Phl, 5 others form SEA triathlon assn

Triathlon-playing Southeast Asian countries led by the Philippines have banded together to form the SEA Triathlon Association to further develop and grow the sport in the region and ultimately send qualifiers to the Olympics

Tom Carrasco, secretary general of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines, will lead the newly formed association composed of SEAG champ Phl, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

“Our main objective is to ensure that triathlon will always be in the SEA Games program. And every other year, in-between the SEA Games, we’ll be holding a SEA tournament in sprint distance para tuloy tuloy (so competition will be continuous),” Carrasco told The STAR.

Aside from making sure the athletes experience regular exposure, Carrasco said the SEATA aims to help technical officials and coaches improve, too..

“We want to ensure we get organize technical and coaching courses, and make for good and fair allocation of resources provided by the Asian Triathlon Confederation,” said Carrasco.

Further down the road, SEATA eyes to help the region’s best triathletes reach maximum potential to boost their shot at the Olympiad.

“Eventually, we want to qualify SEA triathletes to the Olympics because at present, the only ones from Asia to make it are Japan, China, Korea and Kazakhstan,” said Carrasco, who will host SEATA’s Congress in November in Manila coinciding with the scheduled SEAG Federation meeting here.