camaraderie and spirit the exchange set out to create.

That camaraderie and learning also extended to the coaches.

“With opportunities like this, coaches can exchange ideas and approaches,” Hoffman added. “We get so used to talking to other American coaches that we often miss out on new perspectives. This was a chance for us to share ideas, compare how we do things, and learn from each other. That kind of exchange is so valuable.”

For USA Triathlon, this initiative reflects what makes the sport special: the ability to connect people across borders through shared passion, competition, and community.

“Experiences like the one shared by USA Triathlon and the Bermuda Triathlon Association show the incredible impact of international exchange. Investing in juniors and coaches is essential for the growth of our sport, and we look forward to continuing to find ways to support development,” said Gabriela Gallegos, World Triathlon Vice President and USA Triathlon Board member.

Thanks to the USOPC International Relations Grant, three young Bermudian athletes and the U.S. juniors who trained and raced with them are now part of a growing network of friendships that will carry forward as they chase their triathlon dreams.

“One of the things you quickly learn about our sport is that it’s really such a small community,” Hoffman said. “Even though we’re all racing and want to win, there’s a lot of support and friendship across country lines. It was cool for our athletes to start forging those relationships. When these kids travel internationally to their first Continental Cup, they’re going to see familiar faces, which is the coolest feeling ever.”