Sydney has been chosen to host a round of the triathlon world championships for the next three years despite renewed concerns about shark attacks.

The Sydney race, part of an eight-event worldwide series, will be held on the same course used for the 2000 Olympics, when the sport was included in the Games for the first time.

The swim leg will again take place in Sydney Harbour despite a recent increase in shark sightings and attacks in local waters but local organisers have promised to take extra care of the competitors.

“The issue of sharks in Sydney Harbour has already been raised with the ITU (International Triathlon Union),” Triathlon Australia chief executive Andrew Hamilton told reporters.

“A helicopter will be in the air during the swim leg, there will be a large number of safety crew on the water surrounding the athletes, we are likely to supply a boat with a depth sounder and our technical officials will look into whether or not divers should be placed in the water.”

Australia’s Emma Moffatt, the reigning women’s world champion, said she was sticking to the theory of safety in numbers.

“I guess you have good chances if there are another 50 or 60 girls in the water,” she said.

“They can’t eat us all.”

Source: Reuters

        

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