THE Cebu-based Rider Omega Triathlon Team is not resting on their laurels with plans to assert more presence in national team races for the duration of the 2019 triathlon season.
“Better performance and be more visible in national team races,” team manager Tonyson Luther Lee told SunStar Cebu. “Still, we will be racing in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.”
Aside from the national races, the team will expand their reach to races abroad. This includes the Ironman Port Macquarie in Australia in May with seven triathletes gearing up for the full distance, which covers a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180K bike and 42K run.
The team’s elite, Banjo Norte, will also compete in the Ironman World Championships in Nice, France.
Norte got the slot in the Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championships in Cebu last year, where he won the Asian Elite title.
One of the first major national races for the team this year is the Bike King Triathlon in February, wherein they are seeking a coveted four-peat in the Team Challenge category.
Lee believes that in order for the team to get to the next level, a big factor will be the contribution of coach Franz Baguio, who officially passed the ITU Level 1 coaching course in November in South Korea.
“Baguio plans to get Level 2 in 2019. He’s also a certified Ironman coach, which he got in October 2018. The things he learned would be a big factor to the team,” Lee said. “For sure he would adopt a new scientific method in our training programs to excel and get better time in every race we do for our athletes.”
In 2018, the team made its presence felt in the Bike King, Lanorte Series, Dipolog 106, Ironman 70.3 Philippines in Davao and Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championships in Cebu.
This year, the major races for the team in Luzon are the National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) on Jan. 27, My Daily Collagen Triathlon on Feb. 24, Ironman 70.3 Subic on June 2 and 5i50 Triathlon on Nov. 3.
The races that the team is joining in Visayas are Sunlife 5i50 Triathlon on April 28, Ironman 70.3 Philippines in Cebu on Aug. 11 and NAGT in Cebu on Oct. 6.
The team is competing in the following races in Mindanao: Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao on March 24, Dipolog Triathlon on May 6, 5i50 Triathlon on July 7, Musaman TriDavnor on June 23 in Tagum City, and three legs of Lanorte Man in April, August and December. (RSC)