National triathletes attend Asian training camps

MANILA, Philippines – The Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) has sent two groups of national triathletes to High Performance (HP) training camps abroad with support from the Philippine Sports Commission and endorsement from the Philippine Olympic Committee.

The first group composed of youth and junior elite athletes is attending the ongoing Asian Triathlon Confederation (ASTC) Talent Identification Camp in Rayong, Thailand under coach Peter Clifford.

Brent Valelo, 2015 Batang Pinoy triathlon and duathlon gold medalist and Yuan Chionbian, the 2014 gold medalist of those events, are the male participants; while Nicole Eijansantos, a Youth Olympic Games candidate, and Una Sibayan, the 2015 BP duathlon champion, composed the distaff side. Kevin Eijansantos, Nicole’s elder brother is the team coach.

“The Rayong Camp’s objective is to pinpoint athletes from developing countries who have real potential so that Asia can be more competitive in world triathlon. For the first time the camp will be open to Youth Olympic Games eligible athletes like Nicole, a three-time Batang Pinoy champion from 2013 to 2015,” said TRAP president Tom Carrasco.

“We hope she and the others can be selected. The coaches attending will also be mentored and undergo hands on training to improve their craft. This is a great opportunity for these guys. Selected prospects will be included in the ASTC developmental team and be entitled to training, equipment, and travel subsidies,” he added. 

The other squad is composed of SEA Games gold medalist Nikko Huelgas, women’s silver medalist Kim Mangrobang and Edward Macalalad. They are continuing their training at the DESMOR HP Camp in Rio Maior, Portugal under Sergio Santos, the same coach who prepared the successful 2015 SEA Games Triathlon team.

SEA Games triathlon gold medalist Claire Adorna, meanwhile, is still recuperating from a recent surgery.

“We like the progress of the athletes who have gone to DESMOR and we want this to continue until 2020 in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics,” said Carrasco, “On the short term, we would like to achieve a top five finish in the Asian Triathlon Championships in Japan this April.”

TRAP has decided to emphasize its role of managing and maintaining the national team and sports development while concentrating less on organizing races because that role is being fulfilled by numerous race organizers all over the country. Developing young triathletes who can compete in important triathlon events overseas is being done in accordance to TRAP’s program.

“There are so many races now, you can almost race every week. We believe that our main role now is handling the National Team & talent identification and sports development through coaching and officiating seminars/clinics,” said Carrasco.