Subic Asian ParaTriathlon slated Aug. 16

The Philippines hopes to boost its paralympic campaign when it hosts the ASTC Asian ParaTriathlon Championships (APC) 2015 on Aug. 16 at Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Sixto Ducay (arm disability), Godfrey Taberna (club foot), Arnel Aba and Andy Avellana (leg disability) and twins Joshua and Jerome Nelmida (visual impairment) head the PH team in the 750m swim-18K bike-5K run event where the top finishers will gain a shot at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Tarek Souei, the Asian Paralympic Committee CEO and acting secretary general, said racers will earn points as the event has been certified as a Rio Paralympic qualifier.

But this also means tougher competition as the race has drawn some of the top differently abled athletes from Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The race, which will feature the new ITU ParaTriathlon classification system, will fire off at the Sands of Triboa and run all the way to San Bernardino Street.

Other events include the mixed relay, sprint and mini-sprint distances.

A briefing will be held a day before the race at 4 p.m. at Subic Holiday Villas. A paratriathlon technical course will also be conducted by technical delegate Daniel Sng of Singapore. Jasmine W. Payo