The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net WITH the increasing popularity of triathlons and road races on the local racing calendar, Abaco island is next to play host in March. The inaugural Great Abaco Family Fitness Weekend (GAFFW) 2012 is scheduled for March 23-25 in Treasure Cay, Abaco, promising a safe, fun, fast-paced weekend complete with racing and entertainment. The weekend begins Friday (March 23) with a one- mile open water swim followed by a welcome reception for participants. And Saturday will be highlighted by the sprint, junior and Olympic triathlons, followed by a "Bahamian Night" awards reception and dinner. The weekend concludes with a 5K/10K Fun Run/Walk on Sunday. Lee McCoy, managing director of the GAFFW, said the event is primed to become a welcome addition to the country's sports tourism product. "We are trying to bring the sport of triathlon back to Abaco," he said. "We just had Marathon Bahamas in Nassau and events like that are bringing in 2000 room nights of occupancy for resorts. What we want to do is not only bring people to Nassau, but to the Family Islands through sports tourism. Having it in Treasure Cay is great because they have the resources there, they have the space, it's less traffic, a beautiful beach and we are hoping to get tourists coming in, not only from South Florida and the rest of the world, but from Nassau and the other islands." The one-mile open water swim will be hosted by the Abaco Swim Club, set to take place on the north side of Treasure Cay. Treasure Cay Beach was voted one of the region's top 10 beaches in a reader poll by Caribbean Travel & Life. The course will be an out and back, with buoys separating the middle of the course. The junior triathlon will feature a 150m Swim, 5km (3.1 miles) bike and 2km (1.25 miles) run, the sprint triathlon will feature a 500m swim, 20km (12.4 miles) bike, and 5km (3.1 miles) run while the Olympic triathlon will be made up of a 1000m swim, 40km (24.8 miles) bike, and 10km (6.2 miles) run. The swim for each triathlon will be in the same location as the open water swim, while the bike course will take place within Treasure Cay and along the SC Bootle Highway and the run course will be within the boundaries of Treasure Cay. Online registration for the event will be available in February at www.gaffw.com and applications will also be available from the Ministry of Tourism Office in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, and Nassau. "We have had a lot of inquiries about it already thus far. A lot of people have already stated that they will be coming. It is geared toward a family event so instead of one person, we offer full family participation," McCoy said, "We are hoping to have 300-500 people for the run/walk and for the triathlon if we can get 100 people that would be great and for the one-mile open water swim we should expect between 30-50 participants." While Treasure Cay Resort and the Ministry of Tourism have been on throughout the planning of the event, corporate sponsors are still welcome to join in support of this inaugural venture. Beneficiaries of the GAFFW include the Abaco Swim Club, Friends of the Environment (Abaco, Bahamas) and the Rotary Club of Abaco.