USA Triathlon has announced the schedule for the 2018 Sarasota-Bradenton Triathlon Festival, a two-day event that features ITU Triathlon and Paratriathlon World Cup events, the CAMTRI Triathlon Mixed Relay American Championships and the USA Triathlon Age Group Draft-Legal National Championships. The events are set for October 13-14 in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, and will be held at Nathan Benderson Park for the second consecutive year.
“USA Triathlon is proud to host an ITU World Cup on American soil for the second consecutive year,” said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO. “We look forward to welcoming elite triathletes and paratriathletes from around the world, while at the same time offering our first-ever Draft-Legal Triathlon National Championships for amateurs.
“In addition, the elite mixed relay competition will showcase this rapidly-growing race format ahead of its inclusion in the upcoming Olympic Games.”
“We are happy to welcome triathletes from near and far to Nathan Benderson Park for the ITU Triathlon World Cup,” added Stephen Rodriguez, President and CEO of the 501(c)(3) non-profit Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates (SANCA), which operates Nathan Benderson Park. “The Sarasota-Bradenton area is proud to partner with USA Triathlon and the ITU to produce this outstanding event and opportunity for triathletes of all skill levels to interact with the world’s best competitors.”
Racing will begin on Saturday morning with the USA Triathlon Age Group Draft-Legal National Championships. Amateur athletes will compete for national titles in their age groups, with top finishers qualifying to represent Team USA at the 2019 ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. While this race has been held as a World Championship qualifier in previous years, it is considered a National Championship for the first time in 2018.
The multi-loop, spectator-friendly course features a 750m swim, draft-legal 18K bike and 5K run, similar to the course that will be contested by elite athletes later that day.
On Saturday afternoon, elite triathletes from around the world will race for a share of a US$60,000 prize purse in the sprint-distance Sarasota-Bradenton ITU Triathlon World Cup. The race will also serve as the USA Triathlon Elite National Championships, with national podium placements awarded to the top-three US finishers in each race.
The action continues on Sunday morning with the ITU Paratriathlon World Cup, in which elite athletes in various paratriathlon divisions will complete a 750m swim, non-drafting 18K bike and 5K run. Nine US paratriathletes earned medals in 2017, including gold medalists Ahalya Lettenberger (Glen Ellyn, Ill., PTWC), Amy Dixon (Encinitas, Calif., PTVI), Andrea Walton (Washington, D.C., PTS4) and Ruth-Ann Reeves (Hattiesburg, Miss., PTS5).
Wrapping up race weekend will be the CAMTRI Triathlon Mixed Relay American Championships, an elite international race featuring four-person mixed-gender teams. Each athlete will complete a 300m swim, 6.4K bike and 1.5K run before handing off to the next teammate, with the fastest combined time winning the race. USAT notes that triathlon mixed relays are growing in popularity worldwide, as the International Olympic Committee announced in June that it would add the discipline to the program of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Registration is now open for the USA Triathlon Draft-Legal National Championships. No qualification is required, but all competitors must be at least 15 years of age by December 31st, 2018.
