NEVIS CYCLE & TRIATHLON CLUB

Sports Page—Tuesday 30^th November 2010  

Nevis is set to host a mega triathlon event in 2011. this was revealed at a press conference held last week by the President of the St Kitts & Nevis Triathlon Federation, Winston Crooke.  The press conference was held upstairs the Arthur Evelyn Building which houses the Nevis Tourism Authority.

Present at the Press conference were representatives of all of the stakeholders on Nevis who will all seek to ensure that the event is a major success.  Some of the agencies represented were: The Police, Customs Dept; The Ministry of Tourism, the Nevis Cultural Foundation; Public Works Dept; Ministry of Sports; Immigration and Dept of Planning, among others.

Mr. Crooke outlined the basic information on the proposed event and the persons present made suggestions as to the logistics of making the event a major success. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Mr. Alsted Pemberton indicated that the Nevis Island Administration is very much on board and will support the St Kitts & Nevis Triathlon Federation in its quest of making the event a success, having recognized the tremendous impact it will have on the Tourism product on the island.

According to Crooke, the mega Tri star111 event will be held on Saturday April 2^nd but will involve a full week of activities involving the athletes and their entourage.The busy week of activities will commence on Sunday 27^th March 2011 with the annual cross channel swim from Nevis to St Kitts which continues to attract more and more swimmers every year. It will also involve tours, hikes, cultural events and smaller biking events that will seek to involve participation from some of Nevis’ young athletes especially some of the young Cyclists who are currently involved in the ‘bikes not bombs’ program. The visitors will also be exposed to a wide array of Nevis cuisine and general culture.

The main event will involve the following:

• TriStar111 Distance – 1000m Swim - 100km Bike - 10km Run
• TriStar33.3 Distance - 300m Swim - 30km Bike - 3km Run 
• TriStar11.1 Distance – 0.1km Swim - 10km Bike - 1km Run

Yesterday, Mr. Crooke, Mr. Pemberton and Mr.Greg Phillip (the General Secretary of the SKNTF) were guests on the ‘Social Development Outlook’ program aired on Choice Radio and they sought to inform the general public on the event. The point was made lucidly clear that the event could never be a success unless the general population of Nevis unite forces to make it happen.

Greg Phillip stated emphatically: ‘Yes we can’ as he referred to the fact that much smaller countries would have successfully hosted events involving huge amounts of athletes. It was noted that some 500 athletes are expected in for the event, including some of the world famous triathletes.  Additionally the meet is expected to attract some world renowned stars, including local hero, Kim Collins. World renowned media personnel are also expected in to cover the event.

Mr. Pemberton also noted that meetings will be held regularly with the key stake holders to ensure that everything is put in place well in advance of the event and he appealed to the business entities to make significant contributions towards making what will be a costly event possible, recognizing the huge potential for profit making for the Nevis economy, in the long run.