American women take top honours in Cuba

Collegiate Recruitment Program athletes Renée Tomlin and Kirsten Kasper led the way for a group of nearly 30 American triathletes who competed in the La Habana Triathlon in Cuba, this past weekend.

Renée Tomlin (of New Jersey) led the way for the Americans posted the fastest time of the day for the women in the Habana CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup, clocking in at 1 hour, 4 minutes, 22 seconds on the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometre bike, 5-kilometre run course. Kasper (of Massachusetts) was 12 seconds back, taking second in 1:04:34. The pair are early in their professional triathlon careers and were collegiate runners before transitioning to triathlon with help from USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Recruitment Program.

“I am excited with the victory, and it sets the tone for 2015,” Tomlin said in a post-race interview with ITU media. “This is a really special event, not just for triathlon but in general between Cuba and the United States, just to enhance neighborly relations. The timing is so perfect for us to come over, and it means a lot.”

U.S. elites earned five top-10 finishes overall, with fellow collegiate recruits Nick Karwoski and Robby Webster  finishing sixth and 10th in the men’s elite race. Rebeccah Wassner  was 10th in the women’s race. Top elite finishers in the continental cup event earned points toward their ITU Points List rankings.

Twenty-seven American triathletes competed across three race distances in two days of weekend competition. Barry Siff, President of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors, began pursuing the necessary travel licensing after meeting the Cuban Triathlon Federation President at the annual Pan American Triathlon Congress in June.

“It is tremendous. We are really excited. To speak to each one of our athletes this morning, you just saw on their faces and in their smiles that it was really about the experience,” said Siff in an interview on Saturday. “It is great to see Renée and Kirsten finish one-two, but I think even they were talking more about their experiences around town, meeting people. It is really wonderful for everyone.”

from Triathlon.org.