30th Conchman Triathlon proves Grand Bahama is on the mend

The Grand Bahama Conchman Triathlon has been one of the premiere events on the island for 30 years now.The triathlon has tested the will and strength of young people and adults over the years and the trend is expected to continue in one of the more entertaining events.

Set to take place at Taino Beach on November 5, over 100 swimmers, bikers and runners are expected to once again see who will come out on top in the tri-sport event.

Start time is set for 8:00 a.m.Organizers and sponsors, the Grand Bahama Port Authority and Ministry of Tourism: Grand Bahama, met this past Tuesday at the host venue site to continue selling the hype of the triathlon’s 30th anniversary. Christopher Baker, Chairman of the Conchman Triathlon committee said the milestone was occasion enough to make the event a “special” one and have added new events to the upcoming race.“

Besides the sprint distance that we’ve had every year and the Ironkids and the team relays, we have family relays; we’ve added a few things. We’ve added an Olympic distance in order to attract those athletes that are really keen on taking part and it will stretch them a bit further,” he explained to members of the local media, “It’s double the distance of the sprint. So it really challenges them.”

“We’ve also added the corporate challenge cup. In order to get more people to participate locally, we’ve invited businesses besides just sponsoring us that they can put in a team of three people; one will swim, one will bike and one will run. We have got a special cup that will be presented to the winning company. We hope this will be a big attraction to see who is the fittest company in Grand Bahama.”

Baker further introduced that there will be a schools competition to get the high school students involved as well. According to Baker, Bll of the secondary schools were contacted and he expects some of them to participate. The school teams will produce teams of three people to swim, bike and run.

Registration is ongoing and forms can be downloaded from the triathlon’s website; www.conchmantriathlon.com or they can be picked up from Cafferata Corporate Services on Poinciana and West Mall Drive. Registration fees can also be paid at the establishment.“

It should be possible for people to get registered before the event. There is no registration on the day at all, except for the Ironkids. The Ironkids can register on the day at Taino Beach.”For the sprint portion of the event, the swim will be 750 meters, the bike ride will be a 20K, and the run will be a 5K. For the Olympic participants, the swim will be a 1.5K, a 40K bike ride and a 10K run. The Ironkids event will include a 200m swim, a 2.5K bike ride and a 800m run.

Director for the MOTGB, Betty Bethel said the event is something they have always sup- ported. With this being the 30th anniversary of the race, she furthered it prompted them to go “above and beyond” in helping out. Bethel also stated that 15 international athletes are con- firmed and they expect more to come on stream.“

We know that the Conchman Triathlon does attract visitors to our island and that’s our primary reason we like to support these type of events. Of course considering we’re just coming out of a major hurricane this event is even more significant than ever before because it’s going to the first event that we would have held since Hurricane Matthew.“

We’re still relying on our domestic travel out of the Abacos and Nassau who will be attending. That being the case it also sends a message that Grand Bahama is definitely on the restoration path and we are in shape to hold an event as early as November 5.”

Cash prizes, trophies and specially made medals will be given out to the winners and participants that afternoon at Taino Beach. They will end the day with a beach party, Junkanoo, bonfire and fireworks.