It’s time to race again! I’m off to Europe today for three races in as many weeks.
It all starts this weekend at the FISU World University Championship in Erdek, Turkey. Both our men’s and women’s teams are very strong and were recently described as the ”strongest team we have ever taken to the FISU race” by FISU coach Andy Schmitz. Here is the roster:
Men
Greg Billington (Spokane, Wash.) – 2007 USAT Junior Elite Athlete of the Year, 2007 USAT Junior National Champion, 2006, 2007 and 2008 USAT Junior Worlds Team Member, 2006 Junior Aquathlon World Champion
Barrett Brandon (Fort Worth, Texas) – 2004 USAT U23 Worlds Team Member, 2004 USAT Collegiate National Champion, 2004 FISU Worlds Team Member
Ethan Brown (Lowell, Mass.) – 2007 USAT U23 National Champion, 2008 USAT U23 Worlds Team Member, 2006 FISU Worlds Team Member
Kevin Collington (Orlando, Fla.) – Kind of a big deal
Steve Sexton (Davis, Calif.) – 2008 USAT Collegiate National Champion, 2006 FISU Worlds Team Member
Women
Amanda Felder (Houston, Texas) – 2005 and 2008 USAT Collegiate National Champion, 2006 FISU Worlds Team Member
Lauren Goldstein-Kral (Shaker Heights, Ohio) – 2007 USAT Junior Elite Athlete of the Year, 2007-2008 USAT Junior Worlds Team Member
Jennifer Spieldenner (Findlay, Ohio) – 2005 USAT Junior National Champion, 2006 and 2007 USAT U23 Worlds Team Member
Justine Whipple (Duxbury, Mass.) – 2007 USAT U23 National Champion, 2006 and 2007 Collegiate National Champion, 2007 and 2008 U23 Worlds Team Member, 2007 and 2008 U.S. Armed Forces National Champion
Most of us get into Istanbul on Wednesday at which point we get on a ferry to take us across this Sea of Marmara to the city of Erdek, Turkey. Erdek is a popular tourist destination for Turkish citizens and is located on a peninsula in the southern part of the Sea of Marmara.
After the race in Erdek, Steve, Ethan and I are continuing on to Hamburg to race in the Hamburg World Cup the following weekend. The Hamburg World Cup is a pretty big event in Germany as more than 300,000 people usually line the streets on race day. Last year I raced here when it was the U23 World Championship.
Javier Gomez leading the run in last year’s Triathlon World Championship in Hamburg
The following weekend Steve and I are continuing on yet again to race in the Tiszaujvaros World Cup in Hungary. I’m not quite sure what to expect here but I do know that the event is a very big deal in the small town of Tiszaujvaros. Looks like a fun race to me.
