Yoska and the Brigade Foundation launch the "Women in Sport" Initiative

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 8 November 2022

IRONMAN 70.3 Goa race organiser Yoska has introduced the "Women in Sport" initiative with assistance from the Brigade Foundation by providing free relay slots for women over the age of 18.

The athletes must finish a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 90-kilometer bike ride, and a 21.2-kilometer run.

Women from all throughout the country have responded enthusiastically to the Women in Sport campaign.

Yoska have carefully researched, evaluated, and divided them into teams based on their individual proficiencies, creating 12 all-female relay teams with a total of 36 women.

Yoska has also fought for the cause by providing these female athletes with specialised training for endurance sports like triathlon, distance running, swimming, cycling, and general fitness programmes through their digital platform and mobile app.

“We are always striving to encourage female athletes and women to engage into the sport,” said Deepak Raj, a well-known IRONMAN triathlete from India and the creator of Yoska. To promote inclusion, empower women and to ensure greater participation of women athletes for the second edition of the IRONMAN 70.3 Goa race, we decided to launch and provide free registrations. Our team has worked tirelessly to scan through and seek interest from swimmers, cyclists and runners from across India and then create the all women relay teams. Each team has women from different age groups and different walks of life coming together and meeting for the first time on race week to take up the challenge. As we continue to grow this event, it is our goal to inspire and motivate female participation to a greater extent, and in time have one of the best ratios of women participation globally," he added.

Aarathi Swaminathan, a Yoska IRONMAN certified women coach who is spearheading the Women in Tri project with mentoring and organising webinars for the women endurance community around India, is the driving force behind the organization's Women in Sport initiative.

The best IRONMAN triathlete in the nation, Aarathi, also stated, "The initiative is to provide more women an opportunity to discover, experience, and excel."

Brigade Foundation has contributed to the support of up to 30 women creating 10 relay teams as part of Yoska's programme.

On November 13, Miramar Beach in Panaji will serve as the starting point for more than 1400 competitors from 33 nations and all around India. These 20 relay teams, which are made up entirely of women, will be competing to leave their imprint among them.