Super League - the next step for Triathlon

Triathlon, a three in one race. Three parts to one race. First the swim, arduous, painful, and violent. Second the bike, drama, crashes, and exhaustion. Finally, the run sprint finishes, fainting, legs giving up. Triathlon has been around for almost 50 years, it debuted in my hometown of San Diego, California in 1974. And still it has yet to gain a lot of fame and recognition but in attempt to change that there is a new triathlon organization. Here comes a new race, an exciting race, a fast paced, fan involved race. Here comes the SuperLeague Triathlon series. With today’s changing world in which we absorb information at a quick pace, we enjoy entertainment more in the form of series rather than movies, we have everything shortened and our attention span has been wanning, triathlon has had to evolve and change with that world.

The Super League Triathlon, also known as SLT, championship series is a triathlon series composed of five races across Europe, North America, and the middle east. These aren’t your regular triathlons, they are super faced paced, technical, and wild. These races are on a point system that all add up over each race depending on your placing. Each race also has points for the fastest swim, bike, and run splits. Not only are the athletes vying for the top spot for themselves but they are also racing for their team. There are five teams in SuperLeague, the Eagles, Scorpions, Rhinos, Sharks, and Cheetahs. The teams are chosen in a draft that they have before each season of racing. Many famous triathletes such as the third-place Olympic medalist, Hayden Wilde, race the superleague series, as well as 2nd place Olympic medalist Georgia Taylor-Brown. Each race is a different triathlon format, including the enduro format, elimination format, and triple mix format. Each format comes with advantages and disadvantages for each triathlete. Also, there is the addition of what is known as the short chute, which can be won for the fastest transitions and is awarded to the team who won it who then decides who to give it too which can provide an immense advantage on the run.

As of the publish date of this article 4 races out of 5 have happened. Each with crazy twists and turns. Race 1 was in London, England, where the dubbed eagle, Hayden Wilde, took first over Matt Hauser, Hayden racing for the Sharks. Matt Hauser had a rough race with and almost disqualification for a false start, even though he did not false start. He had to jump into the back of the race after being stopped by the officials and still took second for the team of the Eagles. On the women’s side Cassandre Beaugrand, the French athlete racing for the Scorpions, had an incredible race and run taking first quickly followed by the United States athlete Taylor Spivey racing for the Rhinos and third Georgia Taylor - Brown the last year’s SLT champion racing for the Scorpions as well.

A week later they were off to Munich, Germany. In Munich the race was thrown on its head for the women, Cassandre Beaugrand pulled out of the race, leaving Georgia Taylor-Brown to take first in the race and rankings. Sophie Coldwell the British athlete racing for the Cheetahs took 2nd in the incredible race she had. Taylor Spivey still hanging tough in third right after her. On the men’s side Matt Hauser had an incredible performance and took first place, Vasco Villaça took second, the athlete from Portugal and an incredible cyclist, racing for the rhinos, and Hayden Wilde came third.

In the third race in Malibu the races turned upside down. The day before the race in a swim familiarization, Vasco Villaça got bitten by a seal! He had to go to the hospital to make sure no diseases were spread from animal to human. Luckily, he came back and raced incredibly the next day. In the women’s race there were some heartbreaking disasters. Georgia Taylor-Brown the favorite for the women’s race crashed on the technical bike course after sand blew on to the course. When she crashed, she slid for a good bit before running into a barrier. She then tried to get back on her bike but realized her chain had fallen off. She quickly put it back on but now she was at the back of the race and in danger of being eliminated. But you shouldn’t count her out of the standings yet. She had an incredible bike and managed to make it back up. Taylor Spivey took this opportunity and crushed the race after catching an incredible wave into shore. She was the home hero having grown up in Redondo Beach, California just an hour south of Malibu. She took first place, with Miriam Casillas Garcia the Spanish athlete racing for the Cheetahs and having a great race, taking second. Georgia Taylor-Brown took third after an incredible comeback even with the intense crash. That’s enough drama for one day, right? One would think so.

In the men’s race drama was certainly prevalent, first the British triathlete Johnny Brownlee, who won silver, bronze, and gold in the Olympics for triathlon, one of the contenders for the leaderboard pulled out of the race after getting sick before the race. Another athlete as well got sick and pulled out of the race. In a crazy turn of events Matt Hauser, the favorite for the race crashed in the same spot Georgia Taylor-Brown did! His chain fell off too but this time it took longer to get it back on and he was in dangerous waters of getting eliminated. Unfortunately, he was not able to make up the time and spots and was eliminated. This left the victory for Hayden Wilde to take, in second Sachar Sagiv a Israeli triathlete racing for the Cheetahs and in third Vasco Villaça after he had an incredible bike.

The penultimate race in Toulouse, France was certainly an upset for Matthew Hauser fans. But for the kiwi, Hayden Wilde, things were going great. Hayden Wilde almost ran away with the victory for the series even without racing the last race. Wilde took first away from the wild card athlete Dorian Coninx, the hometown favorite, after a stellar run from Wilde. Kenji Nener took third with an incredible performance from him. And Matt Hauser crashed again on the cobbled tight streets of France placing him in fourth. Meanwhile, on the women’s side Georgia Taylor-Brown flourished in the enduro format taking the win again, this was followed closely by Taylor Spivey taking second and Sophie Coldwell snatching third place.

In three days, the athletes race in Neom, Saudi Arabia. The leaderboard in points for the women has a tie for first place between Taylor Spivey with 56 points and Georgia Taylor-Brown with 56 points as well. In third Sophie Coldwell with 39 points after not racing in Malibu. On the men’s side Hayden Wilde is at the top of the leaderboard with a runaway lead of 58 points, followed by Matthew Hauser in second place with 41 points and Taylor Reid in third with 38 points. Will Hayden Wilde take the championship? Will it be Taylor Spivey or Georgia Taylor – Brown that takes the win? In Super League Triathlon anything can happen. It comes down to the last race which will certainly be entertaining and intense. What will happen next? Who will be victorious in the series? What drama will come next? The world of triathlon will be watching with anticipation.

If you wish to watch these races or know more about the Superleague format, please go to: https://superleaguetriathlon.com