Around 750 participants pushed their personal boundaries to swim, run and build their endurance at the Putrajaya Perdana Aquathlon 2017 recently. Held at the Water Sports Complex in Putrajaya, the race was organised by Team M3X from the Tri-Amateur Triathlon Club and sponsored by Putrajaya Perdana Berhad.
The Putrajaya Perdana Aquathlon 2017 is part one of a two part series event, with the Putrajaya Perdana Triathlon 2017 to be held on Oct 22nd. The popularity of the event portrays of the growing interest in multisport competitions here in Malaysia.
The aquathlon race featured a two-stage race consisting of swimming followed by running across 14 age categories for both genders from age 7 and above. Participants swam in the Putrajaya Lake and ran around the vicinity in different distances according to their categories.
Some winners include Intan Anaqah Binti Inderadin in the AquaDiscovery Kids (Girls 7 to 9) category, Nicholas Long in the AquaKids (Boys 10 to 12) category, Siobhain Doyle in the AquaYouth (Girls 13 to 15) category, Oliver Rios Trott in the Aqua Junior (Boys 16-19) category, Serena Yang in the
AQUASWIM Adult (Women 20 to 29) category, Aldrian Yeo Yu Yong in the AQUASWIM Prime (Men 30 to 49) category and Lindsey Fiona Cruickshanks in the AQUASWIM Master (Women 50 and above) category.
With eight of the 14 categories being catered to the youth, it is no wonder that this year’s event saw more young people participating as compared to the previous years, especially in the 7-9 and 10-12 age categories. This showed a clear emphasis on engaging the youth by the organisers and sponsors.
Ms. Amy Ho, Secretary, Team M3X by the Tri-Amateur Triathlon Club, said:
“We have achieved what we set out to do and have got more children involved in the triathlon sport. Sports participation is beneficial for both the physical and social or psychological development of all young people.”
“Events such as the Putrajaya Perdana Aquathlon promote responsible social behaviours and greater academic success, confidence in one’s physical abilities, appreciation of personal health and fitness and help build strong social bonds,” she added.
Dato’ Rosman bin Abdullah, Group Managing Director, Putrajaya Perdana Berhad (PPB) concurred and felt that PPB’s role as a corporate citizen is of the upmost importance.
“One of the key focus areas for our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes is to promote a healthy lifestyle among the youth. The importance of a healthy lifestyle needs to be impressed upon our youth to ensure they start young and ensure they grow up to be healthy and successful individuals in the future,” he said.
In line with this, PPB has been actively supporting and sponsoring Team M3X by the Tri-Amateur Triathlon Club since January 2015.
“PPB’s aim is to help build the triathlon sports in Malaysia and to help nurture triathletes representing Malaysia in national and international events,” said Dato’ Rosman.
The Putrajaya Perdana Triathlon 2017, the second part of this two part series, is to be held on 22nd October 2017. It boasts 14 different categories based on age and the swim, bike and run distances.
This event is part of the National Sprint Triathlon Championship and sanctioned by the National Federation/Triathlon Association of Malaysia (NF/TRIAM). There will be an ‘Elite’ category (age 16 years and above) in the Putrajaya Perdana Triathlon 2017 and all the Malaysian elite triathletes will be competing in this event.
For more info and photos on the race, follow Tri-Amateur Club on Facebook.
