The 18th Congress of the Pan American Triathlon Confederation (PATCO) convened in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with 18 countries present.  Alberto Fonollosa, PATCO President, opened Congress with a warm welcome to the delegates and to Marisol Casado, ITU President.

The key items of business were:

-      Approval of the 2009 Financial Statement and 2010 Budget;
-      Reports on the PATCO Sport Development Strategic Plan;
-      Update on the status of the 2011 Pan American Games and Olympic Qualifying event for the Americas;
-      2011 Calendar with a strong resolution for a World Cup event in South America.

Preceding Congress on Thursday a workshop on governance and Sport Development was held. This included a seminar from David Styers of BoardSource as well as several of the ITU directors.

The Congress ended with words of praise for the PATCO Executive Board and the tremendous progress achieved in terms of governance, events and coaching and athlete programmes.