Youth triathlon camp toughens up SEAG bets

The recent week-long Asian Youth Triathlon Camp (AYTC) at Subic Freeport signals a shift in Philippine triathlon, says Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) president Tom Carrasco.

Sponsored jointly by the Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) and the Japan Triathlon Union (JTU), the youth training camp attracted close to 40 junior triathletes and coaches from four Asian countries – Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, and host Philippines – with former Australian national team training director and veteran triathlete Rob Pickard as camp director.

This was an offshoot of discussions between TRAP and another former Australian triathlon coach Brett Mace, now handling the national team of India, who advised that the training of a team should focus on training together instead of allowing athletes to do their own training, as he cited the advantage of working and supporting one another during actual races.

At the same time, the ASTC has also been discussing the holding of an ASTC-backed youth triathlon training camp with ASTC president Yu Kyung Sun adopting youth development as one of his major programs for Asian triathlon, and with the assurance of support, Carrasco volunteered to host the first training camp.

"Last year, a similar youth training camp was held in Japan but it was under the auspices of the International Triathlon Union and Solidarity. This year, it is directly under the ASTC. Unfortunately, some countries were not able to send representatives because of conflict in schedules, funding problems, and other reasons," explained Carrasco.

The training camp, which targeted both young triathletes and coaches, covered indoor and outdoor modules. Topics covered were bike set-up, sports psychology, nutrition for endurance, and even legal obligations of coaches. Outdoor sessions were hands-on activities with new techniques introduced by Pickard.

The camp was capped by a sprint triathlon race for the participants at Camayan Beach. Hong Kong’s Derwin Chan ruled the boys’ side in 1:13.51, followed by Korean Minho Heo (1:15.56), and best-placed local triathlete Jinno Salvacion (1:17.50).

The female junior side was won by Korean Ha Yun Son in 1:24.19, followed by another Korean, Jiyeon Kim (1:24.20), and local bet Alexandra Ganzon (1:25.57), a bet from Iloilo and member of the national triathlon team.

"We are going to follow up this program with shorter weekend training camps both in Subic and Clark, with a long one in Guimaras later this year. The focus now is on identifying individuals and their improvement areas, at the same time foster closer teamwork among them. We will start sending them more to international competitions next year with a training and competition stint in Australia, all in preparation for the SEA Games late next year," said Carrasco.

He said emphasis is more on the youth side with more than half of the current national triathlon team below 20 years old. Aside from the senior ones like Noel Salvador, Abet Biagan, Eldy Banluta, and Ani de Leon, all in their mid to late 20’s, the rest of the 12-man roster are below 20. These are Sandra Araullo, Josephine Pilapil, Lea Coline Langit, Mimi Lucas, Alexandra Ganzon, and newcomers Jinno Salvacion and Nicky Quilala.

"Definitely, it was a good opportunity for our junior triathletes in the training camp," said TRAP secretary general Mon Marchan who was camp coordinator.

With an effective training scheme cut out for them, Filipino triathlets are on course for a gold medal performance in next year’s Southeast Asian Games.