Young TRAP bets prevail in Singapore meet

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, relying on the spirited performance from young triathletes honed under Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) SuperTriKids program, won a gold, silver and bronze in the 2014 Singapore Triathlon at the East Coast Park, Singapore last weekend.

Ten-year-old Syrah Ruth Uy, the youngest in the delegation, topped the Kids female 10-11 category (100-m swim, 6-km bike, 750-m run) in 22 minute and 40 second. The Cebuana triathlete defeated Zoe Albury of Indonesia (22:56) and Brodie Horn of Singapore (23:05).

Ralph Eduard So and Fredric Albert Yuan Chiongbian copped the two other medals in the Youth boys 14-15 (200-m swim, 12-km bike and 1.5-km run).

So bounced back from a slow start and went on to bag the silver medal in 34:18, while Chiongbian dominated the swim leg but suffered a flat tire in the bike race and settled for third in 34:31.

Local bet Aaron Shane Tan won the gold in 33:50 mark.

Shaia Ruth Uy, Aaliyah Mataragnon and Mercy Issa Priagula placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the female category.

Elite and junior triathletes who competed in the ITU Asia Cup and Junior Sprint races also struggled against their rivals.

Asian Games-bound John Chicano and Claire Adorna turned in a respectable 2:03:25 and 2:18:34 for 25th and 11th places, respectively. The two carried the fight for the country as top triathletes Nikko Huelgas and Kim Mangrobang failed to finish the race.

Jared Macalalad emerged the top Filipino in the Junior Sprint at 10th (1:03:59) while Justin Chiongbian, Julius Constantino and Marc Altura took 11th, 13th and 15th spots.

 Australia’s Courtney Atkinson (1:49:52), Japan’s Aoi Kuramoto (2:04:03) and Hong Kong’s Kok Yu Hang (57:55) topped the Elite Male, Female and Junior Sprint male.