The Malta Triathlon Association will be organising the national championship next Sunday at the Salina Coast Road.

It will be the culmination of a calendar of events organised jointly by the association and B’Kara SJ, and will be contested over the Olympic distance, i.e. Swim: 1,500m; Bike: 40km and Run: 10km.

A record number of local athletes have been taking part in this season’s races and on Sunday the organisers are expecting a heavy turn-out, especially in view of the foreign participation, spearheaded by two top British athletes, Mark Sykes and Katie Silke, brought over to Malta with the assistance of the Malta Tourism Authority.

Mark Sykes will be returning to defend the title he won last year but the jump in quantity has also meant a leap in quality and Sykes is likely to find the going anything but easy come Sunday.

A crop of Maltese athletes have been improving the local level with every passing race so that now, at the end of the season, there are no less than four contenders for Sunday’s championship title: the Galea brothers, Dermot and Keith, Carl Attard and Mark Zammit.

It is tempting to predict that the women’s championship title is a foregone conclusion: Danica Bonello Spiteri has won every race this season and it is difficult to look for a rival who may even come close enough to be a serious contender to the 2010 Athlete of the Year.

Having said that, Johanna Calleja may well prove to be the dark horse in the race. Calleja has been training and racing in the UK, where she has achieved some fine results.

Sunday’s race will be run with the assistance of Kee Klamps, mounted by Joseph F. Spiteri & Co (1927) Ltd. Other sponsors of the race are BBB Bike Parts and Kristal Water.