The San Diego-based Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) has been named the title sponsor of the 2013 CAF World Paratriathlon San Diego, slated for Saturday 20 April in Mission Beach, California.
CAF is a world leader in helping individuals with physical challenges get involved, and stay involved, in sports. Since 1994, more than US$40 million has been raised and almost 7,000 funding requests from challenged athletes in all 50 US states and dozens of countries have been satisfied. CAF’s outreach efforts reach another 60,000 individuals each year.
One of just eight International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Triathlon Series (ITU WTS) events around the globe, in 2013, the second edition of the Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego will feature an Olympic-calibre elite field competing on a historic course adjacent to the birthplace of the sport of triathlon. In all, 52 (28 men, 24 women) of the 110 athletes who competed at the 2012 London Olympic Games – including three medallists – are scheduled to toe the starting line in San Diego.
The CAF World Paratriathlon San Diego will feature more than 50 paratriathletes competing in the same venue as the world’s top elite triathletes.
“Since our inception, the Challenged Athletes Foundation has been a leader in the paratriathlon movement, introducing hundreds of athletes to the sport and helping them to maximize their potential,” said Virginia Tinley, Executive Director of CAF. “We are excited to have this opportunity to further the development and visibility of the sport within both the challenged athlete and the triathlon communities.”
Interest in paratriathlon is at an all-time high, and the sport continues to grow following a December 2010 announcement that it will debut at the Paralympic Summer Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2013 ITU paratriathlon calendar, which includes the CAF World Paratriathlon San Diego, will cover at least nine cities on five continents, and includes a series of international and continental races.
In addition to the elite races and the CAF World Paratriathlon San Diego, the Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego features top-flight Olympic- and sprint-distance age-group races, as well as an Olympic-distance relay and an aquabike event, offering amateurs the chance to compete in the same epic venue as the world’s best athletes. The 2013 Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego also serves as the USA Triathlon Club National Championships.
Nearly 2,100 amateur triathletes from 14 to 90 years old from 42 US states and 16 countries competed at the 2012 World Triathlon San Diego.
sandiego.triathlon.org/athlete_info/age_group/paratriathlon/
www.challengedathletes.org
