This week the 2018 Australian Schools Triathlon Festival will return to Penrith for three days of racing from Wednesday 25th April to Friday 27th April.

The 2018 Festival will include the School Sport Australia Triathlon Championships, as well as the Australian Schools Open Triathlon, with triathlon, aquathlon and mixed relay options available for athletes in Junior, Intermediate and Open categories, as well as Paratriathlon events. 

Students participating in the School Sport Australia Triathlon Championships have been selected to represent their state or territory in what is the highest level of triathlon representation available for this age group. 

“The Australian Schools Triathlon Festival is an initiative to not only assist in developing the growth in our sport at junior level but provide an opportunity for many first timers to come and ‘give it a go’ amongst their peers” said Triathlon Australia CEO Miles Stewart.

“This is an exciting opportunity for competitors who will be participating and representing their states or territories at the prestigious School Sport Australia Triathlon Championships, as well as the other competitors who will be representing their schools at the Australian Open Schools Triathlon", said Stewart. 

“It is our hope that the Australian Schools Triathlon Festival will foster a lifelong love of the sport of triathlon and lead our juniors to join their local club where they can continue to live a healthy and active lifestyle.”

This will be the 18th edition of the event conducted by School Sport Australia which has been hosted in all states and territories (except NT) during this time. This year will be the sixth time that it has been hosted at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith, NSW. 

It is a unique event with both individual and team pride on the line as Championship points are awarded based on individual, relay and overall team performances.

The event has been a pathway for many Triathlon Australia Performance athletes, including members of our World and Commonwealth Games Mixed Relay Champions, Ashleigh Gentle (Qld), Jake Birtwhistle (TAS) and Matthew Hauser (QLD). 

Whilst Queensland have been very successful over the previous few years, they will be pressured from WA, VIC, TAS, SA and NSW all placing on the podium in the Australian Junior and Youth Triathlon Series this season.

Triathlon Australia will be covering the Championship events live via Instagram on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th April (@triaustralia). If you are in the area, we encourage all to come along and support the future of triathlon. It’s looking bright. 

The multisport event is brought to you by Triathlon Australia in collaboration with School Sport Australia and Triathlon Queensland.

Event details are available at: http://www.triathlon.org.au/Events/2018_Australian_Schools_Triathlon_Festival.htm