By Neto Baptiste
Tri-athletes will vie for spots on the Antigua and Barbuda triathlon and aquathlon squad for this year’s Carifta Triathlon and Aquathlon championships slated for August 17 and 18 in Barbados.
Former national athlete and a member of the Antigua and Barbuda Triathlon Association, Cordova “Popeye” Simon, said participants will compete in six categories and they will be given an opportunity to impress national selectors.
“The event is for athletes to gain opportunities to represent Antigua and Barbuda at Carifta so there is no charge, and we are not running away anybody, so you just come out and participate in the various age groups and we are saying that if it’s just a few of you who want to represent Antigua then you come out and let’s see what you can do,” he said.
Athletes will compete in the 11-12 male and female triathlon, 11-12 aquathlon, 13-15 male and female triathlon, 13-15 male and female aquathlon, 16-19/20-21 triathlon and the 16-19/2-1 aquathlon.
Simon is hoping for a large turnout given the low numbers for their most recent trials late last year. He added that efforts are being made to bring more young athletes to the sport.
“We are planning, we had put out a calendar with three different events of which we have already had one. The second one should have been on the day they changed the cycling for the Worker’s Union, and a lot of the cyclists said they wanted to take part in that, so we had to squash that, so now that event was put back until September,” he said.
The event is slated to start at 7:00 am at Ffryes Beach.
