Participants in the first edition of Challenge Venice will be able to start the full-distance triathlon, on 5 June 2016, from the historic centre of this UNESCO World Heritage city. The organizing team notes that the swim section gets underway from one of the most spectacularly preserved areas of Venice where 500 years ago, on 29 March 1516, the world’s first Jewish ghetto was founded.
Athletes will have complimentary use of the ferry service from Parco San Giuliano from early morning and should disembark at Fondamenta Cannaregio before making their way on foot across one of Venice’s most famous bridges, the Tre Archi, to the start at the nearby Fondamenta San Giobbe opposite the Università Cà Foscari.
From there all triathletes will dive into the water and swim 3.8K in a straight line across open water to the transition area at Parco San Giuliano.
The organizers note that this will be the first time that Venice has witnessed such a spectacle in its long history as the city has ‘never previously hosted a sporting event of this kind.’
A release from Challenge Venice adds that… ‘It will be a breath-taking start for participants and spectators alike as wave after wave of athletes plunge into the water from 6:30 in the morning with each category a few minutes apart.
‘Each group will be accompanied by gondolas in the same colours as the caps for the various start grids, as they make their way across the very fast straight course, leaving the Ponte della Libertà bridge to the left and hugging the coast of the islands of San Secondo and San Giuliano. Once they get to Parco San Giuliano, they get out of the water and do the short run to the transition area where their bikes will be waiting.’
“Thanks to its start from the historic centre of the city, Challenge Venice adds an element that will make a competition that’s already unique, even more extraordinary,” commented Race Director Matteo Gerevini. “A full-distance triathlon in Venice is a memorable event per se, but being able to give our competitors the thrill of an absolutely extraordinary start in the very heart of the world’s most beautiful city will turn Challenge Venice into a truly unforgettable memory for everyone involved.”
Aside from its unique setting, the swim section of the Challenge Venice will also be unusual as the course goes in one direction only with no swimming around buoys, a factor that could be a boost to full-distance first-timers and competitors seeking to improve their personal best times.
The organizers add that ‘In fact, it will be akin to doing the distance in an enormous swimming pool lane stretching almost 4 kilometres in length.’
At the end of the swimming section, the competitors will tackle the 180K cycling section before returning once again to the transition area in the Triathlon Stadium at Parco San Giuliano and embarking upon the marathon section which is the usual 42.195 kilometres.
