At Challenge Salou I was classified as 45-49. At the time of the race I was 49, 38 days before my 50th birthday, however, in most competitions your age group is determined by your age on the 31 December of the year in which you are competing, so I am in 50-54
This is clearly defined on Ironman and USAT, however, I cannot find a reference on World Triathlon (ITU). Challenge operates in accordance with ITU rules
Can anyone shed and light on this?
It may not seem important, however, would have one my AG in 50-54.
It always strikes me as weird that someone can race in the 50-54 age group when they are 49, say.
Personally I prefer the Challenge approach, if that’s what is going on. If someone is 49, they race other 45-49 year olds.
When I finally do IM Lanza in May 2023 I expect to be racing as M50-54 although won’t gain entry to the much revered over 50s thread until October. Kinda weird.
Maybe you’ll just have to go back and smack it down next year too?
This is what I was looking for, thanks. Looks like the organisers at Challenge Salou Made a cock up of Age Groups. A friend of mine who turns 55 in September would have been 3rd in his AG, but was classified as 8th in 50-54, so not just me that this impacts
I have emailed Challenge Events as well as Challenge Salou. Potentially this impacts people trying to Qualify for National Federation places or Challenge Championship events
based on info above it does look as if Challenge have cocked up - see what they come back with. If needed I can contact FETRI (Spanish federation) and see if they can help.
I also checked Spanish rules to see if they operate a different method but FETRI rules follow World Triathlon for age classification (as do BTF).
I know what you mean, but I suppose it helps for consistency through the year. When I swam in my teens, the top age group swimmers were often those with birthdays at the start of the year. Anecdotal at the time, but I’ve heard research to back it up as well. For those sports that align with school years, the advantage is with those in September.
For that reason GB swimming changed while I was an age grouper to age on day of competition, as their analysis showed that nationals (in August) heavily favoured those born early in the year.
I’d say that once you’re an adult ~6 months is much less of a difference, compared to a child/teenager so age at end of year is better at keeping it standard across qualifying/different comps.
