A remixed swim, bike, run kicks off the 2021 championship season as Super League Triathlon (SLT) travels to London this weekend, seeing the best athletes on the planet compete over three stages of shuffled triathlon disciplines.
The triple mix is a racing format that plays with the three disciplines of triathlon, swim, bike and run. Athletes will race across three stages, beginning with the traditional swim, bike, run before the disciplines are rearranged to make the second stage a run, bike, swim with the initial run being a mass start.
The third and final stage shuffles the order once again, with the athletes beginning on the bike before entering the water and finishing the race on the run. The first athlete to cross the line and take the tape on the final run will be victorious, taking the maximum amount of race points, with the rest being fed down based on finishing positions.
The Super League Championship 2021 takes place across four different locations, beginning in London before travelling to Munich, Jersey and Malibu. Races will take place every weekend throughout the month, with athletes accruing points based on finishing positions as well as fastest time splits between each discipline.
The championship opener will be free to spectate, seeing athletes set off in the water at West India Quay for a 300m swim before a 4km, tight and technical bike course creates a challenging second discipline for the competitors. The run will comprise of two 800m laps before finishing beside North Dock.
A plethora of British athletes are set to race on home soil, with the men’s race featuring Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Jonathan Brownlee and Alex Yee. The pair already have Super League experience, both competing at the Arena Games earlier in the year where Yee reached the podium in both London and Rotterdam, ranking 2nd in the season overall. Brownlee raced at London, finishing just behind Yee in 4th. Rio 2016 Olympian, Gordon Benson, also features on the men’s start list.
Georgia Taylor-Brown and Jess Learmonth will be joining their Tokyo teammates in London following a successful Olympic campaign that resulted in a mixed relay gold for both athletes as well as an individual silver for Taylor-Brown. Learmonth has one SLT race under her belt, winning the Rotterdam triple mix at the Arena Games last year, Taylor-Brown registered a 5th place finish at the same event.
The Olympic mixed relay champions will be joined by Beth Potter, Sophie Coldwell, Vicky Holland and Non Stanford. Potter is ranked 1st in the Arena Games leaderboard following a stunning win in London followed by a 2nd place finish at Rotterdam. She racked up a total of 56 points, two points ahead of compatriot Coldwell who reached the podium in both races.
Holland ranked 7th in the overall leaderboard for the 2019 SLT championship. The Rio bronze medallist took 12 points from her 4th place finish in Jersey and will be joined by fellow Rio Olympian, Non Stanford.
The women’s racing will take place on Sunday 5 September at 11:30am, with the men’s following at 13:00pm. You can watch the action live on BBC iPlayer, BT Sport, TriathlonLIVE and SLT TV, the latter of which you can find on the link below.
