Age-group Triathlon Qualifiers 2014
The qualifying events for the 2014 ITU Age-Group World Championships and the 2015 ETU Age-Group European Championships have just been published. You can see them here:
As usual. the qualifiers for the World Champs take place in the same year, so the qualifying events for the 2014 World Champs are in 2014, with the World Champs themselves taking place in Edmonton Canada between 26th August and 1st September. As for the European Champs, the qualifying races that take place in 2014 qualify you for the 2015 European Champs which take place in Geneva, presumably in June 2015. The qualifiers for the 2014 European Champs that take place in Kitzbuhel on 19-22nd June 2014 have already taken place.
Here’s a recap of the dates and places of the championship events:
- June 19th – 22nd 2014: European Championships, Kitzbuhel, Austria
- August 26th – September 1st: World Championship, Edmonton, Canada
- June (TBC) 2015 – European Championships, Geneva, Switzerland
- September (TBC) 2015 World Championships, Chicago, USA
I’m currently only interested int he Sprint Distance races but the entire qualifying programme seems a little odd to me. I’ve already qualified for the 2104 European Championships so will hopefully be racing in it. I will therefore be in Kitzbuhel between June 18th and 25th, along with the rest of Team GB. However, the qualifiers for the 2015 European Championships, which presumably most people in Team GB will be wanting to do are published as follows:
2015 ETU Sprint Distance Triathlon European Championships Qualifiers
- 31st May 2014: Nottingham Triathlon, Holme Pierrepont
- 15th June 2014: Southport Marine Lake Triathlon, Southport
- 15th June 2014: Rother Valley Triathlon Festival
As you can see, two of the events are on the same day, June 15th, a couple of days before Team GB athletes are due to be racing in Kitzbuhel. I guess that could make qualification in those events fairly easy for people not already in the team. Not only will the field be diluted over two events, but the fastest athletes will be in Austria anyway. It also means that competition for qualifying places in the Nottingham Triathlon will be particularly fierce as that will be the only chance for many people. I for one will probably have to do the Nottingham race if I want to qualify for the 2015 European Championships. The level of competition for qualifying places in Nottingham will be further exasperated by the fact that the Nottingham race is also a qualifier for the World Championships.
I hadn’t intended trying to qualify for the World Championships next year as I simply can’t afford to go to Canada, but the release of the dates has made me want to re-evaluate this. For a start the championships themselves are in the last week of the school holidays, so it might be possible to combine it with a family holiday. Here are the Qualifiers for the World Champs:
2014 ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships Qualifiers
- 31st May 2014: Nottingham Triathlon, Holme Pierrepont
- 15th June 2014: Rother Valley Triathlon Festival
- 6th July 2014: Big Cow Sprint, Newport Pagnell
I might be racing in Nottingham anyway in order to try qualifying for the 2015 European Champs. If I manage to qualify then I may well qualify for the World Champs as well which will only make me want to go even more. These events are a good excuse to travel, but affording them is the issue. Finding the time, energy and motivation to train for them is easy in comparison to finding the money to fund them.
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Nice blog. Useful update re etu. Still waiting on grafham results….website not working. Hope to see you there.
Oh dear,you need some sponsors, maybe give some talks about your triathlons to groups for a fee. Have a cake/ garden produce sale, or just go begging!
Re 2015 ETU Sprint Qualifiers. Which June 15th qualifier do you think will be tougher? Strange that they are on the same day!
Hmmm, now there’s a question! I did the Rother Valley Race in 2012 and that was fairly easy without too tough a field, however it is also a qualifier for the 2104 World Champs so I would expect quite a few people to do it as it will give them a chance to qualify for both the 2015 European Champs and the 2014 World Champs.
I don’t know anything about the Southport one – It may all end up being a double bluff with people going there instead of Rother Valley though thinking that it’ll be an easier place to qualify. Of course, those of us competing in the 2014 European Champs in Kitzbühel won’t be there anyway as we’ll all be Austria!
My dilemma is do I race in Nottingham to try to qualify for 2015, or hope to race well in Kitzbühel in order to get a pre-qualification place?
Al.