Party Tour

As the dog days of Summer finally wind down the mornings become cooler, the kids are off to school, and we have a little time to take pause, to exhale, and to contemplate...

...National Championships and World's qualifiers.

Yup, just when you thought it was time to relax and let all that hard-won fitness atrophy, there is just enough time for one final push. A little tuning up—and maybe a lot of swim yardage—and you're ready for one or both of the big Oly-distances races this year.

The first is in Menomenie, Wisconsin, and it's not a championship. It's the final of two Worlds qualifiers for the upcoming Triathlon World Championships in New Zealand (in early December). New Zealand is a wonderful country in which to race triathlon, because it's New Zealand of course, because it's cheap, and because they have a tradition of putting on a lot of big triathlons (they know what they're doing).

I'm not going to Menomenie—which is closer to Minnesota's Twin Cities than Milwaukee or Madison—but my training partner and next door neighbor Mark Montgomery is, as are a lot of the better athletes we know in our area.

If you fancy yourself a pretty good athlete, and you think you can swing a New Zealand trip, fly or drive out and give Menomenie a whirl. You'd be surprised at how good your chances of making a national team are. They'll take the first six in each age group, and they'll roll down. There was already one NZ qualifying race in which ten people qualified, and if you were 15th place in Menomenie in your AG, and nine of the fourteen in front of you qualified in the previous qualifier race, you'd go. Plus, there are a few who'll finish in front of you who either can't swing, or don't have a hankerin' for, the World's race and the slot'll roll down to you.

The Menomenie race will take place on the 20th of September, and two weeks later, on October 4th, is both the Age Group National Championships and the qualifier for next year's World Championships, in Madeira, Portugal.

This one I am going to, because I've never been to Portugal and so, wowee, this sounds fun. This is the only qualifier for next year's Worlds, which will take place in early May. (Next year's Wildflower Triathlon will take place on April 30/May 1, and the World Championships will be on May 8, so those of you on the West Coast technically have the ability to race both).

Why do they have World's qualifiers two weeks apart that qualify you for two years' worth of World Championships? Worlds regularly rotates to the Southern Hemisphere, which changes the season in which a World Championship will be held. Also, the Olympic Games are taking place in August of 2004, and to avoid a conflict the Northern Hemisphere Worlds was moved up early in the calendar.

MENOMENIE

Qualifying for the 2003 ITU Triathlon World Championship, on Dec. 5-6 in Queenstown, New Zealand, already began at the national age group championship on Aug. 31, 2002, in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, where 10 slots per age group were awarded.

The six remaining slots per age group will be passed out at the USA Triathlon Age Group World Championship Qualifier on Sept. 20, 2003 in Menomonie. Slots will only pass down to 15th at this event. Any remaining slots from Wisconsin will revert back to nationals in Coeur d' Alene.

You do not have to qualify to compete at Menomonie, and you can register at Signmeupsports.com. Click for more information about the Menomonie race.

SHREVEPORT

Athletes can qualify for the 2004 ITU Triathlon World Championships in May in Madeira Island, Portugal, by finishing in the top 16 of their age group at the 2003 Age Group National Championships, scheduled for Oct. 4 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Athletes who are interested in competing in the 2003 Age Group National Championships are required to qualify. Criteria is one of the following:

1. All Team USA Triathlon members from any year since 1989.
2. Competition in a sanctioned non-championship event (triathlon and duathlon), finish in the top three or 25 percent of the age group, whichever is easiest to meet.
3. In a sanctioned regional or national championship event (both triathlon and duathlon), finish in the top five or 33.3 percent of the age group, whichever is easiest to meet. Events where qualifying is to be met must have taken place between the last nationals in September and the next nationals in October (the weekend before this year's nationals).

Athletes who qualify will not need to inform the national office of this qualification. The national office will do the qualification verification within four days of receipt of the application. If you don't hear from them your application has been accepted. E-mail confirmation will be sent starting about five weeks before the race. Rosters of entrants will also be placed on the round and round website starting about two months before the event. Rosters are updated on the www.usatinfo.com web site about every two weeks.

You can register for Shreveport at at Signmeupsports.com.

The official web site for age group nationals is www.trinationals2003.com