TRAP expands triathlon program in 2010

MANILA, Philippines - The introduction of Team relay competitions will be one of the innovations set by TRAP in 2010. While more sprint races for the Super Tri-kids as well as for beginners and novice will be held to lure more young and professional individuals into the sports.

“High performance camp for the elite athletes will be intensified the coming year in anticipation of the many international competitions lined up topped with the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November and the Asian Beach Games in Oman in December,” said TRAP president Tom Carrasco Jr.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Philippine Sports Commission will again be major partners of TRAP. The SBMA will continue to provide the site for the elite training camp aside from hosting not one or two but four major events. The PSC provides the financial subsidy.

Aside from the annual ITU Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT), Asian Cup Leg and the ASTC Subic International Duathlon Championship, Subic Bay will also host the Asian Triathlon Confederation’s (ASTC) Junior and Under 23 Asian Triathlon Championships.

“We decided to host the 2010 ASTC Junior and Under 23 Championships to provide young triathletes more avenue to hone their skills. Triathlon has become popular all over the world that junior triathletes have been performing at par with the elite. Besides the elite will have a number of events to hog the limelight like the Asian Beach Games and the Asian Games,” said Carrasco, also the treasurer of the governing International Triathlon Union (ITU) and ASTC senior vice president.

TRAP is intensifying its programs to ensure gains made in 2009 will continue to roll in the coming year.

Neil Catiil, LC Langit, Kim Mangrobang, Johannah Pe Benito and Monica Torres were new names in the endurance sport in 2009, scoring victories against season rivals to prove that the TRAP program to develop the triathletes, duathletes and aquathletes is on the right track.

The 23-year old Catiil, a prize find from Cagayan De Oro City, showed that he is good not only at triathlon but also in duathlon. A member of the national team for only two years, Catiil won his first international title at the ITU Singapore International Triathlon last August.

As a duathlete, he emerged as the second best in the Asian region in the Asian Duathlon Championship hosted by Subic Bay last November.

Langit, who underwent training stint in Switzerland and Korea, topped the Asian Aquathlon Championships in Indonesia last October. He had strong third place showings in Dijon Triathlon in France last July and at the ITU Palembang Asian Cup in October.

Junior athletes Mangrobang and Pe Benito also delivered in the Mekong duathlon/triathlon held March in Thailand. Benito won the Elite Junior in the Asian Duathlon after he placed third in the Hong Kong Triathlon last October.

Torres maintained her spot as the country’s top lady duathlete, finishing second in the Asian Duathlon aside from a sixth place showing but first among Asian competitors during the Powerman Malaysia last November. She is now ranked 25th in the world.

“We would like to sustain the gains of 2008 and 2009 to finally land a Filipino in the 2012 London Olympic triathlon,” said Carrasco.