Dutch athletes will compete not only for the podium of the long distance triathlon, but also for the Dutch Championship. Saturday 12 September 2015, the oldest long distance triathlon of Europe will be organized in the Netherlands for the 35th time. As usual, the Dutch Championships will be part of this race. The long distance triathlon consists of a 3,8 km swim course, a 180 km bike course, and a 42,2 km run course. Athletes can still enter for this race, but, in the meantime, the Dutch athletes that will compete in the Dutch Championships steadily become known.
The male PRO-athlete field consists of several strong contenders:
Dirk Wijnalda: winner of the Dutch Championships in 2014 where he also finished second after German Markus Fachbach.
Roeland Smits: has reached the top 10 of Challenge Roth several times and became second in Almere in 2012.
Erik-Simon Strijk: winner of the Dutch Championships in Almere in 2013 and also reaches Roth’s top 10 regularly.
Remy Vasseur: reached Ironman Maastricht’s top 10 in August and became third in Almere in 2012.
Thomas Naasz: best athlete from Almere for the past several years.
Diederik Scheltinga: last year he unfortunately could not finish Challenge Almere-Amsterdam, but this year again expectations are high.
This year’s race will also feature a few newcomers to the long distance PRO field. Tjardo Visser and Tjerk Tjallema, both from Almere, are ready to take on their first long distance triathlon. Tjardo already participated in the World Championships on the “O3 distance” (4-120-30) in Almere and won in his Age-group. Both athletes aim for a top 10 classification in this coming Dutch Championship. They know the course by heart and have experience in dealing with the strong winds. This will become an exciting race for both newcomers!
Strong field of female participants
Irene Kinnegim (winner Holland Triathlon 2009 and 2010) will face Mirjam Weerd (8th finisher Frankfurt 2013) during this particular Dutch Championship. Furthermore, Grada Boschker, Carla van Rooijen, and Nina Bakker join this group of Dutch PRO athletes.