Triathlon News & Notes: Roth Set for 20th Anniversary, Sub7/8 Broadcast Announced, and Buttigieg Trains for Tri
The news from around the multisport world this week.
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USAT announces 2022 Youth Aquathlon Series
This year will see 45 swim-run events for kids in cities across the country, USAT announced this week. The Splash & Dash Youth Aquathlon Series, which launched in 2012 with 30 events, aims to introduce kids ages 7 to 15 to the multisport lifestyle—and have fun, too. The races are focused purely on participation, and many of the events are not timed. Click here to find a Splash & Dash near you.
RELATED: How to Help Your Child (Not) Train for Triathlon
USAT Foundation offers charity spots for Challenge Roth
Entries for the 20th anniversary of Challenge Roth—the iconic iron-distance race in Germany set for July 3—sold out in less than a minute. But there’s still a chance to compete, courtesy of the USA Triathlon Foundation, which has a limited number of charity entries available (fundraising for the foundation is required.) Interested? Click here for more info.
Ironman expands entries for popular European races
Roth isn’t the only race with a sell-out field: Several 2022 Ironman races in Europe also filled up fast, and now Ironman is offering additional race entries for 11 popular events. These include Ironman Frankfurt (June 26), Kalmar in Sweden (Aug. 20), UK (July 3), Ireland (Aug. 14), Wales (Sept. 11), and Swansea 70.3 (Aug. 7). Extra entries are limited, head to the race’s website to register.
Challenge Roth start list taking shape
Speaking of Challenge Roth, the pro starting lists are already taking shape, with some of the biggest names in the sport committed to compete. These include three world champions in Germany’s Patrick Lange, Anne Haug, and Sebastian Kienle. This week, American pro Sam Long also announced he will race in Roth this year—and will skip Kona, posting, “Roth is where dreams come true. I’ve always wanted to do this iconic race and have made it my priority. The Europeans are always looting our trophies from the [Americans]. so I’m going to Germany for redemption.”
Live coverage set for Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 project
Buzz continues to build for the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 project, which aims to break the record for the fastest long-distance triathlon on June 5 and 6 in Dresden, Germany. This week, Gravity Media announced it will produce a 9.5-hour live broadcast of the attempts by Alistair Brownlee, Kristian Blummenfelt, Nicola Spirig, and Lucy Charles-Barclay, including race footage and interviews with special guests. The Sydney, Australia-based Gravity Media has produced the Super League Triathlon broadcast at Hamilton Island, Ironman documentaries, and provided coverage at the Olympics, and other major athletic events.
RELATED: Can a Triathlete Really Break 7 Hours Over the Iron-Distance?
Melissa Stockwell to run Boston Marathon on honorary women’s team
As a triathlete, Melissa Stockwell has racked up the honors: Three-time ITU Paratriathlon world champion, Paralympic medalist, and Ironman finisher. Next up, she can tick “complete the Boston Marathon” off her to-do list, as the 42-year-old will be on the famous races’s starting line on April 18. Stockwell, the first female American soldier in history to lose a limb in active combat, is one of eight trailblazing women selected to compete in honor of the original eight finishers from the first official women’s field in 1972. Stockwell will take part in the race’s Para Athletics Division.
Hayden Wilde aiming for historic sporting double
2021 Olympic triathlon bronze medalist Hayden Wilde of New Zealand is stretching his legs on the track these days, aiming to make history as the first athlete to compete in two sports at the Commonwealth Games this August. To pull off the historic sporting double, Wilde, 24, of New Zealand, would have to clock 13:17 in the 5,000m event to hit the “A” standard for the Games or 13:23 for the “B” standard (his PR is 13:29.47, set last February). On Thursday, Wilde finished third at the Daikin Night of 5’s event in Auckland in 13:43.89. Wilde has shared that he will continue to race triathlon as usual, with his first world series event set for May in Yokohama.
Collegiate triathlon standouts earn postgraduate scholarships
University of Arizona standout triathletes Olivia Jenks and Kira Stanley are among just 21 female student athletes in the country to receive the NCAA postgraduate scholarship for the fall season. The $10,000 scholarship, to be used for graduate school, is awarded to those who are in their final season of NCAA athletics eligibility and their final year of undergraduate work; recipients must also have a 3.2 grade-point average and demonstrate standout performances on a varsity sports team. Both Jenks and Stanley, who helped the Sun Devils secure their fifth straight national title in 2021, plan to attend graduate school; Jenks is majoring in biological sciences while Stanley is majoring in marketing.
Cyclist-turned-artist creating special mural for world champs
In anticipation of the upcoming Ironman World Champs, local artist and professional cyclist TJ Eisenhart is creating a mural on the side of a building in downtown St. George. The spray-painted mural, which should be complete by race week in early May, will depict a runner, a cyclist, and a swimmer, said Eisenhart, and speak to an athlete’s physical and emotional journal to reach the pinnacle of the sport, something Eisenhart has experienced himself. “The sacrifice and struggle all these athletes have to put in to be at their very best, I’ve been there,” he said. “I’ve been to the World Championships and done it all, so I can relate.”
Pete Buttigieg shares his love of triathlon training
U.S. Secretary of Transportation (and 2020 presidential candidate) Pete Buttigieg shared how he was in the “best shape of [his] life while training for a half-Ironman” last year, when he and his husband, Chasten, welcomed twins Gus and Penelope in September. “About a month before the race was when the kids arrived and everything changed. So I’m just now starting to get back into it,” Buttigieg said. He also shared that Washington, D.C. is a “great city for running and biking, even swimming,” (he’s been spotted at open water swimming clinics in the Potomac River), but did not reveal which race he is aiming for.
Podcast Notes
- The Triathlete Hour features up-and-coming pro Minori Minagawa, 2021 USAT’s Athlete of the Year, and catches up on some recent races.
- Top elite coach Paulo Sousa shares more about his experiences and philosophies with World Triathlon podcast this week, and chats about adding three new members to his roster.
- Mary Cain is the special guest on Ironwomen this week, who shares her rookie mistakes from the Claremont Triathlon and more about her transition from running to triathlon.
- The guys at ProTriNews recap 70.3 Lanzarote and Challenge Puerto Varas, as does MX Endurance.
- The Working Triathlete features Melanie Prohaska, the marketing director for Tri Cle Rock Roll Run in Cleveland, who shares a behind-the-scenes look at organizing, promoting, and hosting a triathlon.
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