Over the next week, Ethos welcomes ten Olympic teams who will be arriving at Imperial to train ahead of the London 2012 Games.
Over the next week, Ethos welcomes ten Olympic teams who will be arriving at Imperial to train ahead of the London 2012 Games.
Many of the world’s top 20 triathletes from will be amongst those arriving including Spain’s Javier Gomez and New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt, both ranked top in the men’s and women’s Olympic Rankings, respectively.
With GB’s triathlon team also training at Imperial, athletes from Great Britain include the Brownlee brothers - Alistair and Jonny - and Helen Jenkins (men’s winner and runner-up, respectively, and women’s winner at the 2011 ITU Dextro Energy World Championships). Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, France, Canada, Ireland and Portugal make up the other 8 triathlon teams and they will all be using the Ethos swimming pool to train for the triathlon taking place in nearby Hyde Park. The world’s leading competitors generally take less than one hour and 50 minutes to complete an Olympic distance triathlon, which includes a 1.5km swim followed by a 40km bike ride, finishing with a 10km run.
The women’s triathlon is set to take place on 4 August whilst the men’s competition is scheduled for 7 August. Imperial’s Reporter asked the experts for an insider’s view of Britain’s fastest growing sport – read the full story here.
Whilst the Ethos pool teems with triathletes, the sports hall plays host to the Japanese Fencing team who arrived at the South Kensington campus over the weekend. They will be staying in halls of residence on campus for the duration of the Games as will athletes from Switzerland. The two teams have booked 330 beds between them and the vacation staff who will be working in the accommodation halls over the summer have received additional training to ensure each team’s stay is as comfortable as possible.
Sport Imperial has also invested in new fencing pistes for the Olympic athletes, and new lane ropes for the Ethos swimming pool to prevent waves. Staff have also stocked up on pool chemicals, bottled water and energy drinks, in case there are any delivery problems during the Games.
Staff and students will be able to use all facilities at Ethos during the Games apart from the Sports Hall which will be closed until 15 August. To find out the availability of facilities during the Games period visit our Olympic page.
Read more with these related stories:
- Read more about the upcoming Olympic Triathlon http://www.london2012.com/triathlon/
- Gearing up for the Games! //www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2012/06/22/gearing-up-for-the-games/
- Global tides //www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2012/01/24/global-tides/#more-16899
- Imperial to play host to Japanese Olympians //www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2010/10/08/imperial-to-play-host-to-japanese-olympians-2/
- Imperial is granted London 2012 Inspire Mark //www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2011/12/20/london-2012-inspire-mark/
- Medals reward Imperial’s Olympic support: //www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/reporter/2012/05/04/medals-reward-imperial%e2%80%
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