Triathlon Australia has announced its National Calendar of events for the 2016-2017 membership season. The National Calendar is made up of seven National Qualifying Series, Australian Championship title races, Elite and OTU Series and the Australian Youth, Junior and Under 23 Triathlon Series.
Miles Stewart, CEO of Triathlon Australia said, “The National Calendar sets to showpiece some of the best triathlon and multisport events Australia has to offer. Not only are the events a unique experience, but our race directors delivering them are world class. The schedule includes races to be held in every state over the next 12 months.”
The National Qualifying Series races are seen as the bedrock of the Triathlon Australia calendar. Each of the seven series is comprised of up to 10 races across Australia, which carry points towards selection for the 2017 ITU Age Group World Championships teams for Aquathlon, Duathlon, Sprint Distance, Standard Distance, Long Distance, Cross Triathlon and Paratriathlon.
These races represent a chance to win points to secure a place on the Australian ‘Green & Gold’ teams travelling to Penticton, Canada (18-27 August), and Rotterdam, Netherlands (14-17 September) in 2017.
The Australian Championships are positioned as the pinnacle of the series across each discipline and provide athletes the opportunity to earn double qualification points.
The National Calendar is open to athletes of all levels, with the races set to showcase some of the best triathlon events the sport has to offer. Those interested in qualifying for any of the Age Group teams must be a member of Triathlon Australia, and membership can be applied for online.
In addition to the National Calendar, all other sanctioned Triathlon, Duathlon, Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Paratriathlon races can be found via the Triathlon Australia online race calendar.
There have also been some significant changes in the Australian Youth and Junior series for the next generation of Olympians and world champions.
Craig Redman, Australia’s National Manager, High Performance Pathway’s said, “The Australian talent pathway series will see the addition of an Under 23 age category and changes to the age category for youth and juniors.”
He continued, “The 2017 Australian Youth, Junior and Under 23 Triathlon Series will allow athletes to compete against the best talent from around Australia, racing for points to determine the point score champion. For the first time in many years the 2017 Australian Youth and Junior Championships will be conducted in Perth, Western Australia.”
Athletes, coaches and parents should also be aware of the new age categories for ITU Youth (13-16yrs), ITU Junior (17-19yrs) and ITU U23 (20-23yrs) with age determined as at 31 December 2017. (In particular, the change of 16 year olds moving into the youth category.)
Triathlon Australia is the official National Sporting Organisation responsible for the management and delivery of the sports of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and multisport within Australia.
The organisation’s vision is: ‘To be the leading triathlon nation and grow the sport of triathlon in Australia’.
Triathlon Australia (TA) has 8 affiliated State and Territory Triathlon Associations. Known as the STTAs, they are the official members of the national body. In addition, the organisations have approximately 19,000 individual members and 180 affiliated triathlon clubs.
