Over 103 tri-athletes braved the cold weather on Sunday to take part in the first Tribal Triathlon Series Race of the season at Orient Beach on the Esplanade.
The race saw a record breaking number of athletes taking part at the start of the season in two distances, namely the mini and sprint.
The mini distance consisted of a 400m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run. The sprint distance was a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.
“Although there are some top racers not here because of the PE Ironman, it’s great to see such depth of talent in the triathlon community,” said Tribal owner Cillian Ryan.
The competition was tough in the male sprint section with the hotly-contested top position going to Davion Leon.
“I’m so happy to win this first race especially with the bad weather conditions. I really wanted to win this,” said Leon.
The winner in the ladies sprint section was 13-year-old Kiara Herman of Stirling High School, competing in her first sprint distance.
“I’ve been taking part in the mini distance for two years. I’m really happy I won, I can’t believe it,” she said.
Herman takes part in a variety of sports at her school and would like to participate in the shorter version of the Ironman some day. Both winners are trained by triathlete Stirling High School.
“I’m focusing on coaching at the moment and my main goal is to train the guys to go as far as representing the country in world series championships,” said Makeleni.
The second Tribal Triathlon Series race will take place on October 16.
