Uganda: Triathlon Moved From Lake Victoria

Sande Bashaija

18 March 2011

Participants in this year’s Entebbe Triathlon will swim in a pool instead of Lake Victoria, organizers said yesterday.

The event is due March 27 starting at Lake Victoria Hotel. “We are trying out something different this time round. We hope swimming in the pool will attract more people,” Fridtjof Behnsen, one of the organizers, revealed yesterday.

Triathlon, a combination of three events – running, cycling and swimming – is an Olympic sport but has not been taken up by many Ugandans.

But Behnsen, runner Alex Matovu and other few individuals under Activate Uganda, a sports event-organising company, are keen on promoting the event.

They started with 51 participants in 2006 but attracted 127 in last year’s edition.

“Our aim is to have an Olympic standard event and maybe start an association for the sport in Uganda,” Behnsen revealed.

Competitors in Entebbe will cycle for 40km, do a 20km run and swim for 1,000m. First-timers will, though, swim a 1000m distance, run 5km and ride a bike over 20km.

Behnsen said registration is still ongoing at Game-Lugogo, Alliance Francaise and Grand Imperial Hotel but closes on Sunday. Registration is open to individuals and teams. Action on competition day starts at 7am.

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