SEATA eyes permanent inclusion of triathlon in SEAG

Members of the South East Asian Triathlon Association (SEATA) are putting their act together to ensure the permanent inclusion of triathlon as a regular sport in future editions of the Southeast Asian Games.

The SEATA members from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and host Philippines underscored the need for the permanenet inclusion of triathlon at its recent Congress hosted by association president Tom Carrasco Jr. at the Travellers Hotel in Subic.

“We see the need for a more active SEATA with a united stand for the association in all SEA Games events and ensure that triathlon will always be included among the events. We have to exert more effort come 2021 and 2023 when Vietnam and Cambodia host the SEA Games, respectively,” said Carrasco, adding that prior to 2015, triathlon was not played for six years in the biennial regional sports event.

Carrasco said SEATA must work more closely with the Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) to get more allocations for assistance not only in developing the sport but in providing training for technical officials and coaches.

As it is, SEATA members provide 40 percent of the technical officials for the forthcoming Asian Games in Indonesia.

Carrasco extended his invitation to the other member countries to send representatives to the Asian Paratriathlon Championship set in August in Legazpi City and the ASEAN Para Games Jan. 2020 after the 2019 SEAG in Manila.

Also present at the Congress was ASTC’s Seung Jun Lim who explained the recent changes in the selection and election processes in the confederation.

Other attendees were Melody Tan, Peter Lau and Balwant Singh Kleir from Malaysia, Raymond Chong and Eugene Ong from Singapore, Vijit Sittinawin from Thailand, Anastasia Kirana from Indonesia, and Carrasco, Lito Cinco from the Philippine Paratriathlon Committee (PPTC) and Sarita Zafra from the Philippines.