Top local triathlete, Jason Gooding, 23, retained the national triathlon crown, which he won when he was 17, on Sunday at Chaguaramas.
He won the gruelling 1,500m swim/ 40km/ 10km run event in 2:12.48. The Lucozade Sport National Triathlon Championships attracted only 11 individuals, including Special Olympian Ancil Greene, 27, who placed second in 2:25.01 and national duathlon champion Raymond Ramcharan, third, in 2:29.30.
In fourth position was Jacob Charran, 15, the most promising prospect on the triathlon landscape. In this his first year doing triathlon, Charran has beaten all juniors in his four races this year.
Jan Nankman, 52, of the Netherlands was fifth.
Only two women were daring enough to attempt the race this year, and veteran Jacqueline Jodhan was first in 2:59.14 and Shelly Ann Charles finished in 3:18.40.
In the relay version of the race eight-three member teams competed. It was won by Gene Samuel's Academy team, made up of Swan, Wilson and Lowmen-was first in 2:14.52. Team FX, made up of Brown, Ramcharan and Carrington, was second and third was the team made up of Jessica Bovel, Maharaj, and Jaimungal.
Following this his last race of the year, Gooding said he would be taking two weeks off since his season started on January and he was "triathloned out" for the year.
"I will be heading back to camp in Canada right after Christmas to get ready for next year," he said. "We have seven triathletes living in at this camp and it's triathlon day and night. Everybody is very, very supportive.
"I also have a new swim coach who will be breaking down my strokes and start building them up correctly from scratch. It will be a period of unlearning bad habits and leaning new one. Once I get that right, I expect to see much better results.
"I also plan to do a lot of gym work next year. I started it this year and it helped my cycling tremendously. I even made the road team for T&T during the West Indies versus the World Cycling series."
The two big events on his calendar next year are the Pan Am Championships in Santo Domingo and the World Championships in New Zealand.
"There are three World Cup events in Canada and two in the USA where I can earn some ITU points next so that I can start moving up the ranking before the Olympic Games in 2004 in Athens," he said,"That's my goal."
As for the future of the sport in T&T, Gooding said that Kids of Steel series unveiled a few good prospects that the Association should try to develop.
"But I would really like to see Tron Johnson and Jessica Bovell, who beat me in the swim on Sunday, get involved in triathlon," said Gooding. "Once the work on their cycling and running, I can see them representing T&T in the 2008 Olympics. Our sport needs youngsters like them."