Only a few days are left before the Aquabike Long Distance World Championships take place in Samorin, just a few kilometres outside of Slovakia´s capital Bratislava. I hope those of you who are on the startlist are well prepared and enjoy their tapering period.
The x-bionic® sphere is an awesome race venue for a multisport race, the weather forecast looks pretty good and we can expect a perfectly organized race. However, this year´s Aquabike World Championship race marks a noteworthy change in the race format that probably not every aquabike athlete is delighted of.
Townsville, Australia is the location where the Multisport World Championships were actually planned for 2022. Due to Australia´s travel restrictions the event eventually had to be cancelled in 2021 after there were no signs of lifting the restrictions throughout the year. In December the Cross Triathlon and Duathlon Championships (which were also part of the Multisport Championship event) were awarded to Targu Mures in Romania, while date and location for the other disciplines should be announced within the next few weeks. But it seems like the ITU struggled to find an event organizer to host such a big event with only little time of preparation. So it wasn´t before mid March when the Long Distance Triathlon and Aquabike World Championships where announced to be in Samorin in Slovakia. And the lack of applicants for the event due to the short preparation time period was probably also the reason why the Long Distance World Championships now actually became a middle distance race. It will take place within the scope of the PTO´s Collins Cup with it´s main race the day before.
However, the short term announcement and preparation certainly should not mean that it won´t be a perfectly organized race. I´m expecting a great event from an experienced organizer – most of all in an absolutely top location.
The Race Venue
The host location of the event is the x-bionic® sphere in Samorin, about 20 kilometres south of Bratislava is Slovakia. According to it´s website “x-bionic® sphere is a sports and leisure resort with ideal conditions for professional and amateur sports, but also pleasant relaxation, good gastronomy and meaningful leisure time.” It contains sports grounds for about 30 olympic disciplines, including an athletic stadium, an olympic swimming pool and several equestrian sport facilities. The latter of which also explains the venue´s landmark which you can see in the picture here.
In 2016 the x-bionic® sphere hosted the Challenge Samorin for the first time, which 2017 became the annual event “The Championship” – basically Challenge Familiy´s main middle distance race. I did the very first middle distance race there in 2016, when it was also in August. So I can share a few impressions about the race venue and the course.
The x-bionic® sphere is probably the best venue for a Multisport event that you can think of. The finish area and the EXPO are in the centre of the horse racing track. The finish line is right in front of the grand stand and provides an awesome finishline experience. The finishline area has been pretty nice in 2016 already and I don´t expect it to be any worse at the World´s.
The Swim
The swim is in Danube river. However, there´s no need to be worried about the current. The location of the swim is at a very wide section of the river, also with a bit of a bay. It´s a one lap swim of 2 km. so you swim one kilometre upstream on the right (closer to the shore) and one kilometre downstream. When I did the event in 2016 I didn´t really notice any current. I decided to take not the shortest line and rather swim closer to the shore. But speaking to other athletes afterwards there also wasn´t really a notable current at the straight way to the turn. The bigger challenge is actually the way from the swim exit to the transition zone, where you have to run over the river dam. It´s quite steep. Since there are some aquabike athletes with knee injuries this will probably not be the favourite part of the race for some of you. And since aquabike athletes will start half an hour after the last triathletes, it will be a bit slippery on the way down. So better be careful – you certainly won´t win the race there.
In 2016 the transition zone was quite spacious and well organized. And I certainly don´t expect it to be any worse at the World´s. So I there really isn´t much to say about it.
Westuits forbidden from 24.6°C and above
The Bike Course
If you prefer a bit of climbing on the bike course, you´ll probably be disappointed. The bike course in Samorin is as flat as a bike course can be. The first and the last 25 km are the same as in the Challenge Family race. The 30 km in between might be on different roads, but they have the same elevation gain, which is beyond the borders of perception.
As a matter of fact when the roads are flat you can usually expect some wind in the area. As of now the weather forecast for Sunday predicts winds from northwest. Which would mean you have a nice tailwind on the first half of the bike course, with a not so nice headwind on the way back. So you better safe some energy for the second half of the race.
There is no rain expected for Sunday. But if there is you´ll have to be a bit careful on the first and last part of the course through the town of Samorin. There are a few tight corners which are quite slippery when it´s wet. In 2016 there was a heavy thunderstorm coming up during the bike part of the race and there were a few athletes crashing in corners in Samorin. And also the streets at the halfway turn in the town of Sap looks a bit tight. Those were not part of the race in 2016, so I don´t know this part of the course from real life. But it looks like you better be a bit careful there as well.
The Finish Line
Like I mentioned above the venue provides a great atmosphere for a great finishline experience. Nevertheless probably not all of the aquabike athletes will really look forward to get there. Because due to a change in the ITU competition rules for the first time since aquabike races have been included in international championship races, the competition does not end at the end of the bike course. Just as in many local races, aquabike athletes have to get into T2, rack their bikes and then run to the finishline. But different to most local races, the way to the finish line in Samorin is a bit longer. 800 metres to be precise. OK, that´s not a marathon. But many athletes chose this multisport format because of serious injuries. For some of them 800 metres is a pretty long way. As much as I love to have a proper finishline experience, I also feel with the athletes who are just not able to run – or at least not without pain or the risk of injury. I think the ITU would be well advised to rethink this new rule. And also… wouldn´t it be paradox if an aquabike race would be decided in a final run?
The Favourites
There are still athletes who don´t really have a lot of aquabike races in their home country or region. So there´s always room for a surprise winner when a strong athlete who hasn´t participated in an aquabike race before, enters the world of aquabike at a championship race. Just as Adam LAMBRECHTS, current #1 in the Aquabike Rankings after winning European and World Championships in superior manner last year. The European Aquabike Champoinships at the Challenge Kaiserwinkl Walchsee have been his first ever aquabike race. He isn´t on the startlist of this year´s World´s in Samorin. However there are quite a few strong and experienced aquabike athletes on the startline who will make it quite hard for a newcomer to get the title.
Speaking about the title. There is no overall World Champion in aquabike racing, since the ITU only provides championship titles for each age group separately. So there isn´t even an official overall race result. Which I find a bit of a shame. The strongest athletes overall still deserve some more attention. And we will give it to them. Although there is no “official” overall winner of the race, we will still look at the full results in our race report. And for the preview we also only take a look at the strongest competitors overall, although they do not compete in the same age groups.
The Men´s Race
At the men´s race last year´s World and European Champion Adam Lambrechts is the great absentee of this year´s race. Nevertheless we will certainly have a strong field of competitors. First to mention is certainly last years runner up and US national champion Kurt HOLT. Since 2018 he collected no less than 6 gold medals in the US national aquabike championship races along with a silver medal at the World´s in Pontevedra in 2019 and the gold medal in his age group in Almere last year. With the swim as his weaker discipline, Kurt is certainly one of the strongest cyclists in aquabike racing. If you want to stay in front of the race on the bike, you will certainly have to get some space between you and him in the water.
That´s probably the plan of Daniel KLOSA. In Almere he was the first coming out of the water after an impressive swim performance, putting more than 11 minutes between him and Kurt on the 3,8 km swim. But that wasn´t enough. He ended the race in 4th place, about two minutes behind Kurt. In this year´s race though the swimming part has a bit of bigger share of the overall distance. So if both of them are in shape, I expect a very close race between the two of them.
But of course there are also some other strong athletes who might be serious contenders for the overall victory. Daniel´s fellow countryman Jonas HAFEMANN is certainly worth to mention. He came in 6th in Almere and this year proofed to be in form at the Vierlanden Triathlon, where he won the first ever aquabike race in Germany after a close battle with two other contenders.
But there will also be some strong guys from England who certainly would like to proof that GB´s 1st place in the Country Ranking is well deserved. James Di-Luzio took an noteworthy win in a strong field of competitors at the Deva Triathlon, showing an impressive performance on the bike. Third in that race was Andrew GOWLAND, who will also on the startlist for Samorin. And one athlete that we should certainly mention is Greg FUNNELL, who took an impressive win at the Ironbourne Middle Distance in July.
The Women´s Race
In the women´s race defending champion Sara BAUMANN from Switzerland will be the athlete to beat. The World Championship race in Almere was her first and only aquabike race so far, competing in her second aquabike race now at the World´s in Samorin.
But she will have some pretty strong competitors who are aiming to take the title from her. Amber SMOLIK came in third last year and is certainly keen to climb up the podium a little but further. In Almere she came in four minutes after Sara, after coming out of the water a few seconds ahead with quite a gap to the other women in the race.
In Samorin though I expect the two of them to get a bit more competition in the water. Bethany KINGTON won the women´s race at Cotswolds Lake a few weeks ago, coming out of the water more than a minute before the fastest man of the race – and almost five minutes to the following athletes. Showing also a strong performance on the bike, she will probably be not easy to catch.
But we can expect a maybe even stronger performance on the bike course by Kate ROBINSON, winner of the women´s race of the Deva Triathlon. She certainly has her strength on the bike, putting almost 5 minutes between her and the second fastest women on the bike in Chester. However, on the flat bike course of Samorin it will probably not be easy to catch all of the strong swimmers in the women´s aquabike field.
Other strong athletes in the women´s aquabike race in Samorin will be Germany´s Gabriele KECK and Gayle GALLETTA from the United States who came in 6th and 7th in last year´s World´s at Almere, separated by only 32 seconds. The gap to the fastest women of the race was a bit bigger though. 17 minutes were missing to the podium places. So a bit of an improvement from last year will probably be necessary to get closer to the podium in this year´s race.
OK, that was our Aquabike World Championship 2022 preview. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope we will see an exciting race. For those of you who are at the startline in Samorin, good luck and all the best for the race!
Some maybe helpful links:
Aquabike World Championships 2022 Šamorín race details on aquabike events
Start List (only available by Age Group, so you have to select one)
Course Map for the Aquabike Race (including the run to the finishline)