In December the International Triathlon Union (ITU) released their new version of the competition rules for the 2022 racing season. There are quite a few changes about aquabike racing. Some make sense, some are clarifying things that might were confusing in previous versions, but some impose restrictions that seem quite unnecessary – and for some races actually unfeasible. So it might be worth taking a closer look…
First of all I might should remark: paper is patient. In the past versions of the ITU competitions rules have always been regulations that seem unnecessary. For example that aquabike races have to have specific distances, that they have to be included in a triathlon, or about the question where the the race finishes. Some of those rules were even contradictory. But race organizers and national federations didn´t really seem to care, if an aquabike race really observed all the ITU rules. And I would assume (and hope) that this will also be the case in 2022. Because otherwise a lot of aquabike races actually would have to be cancelled.
[Edit: A user rightly noted that ITU rules do only apply for ITU events. So in case of aquabike races that´s World and European Championships. However, I assume the ITU competition rules do serve as blueprint for many national competition rules. So they´re probably still kind of relevant for other events (indirectly).]
An important change in the 2022 competition rules is about the location of the actual finish of an aquabike race. In last years version, there were two contradicting rules. One saying that “Aquabike consists of Swimming, Transition area 1, Cycling and Transition area 2;” while a few lines below another rule says that “Athletes will finish the competition at the finish line located at the end of the bike course”. This second part was now erased and the first part is now worded very clear:
a.) Aquabike consists of Swimming, Transition area 1, Cycling and Transition Area 2 and a short run to finish;
b.) The final short run is to connect the transition area to the finish gantry. It will be as short as possible and never longer than 1 km;
While clarification might be a good thing, I wonder why the choice of the finishline location can´t be left to the organizer? At some triathlons it can be quite tricky to integrate a “shortcut” to the finishline due to the nature of the location. And there are also point-to-point triathlons, which have the finish not anywhere near T2. So in those cases a specific “finish gantry” for aquabike finishers must be installed near T2. That´s certainly possible – but why? Why impose additional hassle to the race organizer when the finish could simply be at T2 entry or exit? And one also shouldn´t forget the athlete´s perspective. May aquabike athletes chose this sport, because they cannot run anymore due to an injury. Running a few hundred meters can be quite challenging for some aquabike athletes. Now this obviously can´t be avoided on the way to and through T1. But it could certainly be avoided at the finish.
The change is also a bit surprising because that´s not how the finish in international competitions (World and European Championships) was organized. At those events the finish was either on the road (shortly before T2) or at T2 entry. Let´s see how it will be in this year´s championship events.
A change that certainly makes sense is the extension of the possible race distances. Due to ITU competitions rules you can now have aquabike races over Standard, Middle and Long Distance. The question why there shouldn´t be aquabike competitions over the Sprint Distance (which of course are out there included in many sprint triathlons) remains open. And also why the range for the bike distance of middle distance race is so tight (80 – 90 km).
Another reasonable change is that an aquabike race doesn´t have to be included in a triathlon anymore. It certainly makes sense for an organizer to do so. But there isn´t really a reason, why an aquabike event shouldn’t also be allowed as standalone event, as it was the case until last year. Now the 2022 competition rules explicitly state that standalone aquabike races are allowed. That certainly would be a nice thing for aquabike events. Yet there isn´t any aquabike race in Europe that is not included in a triathlon. But let´s see… maybe an event organizer has a heart for aquabikers 😉