Carrasco founding president of SEATA

Tom Carrasco, incoming senior vice president of the Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) and reelected Asian representative to the International Triathlon Union, was recently voted founding president of the Southeast Asian Triathlon Association (SEATA).

Red Dumuk, secretary general at the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) he heads, was also elected SEATA’s secretary general.

The other founding members are Malaysia’s Balwant Singh Kler, Singapore’s David Hoong, Thailand’s Vijitr Sittinawin, ASTC secretary general-, treasurer-and executive board member-elect, respectively, and Cahn of ASTC provisional member Vietnam.

SEATA’s constitution & by-laws being drafted by Dumuk will be ratified during the TRAP’s hosting of the 2004 Asian Triathlon Championship set at Subic Bay Freeport on April 3 and 4.

The most immediate move of SEATA is to lobby for the inclusion of triathlon in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games the country will host.

Toward this end, Hoong was tasked as SEATA’s point man in forming national triathlon associations for Indonesia and Laos, Vijitr for Myanmar and Cambodia, and Kler for Brunei and Looc Timor.

Carrasco and Dumuk have been appointed chairs of the 2005 SEA Games special events and venue operations and management committees, respectively.

The formidable bloc of SEATA members in the ASTC also agreed to support Singapore’s bid for the 2005 Asian Triathlon Championship.