Europe Triathlon

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships
Pre-race report by Bethan Hall

QUICK INFO SUMMARY

WHAT  2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships
WHY  2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Multisport European Championships
WHO   See below
WHERE AQUAPARK “WEEKEND” MURESUL in Târgu Mureș, Romania
WHEN  5th July 2019.  9:00 - 14:00 (start times)

• SWIM  1km swim (1 lap)
• RUN  5km run (4 x 1.25km laps)

It has been an amazing week so far here in Transylvania at the ETU Multisport European Championships. 

The ETU Aquathlon European Championships takes place tomorrow, the 5th July at the AQUAPARK “WEEKEND” MURESUL in Târgu Mureș, Romania.  It will be the 5th championship event of 7 to be held here in Transylvania as part of the 2019 Transylvania ETU European Multisport Championships.

We are hoping for cooler weather after the heatwave we were experiencing at the beginning of this week in Romania.  At least the athletes get to cool down in the water and run wet, which would have been a luxury for the duathletes who ran in 34 degrees on Tuesday. 

Bright and early, transition will be open at 07:30 for all AG categories and the first AG category will be in the water and off at 09:00.  The first AG women will start at 10:30 and the para triathletes at 11:30.  The Elite, U23 and Junior Men have a start time of 13:00 and the Elite, U23 and Junior Women an hour later at 14:00.

All categories will run the same distances on the same course: 1km swim (1 lap) and 5km run (4 x 1.25km laps)

The setting is the beautiful recreational park and sports complex, a place that is very popular with the locals and bustling with families and all ages who use the swimming pool, lake, grassy areas, restaurants and sports facilities in their free time. 

The swim in natural water will start from the long pontoon; the 1 km lap will take the swimmers out and back.  Spectators can watch from the banks or from the bridge that crosses over the lake.

The current water temperatures predicted will make the race a non-wetsuit race, which is always an advantage for stronger swimmers.

The water exit is near the start line.  On exiting the water, athletes will make their way to transition where they will put on their shoes and other running accessories and start the 4 laps of the 5km run.  The run section will take the athletes on a small tour of the park, around the pools and open grassy areas, with many great places for supporters to see their heroes on their run.

For regular updates, photos and videos during the races this week follow us on Twitter @ETUtriathlon

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Elite Women

There are 8 women on the Elite race start list. 

Antoanela Manac (ROU) took bronze last year at the 2018 Ibiza ETU Aquathlon European Championships, she was racing in the U23 category and is the current U23 European Champion.  She also did well in Ibiza in the Cross Triathlon race, coming 2nd in the U23 cat.  This year she has moved to Elite, and came 7th at the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships.  She has stood on the podium 4 times since becoming an Elite this year in triathlon races. Margaryta Krylova (UKR) was just 2 seconds behind Manac earlier this year at the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships, she had a faster swim but was 14 seconds slower on the run.  We shall see if she can dig a little deeper to stay in front tomorrow. Hannah Kitchen (GBR) just missed the podium position last year at the 2018 Ibiza ETU Aquathlon European Championships, taking 4th position.  She had a better result in the world championships however, claiming runner-up at the 2018 Fyn ITU Aquathlon World Championships.

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Elite Men

12 Elite men will be battling for positions tomorrow, including reigning European champion Sergiy Kurochkin (UKR), who won his title last year at the 2018 Ibiza ETU Aquathlon European Championships.

He may have some tough competition, Ognjen Stojanović (SRB) has had two great triathlon races in the last 2 months, taking gold in both the 2019 Cholpon-Ata ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup and Central Asian Championships and the 2019 Shymkent ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup. Alexander Bryukhankov (RUS) has also had some good results in triathlon, he took silver in the 2019 Melilla ETU Sprint Triathlon European Cup and the 2019 Sharm El Sheikh ATU Sprint Triathlon African Cup and Pan Arab Championships earlier this year. Others to watch out for:  Andrea Secchiero (ITA) came 5th at the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships and Dylan Magnien (FRA) came was 2nd in the U23 race, 5th overall last year at the 2018 Ibiza ETU Aquathlon European Championships.

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | U23 Women

There are 7 women on the U23 start list.

This will be Sofiya Pryyma’s (UKR) 3rd race of the week, on Saturday she came 3rd (9th overall) in the 2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Cross Triathlon European Championships and on Tuesday she came 3rd (7th overall) in the 2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Cross Duathlon European Championships. Last year she was the U23 Cross Triathlon European Champion and took silver in the Aquathlon. Pryyma will be up against Chloe Pollard (GBR), who will be coming to the start line with fresh legs tomorrow.  Cloe was 4th last year in the 2018 Ibiza ETU Aquathlon European Championships U23 Women category.  She was 2nd in Fyn at the Worlds (7th overall) and was world champion in 2017 at 2017 Penticton ITU Aquathlon World Championships U23 Women, 4th overall. For her second race of the week, Karyna Yevtushenko (UKR) will be racing tomorrow after coming 3rd in the U23 Duathlon European Champs on Sunday.

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | U23 Men

There are 23 Men racing in the U23 section. 

Alexis Kardes (FRA) took silver in Fyn last year at the Aquathlon World champs and 3rd overall. He will be racing Nathan Tweedie (GBR) who missed the Elite podium in the 2018 Ibiza European Chaps with 4th, but took the silver for the U23 category. In the same Multisport festival, Luka Grgorinić (CRO) claimed victory of the Junior category (6th overall), Marek Pavuk (SVK) shared the podium in 3rd place and Tin Kaurić (CRO) was 4th U23.

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Junior Men

Vitalii Vorontsov (UKR) became Junior European Champion in the 2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Duathlon European Championships on Sunday, but is also a proven Aquathlete, having taken bronze in the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships. Giani Vanden Broucke (BEL) took silver on Sunday and stood next to Vorontsov on the podium.  He also stood on the podium at the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Duathlon World Championships where he won bronze.  This will be his first Aquathlon, we shall see if he can perform as well with no bike and more water. Olaf Jan Bosscher (NED) came 6th 2019 at the Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships.

2019 Târgu Mureș ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Junior Women

Junior World Champion and reigning European Champion, Bianca Seregni (ITA) will be out to add European Champion to her list of amazing results.  She won her title at the 2019 Pontevedra ITU Aquathlon World Championships, and also gave the elites a run for their money as she was 4th overall.  In Ibiza she beat all the elites, claiming both Elite and Junior European Champion titles.  Watch out Elites!!!!  Seregni is a sure bet.

2019 Târgu Mures ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Para athletes

There will also be a Para Wave with athletes from the four corners of Europe.

2019 Târgu Mures ETU Aquathlon European Championships | Age-Group

There will of course be a whole army of Age-Group athletes racing tomorrow. Our oldest athlete was born in 1939 and our youngest, in 2003.

Click here for full start lists.