Many Rewards Available at Treasure Island - Triathlon Week

Robert G. · 10-30-2003, 11:57 AM

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 29, 2003) -- U.S. elite triathletes will be searching for national titles, world championship slots and Olympic qualifying points on Saturday at the Treasure Island ITU International Triathlon in San Francisco, Calif.

Treasure Island is the last stop in USA Triathlon's Race to Athens series. Race to Athens events allow elite triathletes to earn International Triathlon Union (ITU) world-ranking points. Athletes must be ranked among the top 125 in the world to try to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Treasure Island will also be the USA Triathlon Elite Triathlon National Championships and will qualify athletes for the 2003 ITU Triathlon World Championships, which will be Dec. 7 in Queensland, New Zealand.

Among the top U.S. athletes scheduled to compete at Treasure Island are Laura Reback (North Palm Beach, Fla.), the No. 3-ranked woman in the world, and Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), the No. 9-ranked man in the world.

Kemper will be trying to regain the national championship title he won in 2001 and lost last year. Kemper, who trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., has had a stellar season in 2003, including winning gold medal at the Pan American Games and winning the ITU World Cup in Madrid, Spain.

Those who will be gunning for Kemper include 2002 U.S. national champion Seth Wealing (Fowler, Ind.), U.S. No. 3 Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.), U.S. No. 4 Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) and 2000 Olympic team alternate Victor Plata (San Luis Obispo, Calif.).

On the women's side, 2002 U.S. national champion Barb Lindquist has already qualified for the world championships and will not be racing. However 2000 elite national champion Joanna Zeiger (Boulder, Colo.), a member of the 2000 Olympic team, will be looking to return to the podium.

Other top U.S. women scheduled to compete are Susan Williams (Denver, Colo.), ranked fourth in the U.S.; Becky Gibbs Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.), ranked fifth in the U.S. and winner of the 2002 Treasure Island race; and Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.), a silver medalist in women's water polo at the 2000 Olympic Games.

International competitors, including 2002 Treasure Island champion Simon Lessing of Great Britain, Australian Greg Bennett, ranked No. 1 in the world, and Australian Chris McCormack will also be racing for ITU ranking points and prize money. The elite prize purse will be $25,000, with the men and women's winners taking home $3,125 each.

The Treasure Island Triathlon will take place on both Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island off the Bay Bridge on Interstate 80 between Oakland and San Francisco. The course will consist of a 1.5k, two-lap ocean swim, 40k, four-lap bike and a 10k, two-lap run.

The elite race will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Preceding that will be the Treasure Island Olympic distance age group race, starting at 7:15 a.m. Among those participating in the age group relay division are actor Paul Walker from 2 Fast 2 Furious.

The Treasure Island sprint distance age group race will take place Sunday morning at 7:15 a.m.

Media are invited to interview elite triathletes at an informal press conference at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31 at the exposition area at the California Street Parking Lot on Treasure Island. In case of rain, the conference will move inside one of the nearby hangers.

Directions and more information are posted to the race web site at www.tricalifornia.com/treasureisland/2003.