Well, at this point it almost seems like a weekly déjà vu since the top position in the men´s ranking changed almost every week since the World Championships in August. But every athlete who makes it to the top certainly deserves some spotlight. Especially the athlete who is the new #1 in this week´s ranking since he´s the most successful athlete since we started to track the results of aquabike races in Europe by the start of the 2021 race season.
Wow, what a spectecular weekend of aquabike racing it was! We had lots of races with big fields of aquabikers all over Europe. While the National Aquabike Championships of Slovakia took place just outside Bratislava, we also had an Aquabike race 70 km further up the Danube River at the Vienna Triathlon. We also had races with many aquabike athletes in France and also a race in Portugal.
The big points were made in England though. We did not only have the biggest race of the season (by number of athletes), but also one of the biggest middle distance races as well as the hardest aquabike race on the calendar on the British Island.
For the longest time of the year last year´s World and European Champion Adam Lambrechts had a safe lead in the Aquabike Ranking Europe due to his outstanding performances in the two championship races. But after he wasn´t able to defend his title at this year´s World´s in Samorin, the top rankings got significantly closer.
So it was Peter Schott from Austria, who got into the top position two weeks ago. But he couldn´t stay in the place in the sun for very long. But it wasn´t Nathan Morgan who I mentioned last week as potential new #1 after the Europeans in Bilbao. At least not yet, since the European Championships are still two weeks away. Instead the new leader in the men´s ranking comes from Germany.
Last weekend we had the National Long Distance Aquabike Championships in Poland as well as the National Championships in Slovenia. There were two big events in Austria and the second aquabike race of the year in Germany. And of course also some aquabike races going on in Great Britain.
Over the last two weekends the top ranks in the Aquabike Ranking Europe got completely mixed up – the men´s ranking as well as the women´s. Main reason of course was the World Championships in Samorin. But there were also some big points to grab at several National Aquabike Championship races. And: the serial winners of the season in England also accumulated some more points in races on the island, climbing up the ranks step by step.
It´s championship time! Over the last two weekends we did not only have an exciting but also a little controversial race the Aquabike Long Distance Championships in Samorin. On the same day there were also the National Championships in Poland over the standard distance. And last Sunday we had the first ever National Championships in Belgium (with the first ever aquabike race in this country) as well as the National Championships in Denmark. But of course there was also quite some racing action once again on the British islands with both of the two most successful aquabike athletes of the year winning another race.
Dear World Triathlon Officials,
The 2022 edition of the World Triathlon competition rules brought some significant changes for aquabike races. The probably most important one is regarding the finish of the race:
The World Championships Aquabike race in Samorin was the first race where this rule was applied. While in previous European and World Championship races the race finished before Transition Area 2, aquabike athletes had to run 800 metres to the finishline in Samorin.
This lead to quite some changes in the overall results of the race. In the following table you can see the position of the first 6 athletes at the end of the bike course, compared to their position at the finishline:
What a thrilling race it was at the 5th Aquabike World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia last Sunday. 170 aquabike athletes jumped into the Danube River at 10:20 in the morning. 2 hours, 33 minutes and 28 seconds later the fastest of them crossed the finishline at the x-bionic® sphere. Chapeau to Daniel KLOSA! The 4th of last year´s World´s in Almere was the fastest aquabike athlete of the day, while the women´s race was won by last year´s runner up Amber SMOLIK.
With a lead of 18 respectively 32 seconds both of them took home pretty close wins after 2 km of swimming 80 km of cycling and 800 metres of running. For the first time in the young history of aquabike racing, the athletes had to run to the finishline in an international championship race. And it made some difference.
We are heading into the last few weeks of the racing season in most parts of Europe. The biggest races of the year are yet to come though. The World Championships are just around the corner (check out our race preview) and the European Championships are also just about a month away. There haven´t been a lot of races over the last two weeks, but certainly some interesting ones in Austria, Slovakia and of course in England.
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.