Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat (left) and Sunrise Events Inc. CEO Wilfred Steven Uytengsu. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
For Sunrise Events Inc. CEO Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, the roster of pro triathletes competing in the Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships this Sunday is world class.
In the Meet the Pros press conference yesterday at the Marquee of Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Uytengsu, who has been organizing this event for the past decade, has never seen this stacked line up of pro triathletes in one race.
“[They are] the absolute best cast of triathletes which can be compared to a world championship,” said Uytengsu, who was joined in the press conference by Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, and World Triathlon Corporation CEO Geoff Meyer.
Asia Pacific Championships defending champion Tim Reed of Australia leads the list of pro participants. He believes the cast is indeed a talented one but he is ready for the challenge ahead.
“The presence of these great triathletes brings in different dynamics to the race. It’s almost that with this many pros, it’s going to be tough to come up with a race strategy because there’s too many things to prepare for,” said Reed, who is also the champion of last year’s Ironman 70.3 Philippines. “So, I am going back to the simple strategy of looking what I can do and focusing on the start and go to the finish line as fast as I can.” said Reed
Other top names include Mauricio Mendez, the second placer last year and the inaugural champion of the Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao, two-time Ironman world champion Melissa Hauschildt, and five-time Ironman 70.3 Philippines champion Caroline Steffen of Switzerland.
They will be part of the 2,571 triathletes seeing action tomorrow.
Other pro triathletes are Braden Currie (NZ), Josh Amberger (Aus), Tim Van Berkel (Aus), Craig Alexander (Aus), Cameron Brown (NZ), Sam Betten (Aus), Brent McMahon (Can), Luke Mckenzie (Aus), Matt Burton (Aus), Kevin Collington (USA), Nathan Groch (Aus), Jakub Langhammer (CZE), David Mainwaring (Aus), Brad Williams (USA), Casey Munro (Aus), Mike Philips (NZ), Tyler Butterfield (Ber), Radka Vodickova (Cze), Anna Eberhardt (Hun), Dimity-Lee Duke (Aus), Beth Mckenzie (USA), Lauren Brandon (USA), Lauren Goss (USA), Sabrina Stadelmann (Swi). Lisa Tyack (Aus), Grace Thek (Aus), Simone Maier (NZ), Bruna Mahn (Bra), Manami Iijima (GUA), and Holly Khan.
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