Macalintal, Team TriMac gain triathlon awards

MANILA, Philippines - Triathlon coach Jojo ‘‘Jomac’’ Macalintal, his wife Monica Torres and his Team TriMac topped the first annual awards of the multi-sport website swimbikerun.ph recently.

Macalintal, an International Triathlon Union-accredited coach, was voted coach of the year in the online balloting conducted by the website last month.

Torres, the country’s No. 1 female triathlete and top Filipina elite of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines in Camarines Sur the past three years, swept both awards as female elite triathlete and duathlete of the year.

And the Quezon City-based Team TriMac garnered triathlon team of the year award.

Carlos de Guzman of swimbikerun.ph presented the awards to Macalintal, Torres and TriMac on Thursday (Jan. 26) at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

Arland Macasieb topped the balloting as men’s elite triathlete of the year while Australia’s Pete Jacobs and Britain’s Chrissie Wellington were voted foreign men’s and women’s elite triathletes of the year.

August Benedicto, who lost out to Macasieb for the Filipno men’s elite triathlon honors, settled for men’s elite duathlete of the year.

The top men’s and women’s age-group triathletes of the year were Abe Tayag and Sen. Pia Cayetano, respectively. The youth triathlete of the year  is Abby Vizcarra.

The other awards went to Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines (event of the year); Specialized Shiv (bike of the year); Timex Global Trainer (gadget of the year); and K-Swiss Kwicky Blade-Light (shoes of the year).