Joe Skipper is set to make his racing return at IRONMAN Chattanooga at the end of this month.

The British star has endured a frustrating run of results over the last 12 months, with his victory at IRONMAN Lake Placid in July 2023 the last time he was on a podium.

And it was his return to that race this season – when he was a DNF – which prompted him to take a break and rule himself out of chasing qualification to the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, where he’s twice finished fifth.

Time out for Skipper

He had said after that display: “I’m absolutely gutted and just really down. I was looking forward to this race and my training had gone really well so I was very confident of putting together a great race.

“I will be taking some time off now, I’m going to get some blood tests done to see if there’s anything up with me as I’ve been so inconsistent in races and rarely feel like my normal self in races.

“I don’t know when I will race again as I’m going to just concentrate on feeling better and when I am confident I can race like myself I’ll be back on a start line.

“As you can probably gather this means no Kona but to be honest that’s probably a good thing as I can just take my time to get myself back firing on all cylinders and not force it.”

Perfectly suited to Skipper skillset

The good news for Joe and his many fans is that the comeback starts on Sunday September 29 at IRONMAN Chattanooga, in what he dubbed “the crisp packet triathlon”.

Explaining why in his latest YouTube video, which is embedded below, he said: “It’s basically a downstream swim and a packet of Doritos can do it in under an hour! So it suits perfectly to my skillset of being strong on the bike and strong on the run – but the swim is a weakness.”

Even the race’s website describes the opening of the event as taking “a plunge into the fast-flowing Tennessee River.”

Who else is racing in Chattanooga?

Sam Long is another man for whom swimming isn’t his strongest suit and he’s the highest-ranked athlete on the start list.

He too will be missing Kona this year, but in contrast to Skipper he’s racked up an impressive array of results with two wins and three others podiums, which have helped him to number three in the latest PTO standings.

He’s also going well in the T100 but is bypassing the latest race in Ibiza which takes place the same weekend as Chattanooga.

Also slated to race in Tennessee is Long’s fellow American Trevor Foley, who succeeded Skipper as IRONMAN Lake Placid champion and has a Kona berth as a result.

Chattanooga offers two slots for the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship – which will take place in Nice.