The Sarasota-Bradenton area is fast emerging as a leading destination for major sporting events. International Athletes showed their skill this past weekend, not only in one sport but a total of five: involving running, target shooting, fencing, swimming and equestrian jumping on randomly selected horses at the 2015 Modern Pentathlon World Cup #1. In 2016, there will be two qualifying events held in Sarasota for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, August 2016 (“Road to Rio”).
Each athlete faces and overcomes the unexpected in competition such as high winds 
due to a February cold front, running on beach sand, and their assigned horse not jumping at command. One U.S. Athlete commented that passing with horses either on the right or left side is not standardized just like driving in certain countries on the left side of the road. The commonality among the athletes is their sportsmanship, love and honor for their homeland. The USA record-breaking crowd of 17,000 attendees cheered for all of the pentathletes representing 35 different countries, including one located on the opposite side of our part of the world – Kazakhstan! Cameras were set up at each angle as well as drones overhead to capture the action for the televised broadcast worldwide.
Sarasota Modern Pentathlon Chair Katherine Harris and her team also lined up some of Sarasota’s renowned “Cultural Athletes” to entertain the pentathletes and their fans. One evening performance at Circus Sarasota was the seven-person pyramid on high wire involving the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original iconic Karl Wallenda (including his Granddaughter Delilah at the top of the pyramid and her son, Nik Wallenda, who assisted in balancing the overall pyramid). Ballerinas from the Sarasota Cuban Ballerina School gracefully performed on stage at Nathan Benderson Park. A Chinese dragon troupe intrigued the crowd. During the Closing Ceremony with the backdrop of country flags softly lit by the setting sun, a stunning white Herrmann’s Royal Lipizzan Stallion Horse, with an eloquent rider, pranced before the crowd.
Sarasota’s AquaNew, as part of its sponsorship for the Modern Pentathlon, donated more than 3,000 bottles of its Watt-Ahh® bottled water for the athletes, their coaches, dignitaries, and the many volunteers who helped the games to become an international sporting and cultural success. Event attendees also donated a total of $185 to the nonprofit ChildHelp®, an organization that fights child abuse and neglect. To date, AquaNew’s customers have donated nearly $6,000 to ChildHelp® through some of Watt-Ahh® sales proceeds.
To see more photos from the day, please visit our Pinterest page.
* An excerpt from this article was published in BEVNET on Feb. 26, 2015.