We Noticed: Jonny Brownlee’s Crazy Sprint Weekend, Life Time Confirms Wild Cards, Climb-fest in La Palma and More

How hard could it be? Three-time Olympic medalist Jonny Brownlee is taking on a unique and somewhat insane challenge at this weekend’s Supertri Blenheim Palace event. He’s going to attempt to complete 10 sprint triathlons over the weekend – which will be roughly 7.5 km of swimming, 200 km on the bike and 50 km of running.

Brownlee will be doing all this alongside the thousands of age-group athletes set to compete at the event. He’s also got to somehow work his way through the various cut offs and ensure he can get started in another swim wave for each race.

The folks from Supertri explained the timing for us:

Each day, the swim entry closes at a fixed time. Miss it, and you don’t start the next race — no appeal, no exceptions.

• Saturday: first wave 9:10, swim cut-off 15:40
• Sunday: first wave 10:30, swim cut-off 14:20

Every lap of the challenge is a swim, a bike, a run and then a reset and a jog back to the swim start to slot into the next available wave. Brownlee’s own working puts a single race at between 64 minutes – the time of the male winner of this event for a single sprint distance triathlon last year – and 70-75 minutes, plus roughly five minutes to get back to the start line — call it a 75-minute turnaround per triathlon when it’s flowing well.

The goal is to get six races done on Saturday, beginning at 9:10 am and starting the final swim no later than 3:40 pm. That’s where the 75-minute average comes into play – if that slips to 80 minutes, he’ll miss the final swim cutoff by roughly 10 minutes. Sunday’s schedule is a bit crazier – he’ll start at 10:30 am and has to be in the water for the final swim by 2 pm.

Brownlee admits that the cutoffs are one challenge, but recovering well on Saturday night will also be critical. We’ll have an update in Monday’s “We Noticed” on how Brownlee fared!

Supertri Pro Series Blenheim Palace

While there will be lots of eyes on Brownlee and his 10-race adventure, the pro field competing at Blenheim Palace should provide lots of excitement, too. Last year’s Supertri Toronto winner Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) will face some big-name fellow WTCS stalwarts including France’s Léonie Périault and Emma Lombardi. Fresh off a third-place finish at Supertri Austin, Slovakia’s Zuzana Michaličk is also competing, with British hopes sitting with short-course specialists Jess Fullagar and Olivia Mathias.

American Chase McQueen highlights the men’s field against the likes of Aussie Luke Willian, Canadian Charles Paquet, the Netherland’s Mitch Kolkman and Italy’s Alessio Crociani. There’s a strong British contingent on hand including Oliver Conway, Hugo Milner and Jack Willis.

The race is part of the British Triathlon Super Series and offers US$35,000 in prize money, with $5,000 going to the winner, second taking home $3,500, third $2,000 and fourth through 10th winning $1,000 each. The top three men and women automatically qualify for the Supertri Pro Series Final with its $800,000 prize purse. Here are the start lists for Sunday’s race:

Women

Léonie Périault (FRA), Jolien Vermeylen (BEL), Jessica Lucy Fullagar (GBR), Olivia Mathias (GBR), Emma Lombardi (FRA), Zuzana Michaličková (SVK), Lara Atkinson (GBR), Eve Whitaker (GBR), Jasmine Cooper (GBR), Isabella Hayes (GBR), Lizzy Edge (GBR), Libby Coleman (GBR), Isla Hedley (GBR), Isabelle Price (GBR), Anna Hedley (GBR), Betsy Griffiths (GBR), Sam McInnes (GBR), Martha Calton-Seal (GBR), Lottie James (GBR), Millie Smith (GBR), Helena Coy (GBR), Lucy Peters (GBR), Darcy Gladwell (GBR), Katie Mathison (GBR), Emma Graham-Brown (GBR), Katie Youp (IRL), Charlotte Alexander (GBR), Kitty Scott (GBR), Jessica Turnbull (GBR), Mia Goddard (GBR), Hollie Lewis (GBR), Sophie Richmond (GBR), Abigail Baines (GBR), Elen Ruck (GBR), Molly Thomas (GBR), Christina Durbin (GBR), Emily Hanlon (GBR), Eleanor Wallace (GBR), Maisie Grice (GBR), Anna Jolliffe (GBR), Meisha Trend-Evans (GBR), Talia Hughes (GBR), Eloisa Symonds (GBR), Louise Ashford (GBR), Sophie Boehler (SUI), Imogen Sutton (GBR), Dylan Crowley (GBR), Larna Morgan (GBR), Agatha Skelton (GBR), Lauren Mitchell (GBR), Anna Patterson (GBR), Darcey Murphy (GBR), Patience Lamb (GBR), Lucy Jones (GBR), Ciara Cust (GBR), Seraphina Harris (GBR), Daisy Abernethy (GBR), Charlotte Hall (GBR), Zoe Hughes (IRL), Siena Stephens (GBR), Florence Salmon (GBR).

Men

Luke Willian (AUS), Alessio Crociani (ITA), Charles Paquet (CAN), Oliver Conway (GBR), Hugo Milner (GBR), Jack Willis (GBR), Harry Leleu (GBR), Chase McQueen (USA), Michael Gar (GBR), Mitch Kolkman (NED), Solomon Okrafo-Smart (GBR), Hamish Reilly (GBR), Luke McCarron (IRL), Andres Gras (CHI), Jack Stanton-Stock (GBR), Christopher Perham (GBR), Deri McCluskey (GBR), Charlie Harding (GBR), Daniel Van Aardt (GBR), Luke Holmes (GBR), Mack Downey (GBR), Ben Brooks (GBR), Fynn Batkin (GBR), Joe Sherman (GBR), Thomas Hattee (GBR), Jonas Schomburg (GER), Alex Dack (GBR), Harry Maxwell (GBR), Oliver Mills (GBR), Joshua Maxwell (GBR), Ifan Bowen (GBR), Josh Horner (GBR), Oliver Hitchcock (GBR), Jasper Adamson (GBR), Ethan Bennett (GBR), Skip Snelson (GBR), Thomas Birley (GBR), Morgan Watts (GBR), Joshua Cumberland (GBR), Ben Rawlins (GBR), Cameron Kerr (GBR), Jack Bowley (GBR), Joshua Weston (GBR), Ben Hill (GBR), Jimmy Kershaw (GBR), Finlay Goodman (GBR), Jorge Wilkes (GBR), Will Bailey (GBR), Oscar Chirnside (GBR), Arthur Ballard (GBR), Niclas Olley (GBR), Oscar Newbery (GBR), Ruben Price (GBR), Zak Clemens (GBR), Thomas Styles (GBR), Tom Whetton (GBR), Archie Enstone (GBR), Rufus Thomas (GBR).

Life Time Confirms Wild Card Athletes

After last weekend’s Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 200, three men and four women have been confirmed as wild card athletes for the rest of this year’s Life Time Grand Prix series, allowing them to compete for the overall title.

The men selected were:

• Martins Blums, Latvia
• Skyler Taylor, CA, USA
• Matthew Wilson, New Zealand

The women selected for the final spots are:

• Danni Shrosbree, United Kingdom
• Jenna Rinehart, MN, USA
• Charlotte Clarke, New Zealand
• Hannah Shell, CO, USA

The rest of the race in the series include:

• Life Time Big Sugar Gravel – Saturday, October 17, 2026
• Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB – Saturday, August 15, 2026
• Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival – Saturday, September 19, 2026
• Life Time Little Sugar MTB – Sunday, October 11, 2026

Ekoï Becomes Title Sponsor of French Riviera T100

After signing on with the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) in 2023, it makes sense that French cycling brand Ekoï has taken a further step with the PTO, coming on board as the title sponsor for the French Riviera race, which takes place on Aug. 30-31 in Saint-Raphaël. Ekoï is based in Frejus, which is right next to Saint-Raphaël, a spectacular town on the Estérel Côte d’Azur between Cannes and Saint-Tropez.

“Being associated as the title partner of a T100 event – an organization that does so much to promote and elevate triathlon on the international stage – is a tremendous source of pride,” says Ekoï CEO Jean Christophe Rattel. “It demonstrates that Ekoï is now an integral part of the global triathlon family. Becoming the title partner of this event on the French Riviera, and moreover on our home turf in Saint-Raphaël, marks a key milestone in the history of our brand.”

Climb-fest on La Palma

The volcanic island of La Palma, one of Spain’s Canary Islands just off the coast of Africa, will host a unique event this weekend – the fifth edition of the KOS Xtreme Triathlon. Slowtwitch contributor Sarah Bonner is on hand to compete at the race.

The day begins with a 2 km open-water swim at Bajamar Beach, followed by a 44 km bike that includes 2,281 m of elevation gain followed by a 10-km run with 490 m of climbing, finishing at the Roque de Los Muchachos at 2,426 m above sea level.

“Throughout their lives, endurance athletes push their bodies to the limit to prove to themselves that they are capable of achieving their goals,” race director Rafael Matos Santos told Endurance Sportswire “Very few athletes have gone from the ocean to the stars and crossed the finish line. KOS Xtreme Triathlon exists because we love triathlon and we want you to be able to experience something different in a unique environment on the planet.”

In addition to Bonner, who finished second there last year, other female pros in the event include defending champion Mia Leadbeater (ESP), her countrywoman Judit Carotin and Annick Roos Louisa Vande Kerckhove (BEL). Austria’s Thomas Steger back to defend his title and will face the other two men who joined him on the podium – Spain’s Diego Méntrida and Alberto Casillas.

Here’s a video from last year’s race – once again I ask, how hard could it be?

Good luck to Sarah and the rest of the competitors this weekend.

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