Rising triathlon star wants to shine in Asia

National women’s triathlon champion Sandra Araullo has gone far in her new career and is just too anxious to go even farther.

After finishing her Applied Physics studies at UP-Diliman, the pretty bright girl was torn between a triathlon career and a future in a firm or the academe. She could not choose both, so she chose the former.

With her parents’ blessings, Sandra is now concentrating on her chosen sport with an eye on the Speedo Asian Triathlon Championships in Subic next month, the SEA Games next year here in Manila where triathlon is making a debut, and further on, the Asian Games in 2006 where again triathlon has been included for the first time.

"For one I need a break from my studies, five years din yun na panay pag-iisip, then, I also want to see how far I can go in triathlon if I focus myself on it," said the 22-year-old triathlete who first took up the sport in 1997 to cure her asthma, without realizing she would end up winning the national championship.

Fresh from an extended training in Christchurch, New Zealand under the sponsorship of PCSO and her parents last December up to late January, Sandra showed marked improvement in winning the national championship in Guimaras, and assuring her again of a slot in the national team for this year.

"I want to make good here in the Philippines when we host both the Asian championships and the SEA Games next year, but there are obstacles along the way, like the problem with our allowance from the PSC, it is very frustrating for us athletes to be told that the little allowance we are supposed to get cannot be given pa," said Sandra, who still wants to take up a master’s degree in Physics either here or abroad in the future.

She admits, too, that it took a long time before her father really saw she was serious about her sport.

"It was after the Asian championships in India last year where I made a lot of improvement that he really believed I was seriously training, and he allowed me to go to New Zealand to train, he did not naman give conditions as he trusts that I will make the right decision for myself," revealed the pretty triathlete who is also currently training in the high altitude of Baguio City for the Asian Championships.

She will be fielded by the coaching staff, either in the Elite Open or in the Under 23 category, but whatever happens, she is clear in her objectives – beat the other Southeast Asian entries – and if she can break the national record along the way, it will be a bonus.

And TRAP president Tom Carrasco believes his ward is capable of doing just that.