The World Triathlon Series is set to visit Cape Town this weekend as the world’s top triathletes continue their fight to be crowned World Champion.
Ireland’s top ranked athlete, Aileen Reid, will sit out the Cape Town leg of the series as she returns home to Derry in preparation for races held later in the season. Reid currently lies 10th overall after jumping fourteen places since her 24th place series opener in Abu Dhabi.
Fellow Irish triathletes Bryan Keane and Conor Murphy have also opted to skip the Cape Town event and are expected to return to racing in China for a World Cup event on May 9.
Ireland will, however, be represented on the start line this weekend in the form of Ben Shaw and Russell White. Shaw lies inside the top 100 in the world after a mixed start to the season which has included a DNF in Auckland and a top 20 finish at the New Plymouth World Cup.
The 23 year old Brisbane born athlete with Irish links has shown promising signs and will be looking to make it into an elite front pack in the Olympic Distance race. Shaw will line up wearing number 54 on the start pontoon but will be expecting to beat his start number by some margin.
Russell White, also 23, has gained plenty of international experience in his short triathlon career to date. The Banbridge man who hails from a competitive swimming background represented Northern Ireland in triathlon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and also made his début on the World Triathlon Series in Yokohama last season.
Wearing number 65 from 67 starters, White will be looking for a solid result in order to build his world ranking and gain regular starts at World Series level.
2015 World Triathlon Series
March 6-7 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
March 28-29 Auckland, New Zealand
April 11-12 Gold Coast, Australia
April 25-26 Cape Town, South Africa
May 16-17 Yokohama, Japan
May 30-31 London, United Kingdom
July 18-19 Hamburg, Germany
August 22-23 Stockholm, Sweden
September 5-6 Edmonton, Canada
September 15-20 Chicago, USA (Grand Final)
2014 World Triathlon Series Stats
- 250 Million TV audience
- Broadcast in 160 countries
- 1.5 Million event spectators worldwide
- 140 professional male & female triathletes
- 35,000 Age Group triathletes racing the series
Global Triathlon Growth
-From 1.3 Million Active Triathletes in 2009 to 2.1 Million in 2013
-From 12,500 Events in 2011 to 13,350 in 2013
-From 7,640 Clubs in 2011 to 8,900 in 2013
