This weekend provides two opportunities to qualify for the Great Britain Age-Group team. The Dambuster Triathlon on Saturday and the Bristol Harbourside Triathlon on Sunday both have qualification places available for the PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final London, 11-15 September.
The Dambuster is a regular qualification event for British Age-Group teams over the tried-and-tested standard distance Rutland course.
The 1500m swim takes place in Rutland Water, with an atmospheric 7am start. The surrounding roads and the infamous Rutland Ripple climbs make up the 42km cycle course and the 10k run crosses the dam walls before finishing where it all started, at the water’s edge.
A strong field will line up on Saturday, but new champions will be crowned with neither Carl Shaw nor Lou Collins returning this year having won in 2012. Shaw competed at the ETU Patratariathlon European Championships last Sunday as a guide for visually impaired silver medal winner, Iain Dawson in the Tri6 classification.
The Bristol Harbourside Triathlon offers fast-paced city centre action on closed roads. The added incentive of sprint qualification spots for London will only help to make this race exciting and competitive. There is also a standard distance race taking place, ensuring that triathletes will dominate the harbour area on Sunday morning.
The 750m swim takes place in the Cumberland Basin, part of Bristol's historic Harbour and adjacent to the Brunel Lock. The bike route consists of a two 10km laps of the flat Portway and the run covers a single 5km lap.
Any competitor hoping to be considered for the Great Britain Age Group team will need to have registered with British Triathlon by 5pm this evening.
Following this weekend’s events there is one further London qualification event for each distance. The GB Age-Group sprint team will be finalised after the Llandudno Sea Triathlon next weekend and the standard distance selection will be completed at the British Triathlon Championships Liverpool on 13 July.
The unique opportunity to race at the London 2012 Olympic triathlon venue has already attracted unprecedented interest from Age-Group athletes, with qualification races setting exceptional standards.
Thousands of spectators are expected to visit Hyde Park over the Grand Final weekend, which is free to view and will feature the best amateur and elite triathletes and paratriathletes in the world.
To see a full list of qualification races for the GB Age-Group team visit British Triathlon (http://www.britishtriathlon.org/take-part/events/itu-etu-qualifiers).
