The Malta Triathlon Federation kicked-off the 2014 multisport season with a hard-fought, drama-filled triathlon race on Sunday 30 March. The race started with a 1.5KM swim in the cold waters of the Rinella Bay, followed by a 39K highly-technical and challenging cycle in Kalkara, and finished with a tough 10KM run which finished in the spectacular Laguna at SmartCity Malta.

The main reason for this race was for the Federation to assess the level of fitness of its National Team Members and to test their abilities on a challenging and demanding course which aimed to mimic as much as possible the racing conditions that the athletes will face in their possible partecipation at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.

The male race was dominated from the start by Malta Triathlon Champion, Keith Galea who exited out of the waters for first, closely followed by Graham Borg. Borg managed to stay close to Galea for the duration of the cycle, but then in the run Galea had no opposition whatsoever and concluded the race more than 5 minutes ahead of Borg. Rudolph Agius held on to third place, while evergreen David Galea clinched the fourth spot and won the Seniors category with an impressive second fastest run from the whole pack, while Ryan Saliba had a very positive performance winning the Under 23 category.

In the women's pursuit, the drama was as high as the stakes at play. Danica Bonello-Spiteri and Hannah Pace held together for the full distance of the swim and wrapped up a strong swim together. Bonello Spiteri's  strenght and power on the wheels and an unfortunate crash by Pace opened a gap between the two. As Pace soldiered on and picked up the pace again, Bonello Spiteri inadvertenly missed a lap on the cycle, and even though she finished with an impressive run, Pace was left unchallenged to win the race with Michelle Vella Wood trailing two minutes behind, after a positive running leg. Margaret Seguna was third home. Suzanne Farrugia won the Female Seniors Category.

Commenting after the race, Cyprian Dalli, president of the Malta Triathlon Federation stated that 'this race has been of a very complex nature to organise, however with the support of many entities, authorites, sponsors and volunteers, the Malta Triathlon Federation managed to put up a brilliant show, complimented by some fine performances by our athletes. Having this high-level of racing at this time of the year augurs very well for the upcoming triathlon season'

The next race experience by Malta Triathlon Federation will be held on 1 of May, on Mdina Road, Żebbuġ, where the National Duathlon Championships will be organised. The race will consist of a run of 8.5KMs, a cycle of 38KMs and a final run of 4.25KMs. There will be a half-distance race for both individual and relay pursuits. The event will be supported by www.trirush.com.

Dermot Galea, Malta's pluri-decorated Triathlete and National Coach has received a very important award that will ensure his name and the sport of Triathlon in Malta will be forever remembered in the history of sport of the Maltese Islands. 
On Saturday 15 March 2014, Galea was awarded the first ever Gieh l-iSport Malti - National People's Choice, organised by the Parliamentary Secretariat for Innovation, Youth and Sport in conjunction with the National Sports Council, the Kunsill Malti ghall-iSport.

Dermot Galea, who was nominated for the award by the Malta Triathlon Federation, topped both classifications - that of votes coming from the National Sports Associations and Federations as well as that reserved for the vote of the nation. 

Upon accepting the award, Galea thanked, among others,  the Malta Triathlon Federation and all those who have been close to him and expressed their support during his career. Finally Galea concluded his acceptance speech by dedicating his award to the whole of the local triathlon community.

The Executive Board and Council of the Malta Triathlon Federation expresses its immense satisfaction for this recognition of one of its most valuable members and would like to congratulate Dermot on this most-deserved award. 

The Malta Triathlon Federation will kick off its racing calendar on Sunday 30th March, with the first race of the season, which is a draft-legal standard distance (1.5km swim, 38km cycle and 10km run) triathlon to be held in Kalkara, SmartCity Malta and Xghajra.

The race, which will start at 7:30am will see triathletes tackle the 1.5km swim in Rinella Bay. The chosen course for the bike route will be a technical one with a few uphills and tricky downhills followed by a good challenging run along Xghajra finishing off at the Laguna promenade in SmartCity, Malta

It is envisaged that this race will be used as a benchmark to analyse the performance level and physical aptitude of the National Team members, especially in view of the possible participation by Maltese triathletes at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow in summer.

“Offering such a race is in line with the Federation’s vision of having multisport

Events spread across a longer period of time and of giving athletes the opportunity to race in a wider and more varied spectrum of races” said Cyprian Dalli, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation. “This race is a very important event in our calendar as it enables the Federation to gauge the level of our National team especially in view of the forthcoming racing commitments abroad”

Registration is now open, and forms can be downloaded from the Federation website http://www.triathlonmalta.org/membership-and-forms.html. 

Race Registration and Briefing will take place on Wednesday 12th March following FitFeet a talk for athletes and triathletes on the benefits of proper foot-care and the prevention & cure of sports-induced foot injuries by podiatrist Yvonne Grattan.

The Malta Triathlon Federation has worked closely with Transport Malta the Kalkara Local Council and the local authorities to ensure that the safety of athletes is safeguarded whilst minimising any potential inconveniences to the Kalkara community