UPDATE: There's absolutely no indication on the ITU website that the upcoming BG World Cup race will, like the supporting citizens race already has, turn into a duathlon but the Hy Vee event organisers are obviously well down that path as the maps on the event website (www.hy-veetriathlon.com) clearly indicate that they expect the elite to be du-ing it rather than swimming. Quite how this will all play out next weekend is still not clear but it can't be good for those looking to get their selections to the US Beijing team finalised there - it's the final qualifier and there's a male and female slot at stake. What it does show, however, is that the Hy Vee organisers do understand that events need contingency plans and they are prepared to both make and implement them well in advance rather than dream them up on on day...

With flood waters rising and predictions of more rain on the way, the June 21-22 ITU BG World Cup/Hy-Vee Triathlon is being re-located to the campus of Valley Southwoods Freshmen High School in West Des Moines. Hy-Vee and race officials began looking for an alternate swim venue as soon as it looked like Gray’s Lake might flood. But when unrelenting rains increased the bacteria levels of even those bodies of water not prone to flooding, discussions turned to a dry-tri event. The age-group race will now be a 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run duathlon. Race officials have not yet eliminated the swim for the elite athletes. The six members of Team USA headed to the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing will be introduced to the world at the conclusion of the Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon.

“Once again we realize how fortunate we are to live in a city with multiple sites capable of hosting an event of this magnitude,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee senior vice president of retail operations and co-chair of the event. “We are grateful to everyone who has stepped forward to ensure the success of our triathlon, from the elite races down to the kids events. It’s going to be a great weekend for the thousands of people who have spent months training for the triathlon as well as spectators who come out to cheer them on.”

“We know the athletes are looking forward to the Des Moines race,” said Bill Burke, the race director. “The well-being of all competitors is paramount, but this is an important race for American elites. If we can find a safe and available body of water, we’d like to use it.”

The event was moved out of Des Moines so that city officials could devote their full attention and resources to flood-related issues. “We appreciate Des Moines’ commitment to our event and all the support they have given us in regard to the triathlon,” said Edeker. “We needed to get out of the way so they could address more critical issues.”

With one of the biggest prize purses on the circuit of $700,000 the elite start list is pretty much a who's who in the sport and GB has Hayes, Freeman, Clarke, Don, Johns, Stannard and Brownlee on the men's list and Lang, Blatchford, Tucker, Swallow, Avil and Whitcombe on the women's.