By Les Tan
A swimmer on his way back in the swim leg of the Bintan Triathlon. (Photo courtesy of Tribob)
The fifth edition of the Bintan Triathlon will be back next year and is scheduled for the weekend of May 23rd and 24th at Nirwana Gardens.
The race attracted 1,200 triathletes in the 2008 edition and was won for the fourth time in a row by George Lawson in the men’s category in 2 hours 6 minutes and 56 seconds. Kelly Toy of New Zealand won the women’s category in a time of 2:23:50.
The Olympic distance race saw a close battle between Singapore-based Dan Plews and defending champion Lawson. Lawson caught Plews only on the second lap of the run to defend his title successfully.
The Bintan Triathlon has one of the most beautiful courses for Singapore-based triathletes who don’t want to travel too far. It takes only 55 minutes by ferry to get onto Bintan island.
The 1,200 triathletes came from 37 different countries with the bulk coming from Singapore, Britain and Australia. Triathletes also specially travelled from Qatar, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong for the event.
“This was my first triathlon and the experience was made so much more memorable by the fantastic organisation that had gone into the event,” said Tim Jarvis who took part in the sprint distance category.
Some of Asia’s best triathletes will be on hand to compete for the prize purse of US$30,000.
Race Categories
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
Sprint Distance
750m Swim, 20km Bike, 5km Run
Olympic Distance
1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, 10km Run
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Kids Distance
150m Swim, 6km Bike, 1.5km Run
Youth Distance
300m Swim, 12km Bike, 3km Run
Fun Race Duo Challenge
1.5km Run, 150m Swim & dash to the finish
To find out more about the race and to register, go to www.bintantriathlon.com
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