Women’s triathlon ready to go

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Now that the U.S. is hooked on swimming events (thank you Michael Phelps), it’s time to head to cooler water outside the Water Cube and watch the triathlon. This is only the third Olympics for the event, comprising a 1,500-meter swim, 40k bike and 10k run.

This year’s event is being held at the Ming Tomb Reservoir, which has been remarkably transformed in an environmentally friendly way, with a temporary removable track and road for the run and bike legs of the race.

For anyone out there who’s an amateur triathlete like me, and assumes they know what this race is like … this is a whole different ballgame. For starters, there is very little difference in the speed of the swimmers: they’re all fast. That, combined with the fact that International Triathlon Union rules allow competitors to draft each other on the swim and the bike, means that the race should remain relatively close until the run leg.

The women’s race will start at 10 Monday morning in Beijing, 7 p.m. Pacific time tonight. The two favorites in the woman’s race are Vanessa Fernandes from Portugal and Australian Emma Snowsill (winner of the 2006 and 2007 L.A. Triathlon), though it is expected to be a fairly close race.

Kate Allen of Austria, the gold medalist at Athens, is the only one of the 2004 medal winners competing in this race.

The U.S. team of Julie Swail Ertel, Sarah Haskins and Laura Bennett are also expected to be competitive, with Bennett a likely medal contender.

An Anaheim native, Ertel already has a silver medal, having been a member of the women’s 2000 Olympic water polo team. Also keep an eye out for the Australian team of Erin Densham and Emma Moffatt, as well as Kiwis Debbie Tanner and Samantha Warriner.

For you tri-junkies out there, you won’t find an NBC TV broadcast of the event, but you can see live streaming video on their website. Additionally, live text updates and splits will be available online at www.triathlon.org, or check back here later tonight after 9 p.m PST.

--Elisa Nye