EMMA MOFFATT AND BILL CHAFFEY SPEARHEAD AUSSIES INTO CHICAGO

 

Triathlon Australia, June 27, 2014: Australian World champions Emma Moffatt and Bill Chaffey will spearhead a strong group of Australian triathletes and Paratriathletes who will join more than 4000 competitors when Chicago hosts this weekend’s ITU World Triathlon Series.

Moffatt, a two-time ITU world champion and Olympic bronze medallist is the only member of Australia’s six-strong Commonwealth Games triathlon team who will make the trip to the US in the lead up to next month’s Games in Glasgow for round five of the eight-round WTS.

It will be an important part of her preparation for her first Commonwealth Games – the major focus of her 2014 season.

The 29-year-old will be joined in Chicago by youngsters, Wollongong’s Under 23 World Champion Charlotte McShane, Brisbane’s Chengdu ITU World Cup winner and ITU Under 23 World Duathlon champion and Elite race runner-up Gillian Backhouse as well as Sydney’s Deaflympic gold medallist Melinda Vernon, who is making a successful transition into triathlon.

The men’s Elite race will see London Olympian Brendan Sexton from the Wollongong Wizards joined by 2013 London World Championship team member Cameron Good from Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Victoria’s Noosa Triathlon winner Pete Kerr in a field headed by two-time ITU World Champion Javier Gomez and fellow Spaniard, London WTS winner Mario Mola.

And in another landmark addition to the ITU calendar will be he second round of the 2014 ITU World Paratriathlon Series that will see four-time ITU World Champion Chaffey (PT1) joined by fellow Australian squad members Brant Garvey (PT2), Jack Swift (PT4) and Jonathan Goerlach (PT5).

 

ELITE WOMEN’S PREVIEW: SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR MOFFY TO SKYPE HER WAY ONTO PODIUM

Women’s start time: 3:30am Sunday, June 29 (AEST)

Emma Moffatt, who is currently sitting in seventh on the overall ITU Rankings will be looking to turn her relatively disappointing early season form around, which has seen her finish 7th in Auckland, 9th in Cape Town and 14th in Yokohama.

And regular Skype sessions with her coach Shaun Stephens could be just the answer.

“I haven’t started off with many great races so I will be looking to Chicago and Hamburg to turn things around,” Moffatt said before leaving the Gold Coast this week.

“I will race Chicago before heading to Spain to train and then put the finishing touches to (the Games) preparation in Hamburg (July 11 and 12) before heading into Glasgow.”

Moffatt has been coached remotely by former Australian head coach Shaun Stephens, who is now a member of the Team Sky Professional Cycling coaching staff.

“Shaun coached me for three years leading up to the Beijing Olympics and I have every faith in him. We talk regularly via email and on Skype – and it’s working out really well; he’s a great coach, who’s very enthusiastic and who knows his stuff.”

Moffatt will again face Australian-based World Ranked number one Gwen Jorgensen, who after becoming the first American woman to win a WTS event last year in San Diego, will look to repeat her winning ways again.

If her last two wins in Yokohama and London are any indicator, Jorgensen is well primed to duplicate her 2013 win.

Moffatt will again face-off with two of her Commonwealth Games rivals, British pair Helen Jenkins and Jodie Stimpson.

 

Women’s start list

ITU Rankings

ELITE MEN’S PREVIEW: GENERATION NEXT MEN THE SLEEPING GIANTS OF WTS

Men’s start time: 7am, Monday, June 30 (AEST)

With Australia’s Commonwealth Games men’s team, Ryan Bailie, Aaron Royle and Dan Wilson sitting out Chicago it gives Australia’s next crop of men an opportunity to shine.

But waiting for Brendan Sexton, Cameron Good and Pete Kerr will be the men of the moment – Spanish pair Javier Gomez and Mario Mola – who between them have been unbeatable this season – Gomez striking gold in Auckland, Cape Town and Yokohama and Mola a victory over the sprint distance course in London.

Nine of the top 20 males will be on show and despite the fact that the Brownlee boys Alistair and Jonathan will also sit this round out, there will be particular interest centred around Commonwealth Games hopeful, South African Richard Murray – who is currently fourth on the world rankings.

For Sexton, Good and Kerr, the Chicago round will be an ideal opportunity to put their best form on the board in the lead up to the end of season races in Hamburg and Stockholm and hopefully places on the Australian team for the ITU WTS Grand Final in Edmonton (August 25-September 1).

 

Men’s start list

ITU Rankings

PARATRIATHLON PREVIEW: PT TEAM OUT TO SET PATHWAY TO RIO

Paratriathlon Start Time: 11.30pm, Saturday, June 28 (AEST)

WA’s Brent Garvey created history with his win in the opening World Paratriathlon Series race in Yokohama in May and will be searching for more success against some solid US opposition.

He will be keen to continue his rise to the top of the PT2 athletes against Pan American Champion Mark Barr USA and 2nd placegetter Sean Vangerena (USA) who will provide testing competition. 

Australia’s most celebrated Paratriathlete, the Gold Coast’s -time world champion Bill Chaffey will have a host of US opponents in the PT1 category for wheelchair athletes.

His main opposition will be the USA’s Krige Schabort, who was third to Chaffey in the London ITU World Championships last year. 

The Stephen Moss coaches Chaffey will be looking to get a fast time and confirm his position as the leading PT1 paratriathlete in the world after his Dutch rival Jetze Plat scored a fast win at the European Championships in Kitzbuehel last weekend.

Australia’s PT4 representative, Jack Swift will be looking to demonstrate his improving skills developed with his coach, Olympic medallist Jan Rehula at the VIS and the 2012 Paralympian who represented in the 400m and 4x100m, will also unveil a new race bike.

Visually impaired PT5 class athlete Jonathan Goerlach from the NSW South Coast –and his guide Jack Bigmore are looking forward to their first international race since the 2012 Auckland World Championships.  

Goerlach focused last year on purchasing a new quality tandem bike and progressing his training at the AIS in Canberra under coach Corey Bacon and is ready to show his ability on the world stage. 

He can expect strong opposition will be Pan American champion Aaron Scheidies USA.

 

Paratriathlon Categories

ABOUT THE RACE

Chicago will be the third-ever US city to host an ITU World Triathlon Series race – joining San Diego (2012 and 2013) and Washington D.C. (2009) – and in 2016 will be the first to host the World Triathlon Series Grand Final since the series was founded in 2009.

One-hundred and thirty of the world’s fastest triathletes – 65 elite men and 65 elite women – will compete in the draft-legal, standard-distance race (1500m swim, 40k bike and 10k run) along the shores of Lake Michigan.

The ITU World Triathlon Chicago race course will include such famous landmarks as Grant Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, Soldier Field and Millennium Park, and will culminate with a loop around Buckingham Fountain at the finish.

Athletes set to tackle the two-lap Lake Michigan swim before riding eight laps around the Windy City’s famous down town area before finishing up with a four-lap run along Columbus Drive on Saturday. 

Paratriathletes will complete a sprint-distance course, which includes a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.

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