NEWS

ETU - it’s not just about countries

By Paul Groves | 16 Oct, 2014

ETU is not just about the 42 countries whose Federations are represented. Inside our confederation borders there are regions that have historically worked together. Within the ETU Race Calendar is a series of championships for regions. A few weeks ago it was the turn of the Balkans to host their championships and the location as the wonderful resort of Burgas on the Black Sea. This weekend it is the turn of the Mediterranean federations to celebrate their athletes. Their championship race takes place in Loutraki, a resort close to the amazing Corinth Canal.

So, what happened in Burgas has already been seen with the results showing victories again for the reigning champions, Hrista Stoyneva (BUL) and Ognjen Stojanović (SRB).


For Stoyneva, “This was a great race for me! The good organization and the awesome spectators contributed for my victory! From the very start up to the finish line I was leading. I had to ride hard so that I could be safe on the run. Everything was as it should. I was extremely worried because the race was in my country and in front of my home audience. I have raced at home before but I was not lucky to be at the top for just 10 seconds! The pressure on me was enormous as everyone was telling me I should place first … Finally everything went well.”

With this victory behind her Stoyneva is not resting, “I have a long way in front of me and that’s the reason that I keep training hard and do hope next year to be a great season for me.” Her final thought is one of inspiration, “It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”Paulo Coelho, Alchemist


For defending male champion, Ognjen Stojanović, the race fitted conveniently into his race schedule but he had not trained specifically for it, “I decided to do it in last moment. But I knew I am in great shape and that I will be fine and I was pretty confident I can get title for 6th time.” His main opposition was going to be James Chronis, competing for Greece since this year (Australia before).

Stojanović has not had the easiest of journeys into our sport but following development support has improved steadily. “I had good winter training thanks to Javi Gomez and his coach Carlos Prieto as I was training in Fuerteventura almost 2 months with the group thanks to them.” Returning to Serbia in February, which must have been a shock after the warmth of the Canary Islands, he found a solution to some of the frustrations he has suffered in previous races when his blood cell counts revealed he was suffering from anaemia. A period of rest followed and, “in June I started training seriously again. After a good July and an altitude camp in France I had some great races in August and I was very happy to be back again on ITU/ETU scene.”

The rest clearly did him some good and he came back to the sport feeling better than ever and enjoying training and racing more than ever. With this very positive attitude and defending his title, he lined up with the men and … “There were 6 of us in the first group after the swim, including fellow Serb Milan Tomin. We pretty much worked well but at the end we stopped so the chase pack almost caught us. I had bad T2 so James had 5 or 6 seconds advantage on me. I really chased hard to bridge the gap. Once I was with him, I rested a bit and then took lead. He was sticking to me pretty long, but at the last turn I picked up the pace on the uphill section and I knew I won the trace there. After senior titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and junior on 2007 (in 2011 I didn't raced), it’s nice to add another of this year.”

This is a wonderful story of determination and a lesson to us all. When you are down the most important thing is to get back up!

From the East coast of the Black Sea, the racing moves this weekend to the central coast of the Greek mainland. The event coincides with an ITU Technical Officials’ Level 1 Course being delivered by Thanos Nikopoulos. This will allow successful newly-qualified officials to gain valuable experience at a main event as well as underlining the classroom learning.


The event is a sprint event with a single lap in the warm sea. After T1 the athletes head out onto the bike course, which is 20.1 km long and not particularly technical. The course is divided into three sections. The first part is the same with the last and is about 1km. This takes the athletes from T1 to the main laps and returns them to T2. The second section of the bike is the main part with 3 laps. Each lap is 6.7km. The tarmac is of good quality and the road will be closed to traffic. The elevation at the starting point is 2 m and at the top of the course is 77m.

The run course is one to remember as it takes the athletes over the Corinth Canal to head to the old town of Korinthos.

Apart from medals, titles and points there is also a prize-purse for the top five athletes in both men’s and women’s fields. (1st. 675 EUR, 2nd. 565 EUR, 3rd. 450 EUR, 4th. 335 EUR and 5th. 225 EUR).

Who might be in with a chance for medals?

In the women’s line up we see athletes from Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and USA. They are not Mediterranean, I hear you say. No, but part of the arrangement for the regional aces is that the start lists are open to all. Remember to check these events out for next year!

Leading the field for the Mediterranean title is Italian athlete Alessia Orla. Her best performance this year was a top ten place in Constanta-Mamaia where she showed great strength in the swim. Julie Nivoix FRA, has had a podium and a top ten place this year and is strong on the bike. Elena Maria Petrini ITA will have a few thousand air-miles and more than a bit of jet-lag following her race in Cartagena only last week. From Turkey the national champion and runner-up will be racing. Ipek Öztosun and Ece Bakıcı both raced recently at the ITU World Cup in Alanya and for them this race will, literally, be a sprint.

Amongst the men are some top names. As with the women there are athletes from well outside the Mediterranean region. From the north we have the biking powerhouse Kristian Blummenfelt NOR, Aliaksandr Vasilevich BLR and super swimmer from the Netherlands, Marco Van Der Stel, who following a strong show in the ITU World Cup in Alanya went on to take silver just behind Dmitry Polyianskiy in the Alanya Sea Swimming Marathon over 5k in just 57:43. From the south we have Travis Johnston and Dylan Pivo RSA.

For the Mediterranean title we should look out for James Chronis GRE. He was the one to watch out for in the Balkan Championships and will be wanting to improve upon is silver. He will be facing the Serb, Stojanović and although he cannot take the title the two, if they get together, could make a powerful team against the Dutch and Norwegian athletes. A big men’s field means that the slightest mistake could ruin the chances of an athlete. We saw that in Alanya with a couple of crashes that denied the race favourite a place on the podium. This is going to be a race to watch!

George Yerolimpos - Mediterranean Triathlon Federation President
Triathlon, the fastest developing Olympic sport today, is now active also in the Mediterranean area. The Mediterranean Triathlon Federation (MTF) is establishing a Mediterranean triathlon series called as Triathlon1. We are expecting all triathlon athletes of the Mediterranean area as well as all age-group ones around the world, to participate in the Triathlon1 series and enjoy the Mediterranean clean water coasts, the perfect weather conditions and the Mediterranean hospitality.