TRIMAC COACHING

Top coach launches triathlon program for all.

One of the country’s top triathlon coaches, Jojo Macalintal, will launch a curriculum for beginner, intermediate and advance triathletes in a bid to complement the country’s campaign to send Filipino triathletes to future Olympic Games.

There will be a three-month program for each category where participants are prepared according to their fitness levels, Macalintal, owner and founder of Trimac Coaching, announced during the launch of the program at Earth Kitchen in Bonifacio Global City on Friday.

The program begins on April 4 at the AS parking lot in at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City.

Popularly known in the triathlon community as Coach Jomac, Macalintal has 18 years of experience in triathlon coaching and competition. Coach Jomac has been in every nook and cranny of the sport as competitor, coach and organizer.

‘‘As local triathlon grows, Trimac would like to extend its knowledge to help provide solid basic skills and hone talents,’’ Macalintal said during the press launch. Macalintal has coached scores of triathletes in all levels and ages -- from beginners to elite and national athletes and from youngsters to seniors.

The program can accommodate affiliated and non-affiliated triathletes who wish to improve. Assisted by a pool of coaches, Macalintal will not only train beginners and turn them into triathletes; he will also train triathletes to be more competitive.

''Anyone can be a triathlete. Kids, students, housewives and mothers, and office workers and even whole families who aim just to be physically fit can swim, bike and run any distance, from sprints and mini-sprints to Olympic and Ironman distances under a good triathlon coach with a good program,'' Macalintal said.

If they wish to, trainees may qualify as members of Team Trimac, one of the oldest and most active triathlon teams in the country.

Macalintal is certified as coach by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and was selected Coach of the Year twice, in 2011 and 2012, by the swimbikerun.ph, the country’s most popular multisport website. His team Trimac was Triathlon Team of the Year in 2011 and his program continues to churn out top-level age-group and elite and youth triathletes.

Also a certified spinning and TRX instructor, Macalintal also turned promising youths into national pool triathletes under the pioneering Trimac Kids program. Currently, he overseas the grassroots Batang Tri program, which trains poor but promising youths under the sponsorship of Seafood Island with the support of other sponsors like Brooks Running.

Trimac Coaching hopes to help a lot of newcomers at the sport with this program. After observing the impressive performances of youngsters in the IronKids part of the recent Century Tuna Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in Subic last weekend, Macalintal said it won’t be long before the country’s ever-growing triathlon community will produce a competitor who will compete in the Olympic Games.

Corporate supporters of the program are Brooks, TYR, Gu Gels, Apotheca, KLEAN and Unilab Active Health.