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Triathlon Australia has named 27 elite, under-23 and disabled triathletes for the four-day championship, which will run from 23 to 26 November.
There will be four Olympians in the elite nine, and eight of the nine have represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games – six of them in Birmingham this year – with an average age of 24½.
Charlotte McShane, 32, is the oldest member of the Elite team, making her 11th World Championship final, her eighth as an Elite, and her first Elite Championship in 2014 after three years under the age of 23 — — of which she won a gold medal in 2013.
Joining McShane will be her lifelong friend Natalie Van Coevorden, who has played with Charlotte on eight of them since Oakland’s Under-23s in 2012, Matt Hauser being his first elite team, and Jake Birtwhistle leads the men’s team on his sixth elite team.
Van Coevorden, 29, also has an impressive record and is lined up for her 11th team – her seventh as an elite team and the highest-ranked woman in Australia.
There are four Paralympic delegates and three Commonwealth Games delegates in the disabled category – led by two-time world champion and defending champion, Paralympic silver medalist and triathlon world champion Lauren Parker leading an exciting team Disabled triathlon team.
Parker has climbed nearly every mountain in his illustrious career, and the three-time world champion title awaits the 33-year-old from Newcastle, who will once again join US Paralympic champion Kendall Gretsch confrontation.
The Para team also includes 44-year-old Sally Pilbeam from Western Australia – a two-time world champion in 2014 and 2015 who returned after two years of retirement – and 38-year-old four-time WPS Para gold medalist Justin Godfrey ( Justin Godfrey), his eyes fixed on Paris.
“It was an absolute honor to be on the World Champions team again, being on my 11th team, thinking about the ten-year journey Natalie and I have been on together (a third of my life!) It’s crazy,” reflected McShane, relieved to be back on the court after a lengthy injury battle.
“We’ve been through a lot together, shared special memories, shared struggles, trained together every day for the first five years of our careers, and now we’re in a different training environment (often on the other side of the world)! ) We happily had sex during games. It’s always very comforting to be around someone who has shared so many experiences with me – for better and for worse!”
Van Cowarden also admitted that her and Charlotte’s test time has made them more resilient.
“We are all fighters and we know we have a lot to do in our careers. I know I trained with Charlotte for eight years and she loves the heat so I know she will be well prepared for Abu Dhabi too ,” said Van Cowarden, who will line up for this weekend’s Premier League final, heading into Abu Dhabi ahead of the Bermuda WTS round.
“We are currently in Portugal preparing for Abu Dhabi, doing thermal preparations in the sauna.
“This time of year is very important to stay healthy, get out of harm’s way and prepare for the final game of the season.”
Joining McShane and Van Coevorden are Olympians Emma Jackson (London 2012) and Jaz Hedgeland (Tokyo 2020), and world championship rookie Sophie Linn, who made her Commonwealth Games debut this year.
Jackson’s remarkable career began in 2007 when she made her World Junior Championships debut at the age of 16 – winning the Under-23 World Championship in 2010 and making her Olympic debut in London two years later.
The irony is that she was actually behind Emma Jackson in 2010 as an under-23 in a race won by the Tokyo Olympics, world and Commonwealth champion, Bermuda’s Flora Duffy 8th place.
“Flora was an athlete who proved that longevity in the sport is possible. She rose through the junior ranks and is now an Olympic and world champion in her 30s. Seeing an athlete continue to perform and play in this Long-term leadership in sports is encouraging,” Jackson said.
“For me, 2022 is about going back to the top and trying to turn my training into performances.
“Having been through a lot of injury setbacks over the past few years and not playing the way I wanted to, so I want to use this year to regain my confidence in myself so I can do it for 2023 and what’s likely to happen. Get ready first.
“I’m delighted to have another chance to play in green and gold at the World Championships.”
The 31-year-old will compete in her 13th World Championship – her eighth as an elite team – which joins elite rookie Lynn who finished ninth on the Gold Coast in 2018 as an Under-23 player In stark contrast to being selected to her first elite team.
Lynn is emerging as a rising star as she struggled to finish fifth at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – the best result for an Australian woman – and she also won bronze in the mixed relay in Birmingham.
Also making it to the elite ranks for the first time in the finals of the World Championships series is Olympian and two-time Commonwealth Games delegate and bronze medalist Matt Hauser, who is also the Premier League’s Newme.
The 24-year-old Hauser, Australia’s top-ranked elite in 2022 (currently No. 10 on the leaderboard), has played in five World Championship finals — three juniors and two under-23s — — Won the Junior Championship in 2017 and finished third among the Under-23s in Edmonton last year.
Hauser will join the men’s elite team with his Olympic and Commonwealth Games teammate Jack Bert Whistle, 27, and his 2018 Commonwealth Games teammate Luke William, 25.
Birtwhistle, the 2015 under-23 world champion in Chicago, will represent Australia in his ninth team and his sixth elite team, and he and William will also compete in the Noosa Triathlon on Sunday race.
Birmingham rookie Brandon Copeland, 26, will form the men’s team in his second Elite World Series after making his Edmonton debut last year.
In the U23s, NSW’s Matilda Orford will seek to join Queensland teammates Allie Hoytinck and Oscar Dart after making her World Triathlon Series debut in Montreal Make an impact, while Lorcan Redmond, who was automatically selected at Mooloolaba in March, will not line up in Abu Dhabi.
Team Australia at World Triathlon Championship Series Finals, Abu Dhabi, 23-27 November:
elite Natalie Van Coevorden (NSW), Charlotte McShane (VIC), Jaz Hedgeland (WA), Sophie Linn (SA), Emma Box (nee Jackson) (QLD), Matt Hauser (QLD), Brandon Copeland (NSW), Jake Birtwhistle ( TAS), Luke William (Qld)
U23 Matilda Offord (NSW), Ellie Hoitink (QLD), Luke Bate (NSW), Oscar Dart (QLD)
triathlon Lauren Parker (NSW, PTWC), Anu Francis (SA, PTS2), Sally Pilbeam (WA, PTS4), Nic Beveridge (QLD, PTWC), Glen Jarvis (PTS2), Justin Godfrey (VIC, PTS3), Liam Twomey (VIC ) , PTS4), Jeremy Peacock (VIC, PTS4), David Bryant (WA, PTS5), Jonathan Goerlach (NSW, PTVI) & Guide Harry Wiles, Jack Howell (VIC, PTS5), Sam Harding (ACT, PTVI) & Guide Luke Harvey (Qld).
^Box, Birtwhistle, Howell and Harding’s starting roster awaits the final World Triathlon starting roster ahead of the WTCS and World Championships in November.
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