DAVID Ellis has said his priority will be to continue with plans and strategies to develop and spread the sport to the country’s 10 provinces after re-elected as Triathlon Zimbabwe (TZ) president at elections held over the weekend.
Ellis retained his position as the president uncontested at the Annual General Meeting that also saw Pamela Fulton retaining her vice-presidency position with Carol Pakenham the secretary-general.
Tim Major is the new treasurer taking over from Jason Bennett.
“I had initially decided not to stand for re-election and to hand over to some new blood.
“No one put their name forward so as I have always had the best interests of the sport at heart I decided to stand again,” said Ellis.
“Although I had been vice president under Rick Fulton and then Demos Koutoungos I had only completed one term as President so in consultation with my peers I decided to carry on. This last year has been an extremely difficult one and there has been a lot of frustration amongst the athletes because of the stop-start nature of our activities.
“A disrupted season meant critical events were cancelled or held at late notice which compromised some athlete’s opportunity to qualify for the 2021 Sharm el Sheikh Africa Championships in two weeks’ time
“Long term strategies for the preparation of athletes for major events are also to be implemented with expectations clearly defined enabling coaches and athletes to prepare for such occasions.”
Ellis also gave an insight on TZ’s plans this year.
“…some of these ideas entail focus on the multi-sport derivatives of Triathlon being Duathlon and Aquathlon. Duathlon events are planned for the off-season winter months June and July and continuing into the traditional summer season,” he said.
“We hope these events will attract athletes who prefer the exclusion of the swimming format of a race.”
“The events will assist traditional tri-athletes to prepare for the new season and the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Trout beck event in September.
“Duathlon and Aquathlon are very popular in other parts of the world and we will investigate the possibility of fielding teams at one or more major events to be held in the region in the new season.
“The re-introduction of the popular Aquathlon events at the Mount Pleasant pool in the summer will also be a focus of attention.”