Top triathletes vie in NTT ASTC Subic meet

MANILA, Philippines – Several world-ranked triathletes, led by former World Junior champion and former ITU No. 1 Felicity Abram and Melinda Vernon of Australia, will test their mettle in the elite competition of the NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon 2016 set April 16 at the ACEA Subic Bay inside the Subic Bay Freeport.

The elite competition (standard distance 1.5K swim-40K bike-10K run) will be held April 17 at 6 a.m. with ITU qualifying points up for grabs for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic triathlon event.

The event has drawn the likes of Mohamad Alsabbagh (Syria), James Chronis (Greece), Chris George (Australia), Shen-Yen Hsieh (Chinese Taipei), Rikigoro Shinozuka (Malaysia), JiayuTan (Singapore), James Thorp (Australia), Joel Tobin White (Australia), Chun Yin Tse (Hong Kong), Yuki Umeda (Japan) and national triathletes John Chicano, Mark Hosana, Jonard Saim and Deo Timbol.

Claire Adorna, the 2015 SEA Games gold medalist, and teammate Kim Kilgroe will lead the Philippines’ bid in the distaff side, which includes Chi Wen Chang (Chinese Taipei), Shuwen Chang (Singapore), Ting-Ting Chang (Chinese Taipei), Irene See Win Chiong (Malaysia) and Kate Rutherford (Hong Kong).

Kicking off the two-day event is the junior elite competition (750m swim-20K bike-5K run) on April 16 with Malaysian entries Zoe Bowden, Dayanee Kunaseelan, Lee Wen Jun and Ng Wyjoon gunning for qualifying points for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The event is supported by Century Tuna, Standard Insurance, Gatorade, Asian Center for Insulation, Subic Holiday Villas, ACEA Subic Bay, Biker’s Café, Blackbeard’s Seafood Island, The Lighthouse Marina Resort, Enervon Active, AH Cabgel, AH Enervon HP, Athena, Pure & Feminine Wash, RaceDay, SBR.ph, Multisport, Kikay Runner, Solar Sports, Philippine STAR and PinoyFitness.com. 

Organized by TRAP in cooperation with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon 2016 is presented by SBMA Tourism Department.

The event continues to attract world-class triathletes as well as members of local triathlon communities into the Subic Bay Freeport which has established itself as a major sports tourism destination of the Philippines.