Post by benm on Mar 20, 2017 14:04:14 GMT
This week Triathlon Ireland announced the introduction of Cat 2 Racing. This is essentially a new tier of racing aimed to bridge the gap between Cat 1 and the National Series and to introduce a promotion / relegation system.
You should have received an email from TI linking to this article explaining the ins and outs of the proposed new format.
There’s a lot to take in, particularly if you are new to the sport and are unaware of the background. Unfortunately, with many of the 2017 races sold out already, a lot of you are likely to have your season well planned out. If however you think Cat 2 racing is for you there is still plenty of opportunity to tweak your calendar and get a taste for draft legal racing.
I’ve put the following together to help fill in some gaps.
- An introduction to Cat 2 and how it relates to the National Series and Super Series
- What Cat 2 athletes can or can’t do.
- Who can race in Cat 2?
- The Cat 2 calendar.
- How the ranking works
- How Cat 2 will effect the National Series
- A little history behind the Super Series
As always feel free to email me with any questions: Mens.Captain@Belpark.ie
Introducing Cat 2
Cat 2 has been set up to address some issues with the gap between the Super Series and the National Series and to try to maintain the competitive nature and enjoyment for everyone while supporting the potential future international athletes with draft-legal race experience.
Essentially the Cat 1 field has been reduced to roughly 20 men or 10 women. These top athletes maintain the same sacrifices of the Super Series as per 2015 and 2016, i.e. they won’t get a National Series ranking, an age group ranking and they can’t earn points for their club.
Cat 2 athletes can race in any number of Super Series races and also in any number of National Series Races. As per the calendar a bit further below, 4 of the 5 Super Series races are being run in conjunction with National Series races. A Cat athlete must choose whether they want to race in the Super Series or National Series on these days. i.e. if you race the Super Series you will not be earning National Series point at that race and visa versa.
Cat 2 Athletes can…
1. Earn Super Series points, head to head with the Cat 1 athletes.
2. Earn Cat 2 Super Series Points in a Cat 2 only points table within the Super Series.
3. Compete in the National Series races getting National Series points to compete for the overall National Series and Age Group Rankings.
4. Cat 2 athletes who complete the National Series can earn points for their club in the Club Championships.
Who can race Cat 2?
TI have established outline qualification criteria for Cat 2, however it will be somewhat open with any athlete who does not automatically qualify for Cat 2, but would like to race Cat 2, can apply directly through TI. From what I gather, TI are keen to really push and develop competitive draft legal racing and so will leave Cat 2 quite open.
You automatically qualify for Cat 2 if…
1. You raced Super Series last year but finished outside the top 20 (men) or 10 (women).
2. You raced the National Series last year and finished in the top 20 (men) or 10 (women).
You can apply to TI to race Cat 2 if…
1. You raced Super Series last year but finished inside the top 20 (men) or 10 (women) BUT you finished outside of 105% of the winner’s time in any Super Series race.
2. You like the sound of draft legal racing and want to give the Super Series a shot without sacrificing your opportunity to enjoy the National Series, Club Championship and Age Group competition.
This is of particular interest to strong swimmers.
The Calendar
The table below is the Super Series Calendar for Cat1 and Cat 2. It’s worth noting that Lough Cutra is the only race in the Super Series that is not also a National Series race. City of Derry is the National Sprint Championships.
Two Provences, Dublin City and Pulse Port Beach will all hold National Series races on the same date that are all Part of the Belpark Target Races for 2017.
Ranking
Cat 2 athletes are now eligible to get a ranking in three tiers of racing:
National Series: You must complete 4 Races, your highest scoring sprint, highest scoring Olympic distance and two other highest scoring National Series races count towards your ranking.
Cat 2 Super Series: Best 3 of 5 Super Series Races
Super Series Overall: Best 3 of 5 Super Series Races
How Might Cat 2 Effect the National Series...
These changes mean that the number of athletes not eligible for National Series ranking has reduced. This is likely to mean more high caliber athletes will be competing in the National Series which will push the standard up across most age groups - particularly the under 40 age groups.
There may be higher demand for NS races, this coupled with the reduction in the amount of National Series races for 2017 could make it harder to get an entry.
However the late announcement of this new format probably means that it will be next year before we really see any notable changes.
A little History… where did the Super Series come from?
Prior to 2015 – Pre Super Series
- The National Series was the only ranking series in Ireland.
- High number of races meant that the top athletes could pick and choose races and could avoid directly racing their rivals and somewhat skew the series results.
- There was no draft legal racing format in Ireland. This meant that potential ITU or Olympic athletes had to travel abroad to gain draft legal race experience.
2015 and 2016 – Cat 1 and The Super Series
- Triathlon Ireland introduced the Cat 1 Super Series for the countries best athletes.
- The Super Series had far fewer races than the National Series and a different scoring system forcing the best athletes to race head to head all season.
- The intention for draft legal racing struggled to take hold with race organisers struggling to provide draft legal races for a number of reasons. This improved massively in 2016 with a lot more draft legal racing.
The Super Series racing had teething issues….
The quality at the top end of the Super Series began to grow pushed by an influx of quality junior athletes with International aspirations. To keep these young guns honest and to give them a good field for racing a large number of the top National Series athletes were moved up to Cat 1.
Cat 1 athletes could no longer score National Series points and could no longer score points for the Club Championship. In order to complete the Super Series Cat 1 athletes often had to sacrifice traveling to National Series with their club mates and adding to their club points. A lot of athletes were making big sacrifices to make up the numbers. (I say to make up the numbers, it’s very relative, these guys and girls are top quality athletes but just not at the very top!).
Another issue, particularly in the women’s Super Series seemed to be depth of field. At the top we saw one or two potential world class women however the fitness gap to the back of the pack was huge. This, coupled with a small filed in many races, had an effect on the quality of racing available to these women and so they weren’t enjoying the sport as much as they had with the National Series format of racing.
Being a Cat 1 athlete had some added pressure, particularly for the back markers. If these athletes had a bad training period, they could really end up suffering come race day and find themselves shot out the back of the race. Of course if this happened in the traditional National Series these athletes would just move down the pack a bit and still enjoy a competitive race.
Your Thoughts
Feel free to discuss the details below and if required we can provide feedback to TI. As above any questions can be sent to me.
Ben
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You should have received an email from TI linking to this article explaining the ins and outs of the proposed new format.
There’s a lot to take in, particularly if you are new to the sport and are unaware of the background. Unfortunately, with many of the 2017 races sold out already, a lot of you are likely to have your season well planned out. If however you think Cat 2 racing is for you there is still plenty of opportunity to tweak your calendar and get a taste for draft legal racing.
I’ve put the following together to help fill in some gaps.
- An introduction to Cat 2 and how it relates to the National Series and Super Series
- What Cat 2 athletes can or can’t do.
- Who can race in Cat 2?
- The Cat 2 calendar.
- How the ranking works
- How Cat 2 will effect the National Series
- A little history behind the Super Series
As always feel free to email me with any questions: Mens.Captain@Belpark.ie
Introducing Cat 2
Cat 2 has been set up to address some issues with the gap between the Super Series and the National Series and to try to maintain the competitive nature and enjoyment for everyone while supporting the potential future international athletes with draft-legal race experience.
Essentially the Cat 1 field has been reduced to roughly 20 men or 10 women. These top athletes maintain the same sacrifices of the Super Series as per 2015 and 2016, i.e. they won’t get a National Series ranking, an age group ranking and they can’t earn points for their club.
Cat 2 athletes can race in any number of Super Series races and also in any number of National Series Races. As per the calendar a bit further below, 4 of the 5 Super Series races are being run in conjunction with National Series races. A Cat athlete must choose whether they want to race in the Super Series or National Series on these days. i.e. if you race the Super Series you will not be earning National Series point at that race and visa versa.
Cat 2 Athletes can…
1. Earn Super Series points, head to head with the Cat 1 athletes.
2. Earn Cat 2 Super Series Points in a Cat 2 only points table within the Super Series.
3. Compete in the National Series races getting National Series points to compete for the overall National Series and Age Group Rankings.
4. Cat 2 athletes who complete the National Series can earn points for their club in the Club Championships.
Who can race Cat 2?
TI have established outline qualification criteria for Cat 2, however it will be somewhat open with any athlete who does not automatically qualify for Cat 2, but would like to race Cat 2, can apply directly through TI. From what I gather, TI are keen to really push and develop competitive draft legal racing and so will leave Cat 2 quite open.
You automatically qualify for Cat 2 if…
1. You raced Super Series last year but finished outside the top 20 (men) or 10 (women).
2. You raced the National Series last year and finished in the top 20 (men) or 10 (women).
You can apply to TI to race Cat 2 if…
1. You raced Super Series last year but finished inside the top 20 (men) or 10 (women) BUT you finished outside of 105% of the winner’s time in any Super Series race.
2. You like the sound of draft legal racing and want to give the Super Series a shot without sacrificing your opportunity to enjoy the National Series, Club Championship and Age Group competition.
This is of particular interest to strong swimmers.
The Calendar
The table below is the Super Series Calendar for Cat1 and Cat 2. It’s worth noting that Lough Cutra is the only race in the Super Series that is not also a National Series race. City of Derry is the National Sprint Championships.
Two Provences, Dublin City and Pulse Port Beach will all hold National Series races on the same date that are all Part of the Belpark Target Races for 2017.
| 27/05/2017 | Lough Cutra Castle Triathlon | Draft Legal Sprint |
| 11/06/2017 | Firmus City of Derry Triathlon | Draft Legal Sprint |
| 15/07/2017 | Two Provinces Triathlon | Draft Legal Sprint |
| 27/08/2017 | Dublin City Triathlon | Draft Legal Sprint |
| 09/09/2017 | Pulse Port Beach Triathlon | Draft Legal Sprint |
Ranking
Cat 2 athletes are now eligible to get a ranking in three tiers of racing:
National Series: You must complete 4 Races, your highest scoring sprint, highest scoring Olympic distance and two other highest scoring National Series races count towards your ranking.
Cat 2 Super Series: Best 3 of 5 Super Series Races
Super Series Overall: Best 3 of 5 Super Series Races
How Might Cat 2 Effect the National Series...
These changes mean that the number of athletes not eligible for National Series ranking has reduced. This is likely to mean more high caliber athletes will be competing in the National Series which will push the standard up across most age groups - particularly the under 40 age groups.
There may be higher demand for NS races, this coupled with the reduction in the amount of National Series races for 2017 could make it harder to get an entry.
However the late announcement of this new format probably means that it will be next year before we really see any notable changes.
A little History… where did the Super Series come from?
Prior to 2015 – Pre Super Series
- The National Series was the only ranking series in Ireland.
- High number of races meant that the top athletes could pick and choose races and could avoid directly racing their rivals and somewhat skew the series results.
- There was no draft legal racing format in Ireland. This meant that potential ITU or Olympic athletes had to travel abroad to gain draft legal race experience.
2015 and 2016 – Cat 1 and The Super Series
- Triathlon Ireland introduced the Cat 1 Super Series for the countries best athletes.
- The Super Series had far fewer races than the National Series and a different scoring system forcing the best athletes to race head to head all season.
- The intention for draft legal racing struggled to take hold with race organisers struggling to provide draft legal races for a number of reasons. This improved massively in 2016 with a lot more draft legal racing.
The Super Series racing had teething issues….
The quality at the top end of the Super Series began to grow pushed by an influx of quality junior athletes with International aspirations. To keep these young guns honest and to give them a good field for racing a large number of the top National Series athletes were moved up to Cat 1.
Cat 1 athletes could no longer score National Series points and could no longer score points for the Club Championship. In order to complete the Super Series Cat 1 athletes often had to sacrifice traveling to National Series with their club mates and adding to their club points. A lot of athletes were making big sacrifices to make up the numbers. (I say to make up the numbers, it’s very relative, these guys and girls are top quality athletes but just not at the very top!).
Another issue, particularly in the women’s Super Series seemed to be depth of field. At the top we saw one or two potential world class women however the fitness gap to the back of the pack was huge. This, coupled with a small filed in many races, had an effect on the quality of racing available to these women and so they weren’t enjoying the sport as much as they had with the National Series format of racing.
Being a Cat 1 athlete had some added pressure, particularly for the back markers. If these athletes had a bad training period, they could really end up suffering come race day and find themselves shot out the back of the race. Of course if this happened in the traditional National Series these athletes would just move down the pack a bit and still enjoy a competitive race.
Your Thoughts
Feel free to discuss the details below and if required we can provide feedback to TI. As above any questions can be sent to me.
Ben
