Almaty Triathletes finish 2019 season with Indoor Championship
The III Indoor Triathlon Open Championship, arranged by Almaty Triathlon Federation (ATF) public association with the support of Kazakhstan Triathlon Federation, took place in the southern capital of Kazakhstan.
Indoor Triathlon – a kind of triathlon, thought specifically for the offseason time. Swimming takes place in the pool, the cycling race – on exercise bikes, and running – on treadmills. Nevertheless, these are real competitions included in the schedule of republican events, with professional refereeing, awards, certificates, etc.
Championship organizers are OO Almaty Triathlon Federation, Kazakhstan Triathlon Federation, World Class Almaty Triathlon School, “Courage to Be the First” Corporate Foundation (Almaty Marathon), ShakhmardanYessenov Science and Education Foundation, “Another You!” multisports YouTube Channel.
“Indoor triathlon is a special start where rivals and referees always rub shoulders with each other,” explains ATF Executive Director Ruslan Kogay. “For each athlete we assign a “personal” referee, who not only monitors the integrity of the stages, but also gives recommendations on the best passage of the route sections. Current championship shows how widely you can use the capabilities of sports facilities. After all, exercise bikes and treadmills are in every fitness center, and swimming pools are in every sport and recreation complex. Therefore, such competitions can be held in any city and region of the Republic.”
On the first day, 60 professional athletes, the youngest of which were 13 years old, competed in the Super Sprint race (300 m – swimming, 8 km – cycling, running – 2 km). In addition to the referees, coaches who scouted for new sports talents, closely watched each athlete.
- In 2019, the Almaty Triathlon Federation held nine competitions of the city, republican and international levels, the main of which was the ASTC Asian Cup Almaty. “As part of the development strategy of the mass triathlon, five amateur starts were arranged,” says Maxim Mazur, the head coach of ATF, the champion of Kazakhstan in triathlon in 2019. “But city championships are also very important because it is here that we select candidates for the city team.
According to the results of the first day of the championship, the winners were Camilla Akimzhanova, Danil Nisanov (U13-15), Snezhana Sherbul, Danil Kolomyitsev (U16-17); Anatoliy Sokolov (U18-19), Maria Vyazigina, Denis Nikishchenko (Elite).
On the second day of the competition, amateur athletes aged 18 to 60 years old toed the start line in the same super-sprint race. Here the motivation was completely different – everyone competed not only with rivals, but first and foremost, with himself, checking his reserves “for strength”.
“The Indoor format is great for both beginners and experienced athletes,” said Maxim Chernyi, a referee of the competition, international master of sports in triathlon. “The distance conditions allow you to track progress from start to start. There is also a good opportunity to work on methods in the water, evaluate your “pure” swimming without taking into account the orientation in the open water, the location of the markers, and so on. In addition, Indoor is a great shakeup for the body during the offseason time in a long series of tedious training sessions in gyms.
It is worth noting that amateurs performed no worse than professionals did, and “veterans” illustrated miracles of endurance and strength dramatically. Thus, Talgat Zhumagaliev and Lyubov Asanova, who performed in the 50+ category, were awarded with champion medals for the second time!
The winners of the second day of the championship also became Amiliya Iskakova, Georgiy Boroda-Dudochkin (U18-29); Saltanat Kazybaeva, Roman Kuznetsov (U30-39); Anna Stroeva, Vladislav Kopbosunov (U40-49).
Almaty Triathlon Federation (ATF) public association was created in 2017 to develop triathlon and cyclic sports in Almaty, to conduct domestic competitions and to organize the participation of leading athletes in national teams and international competitions. The head of the federation is Galimzhan Yessenov, the founder of the Academic Shahmardan Yessenov Science and Education Foundation and Almaty Marathon.
In 2018, Almaty Triathlon Federation was acknowledged as the “Federation of the Year” among all triathlon sports associations in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Owing to ATF activities, the city of Almaty has become the main driver of triathlon development in Central Asia.
