World University Triathlon Championships

The selection process is as follows: 

• Selections will take place the week of Monday 11 May 2020.
• Selected athletes will be notified by email by Monday 18 May 2020
• Team publicly announced by Wednesday 20 May 2020.

The cost of participation in this event will be approximately £750.

Certain event costs (e.g. flights) are variable until details can be confirmed post team selection therefore this amount may change. In the unlikely event that any unforeseen additional costs arise we will notify you as soon as possible. The costs for the Team Leader will be covered by the BTF.

Students at non-BUCS Member institutions must pay an additional supplement of £200.

Payment 
Payment of the above amount will be required in full at the point of selection.

Athletes submitting a nomination acknowledge this requirement by indicating their acceptance of the Team Member’s Agreement. Furthermore, they accept that any unrecoverable costs incurred by BUCS resulting from athlete withdrawal from the nomination process will be passed onto the athlete concerned.

Athletes should speak to their institution in the first instance to see if their institution is able to assist with coverage of the costs.

The following criteria are required to be met;

• Students who are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a Level 4 qualification (on the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or equivalent or above*
• Be a national of the country they represent (therefore hold a full 10-year UK passport)
•  Be at least 18 and no older than 25 years of age on 31 December of the year of the event (i.e. born between 01/01/1995 and 31/12/2002).

*Students graduating in 2019 will be eligible to compete in 2020, as former students who have obtained their qualification in the calendar year preceding the event. See also detailed eligibility information at the end of this document in Appendix 1.

Please note that any athlete who is currently suspended or expelled by FISU, WADA, International or National Federation is ineligible for selection

All athletes who wish to be considered for selection must:

• Submit an online registration on the BUCS website by 12:00 on Monday 11 May 2020.
• Be eligible to represent Great Britain under ITU rules and must be members in good standing with a Home Nation Triathlon Association, which is a member of the BTF
•  Be compliant with British Triathlon’s anti-doping policy and hence be available for out-of-competition testing at all times. If required to do so by UKAD or the ITU, they must maintain a record of their whereabouts using the ADAMs system
• Have completed the required ITU Pre-Participation Examination (PPE) and sent the BTF Fit to Compete form to Kate Shone ([email protected]) by the notification deadline.
• Be available for this event from 24-29 August 2020
   

Selection Process

BUCS will sanction a GB Students entry to the FISU World University Triathlon Championships for a team of up to four men and four women (subject to confirmation of available quota places). The Selection Panel will select how many and which athletes to nominate based on the criteria outlined below.

Automatic Selections

Subject to the criteria outlined in the Conditions section below, athletes will be automatically selected if they satisfy one of the following criteria (places filled in the order below up to the limit of 4 eligible athletes per gender) in the 12 months prior to the nomination deadline:

• Competed in a World Triathlon Series (WTS) individual event;
• Top-20 finish in an ITU World Cup;
• Top-10 finish at the 2019 U23 World Championship;
• Top-8 finish in an ITU European Cup event;
• Top-5 finish at the 2019 Junior World Championship; AND
• Winner of the 2020 BUCS Sprint Triathlon Championships;

Should more athletes meet the automatic selection criteria than there are places available to BTF, the Panel will use the process set out  in the Discretionary Selections  in determining which athletes to select to the team.

Discretionary Selections

If there are still places available following completion of the automatic selections, the Panel will, at their discretion, select additional eligible athletes (up to the maximum places outlined at paragraph 7). The Panel will consider athletes’ performances from the following events within the 12 months prior to the nomination deadline:

• ITU Triathlon World Series;
• ITU World Cups;
• World U23 or Junior Championships;
• ITU European Cups;
• ITU European Junior Cups;
• 2020 BUCS Sprint Triathlon Championships; AND
• Further athletes may be added who, in the sole opinion of the selectors, have demonstrated the ability in 2019 and/or 2020 races (prior to the nomination deadline) to contribute to the medal winning potential of the Great Britain squad.

The selection committee will the use the following process when assessing each athlete’s performance at these events:

• Benchmarking data;
• Previous championship performances;
• Athlete age and stage development profiles;
• Race format and course specifics of the selection event(s) outlined above at which athletes have qualified themselves for consideration;
• Finishing position in the selection event(s) outlined above at which athletes have qualified themselves for consideration;
• Quality of field at the selection event(s) outlined above at which athletes have qualified themselves for consideration;
• Current form; AND
• injury/illness status.

The Panel will compare the eligible athletes’ single best performance and select to the team the athlete (or athletes) deemed to have the best overall performance.

Mixed Relay (MR) Selections

• Only those athletes who are selected for the individual races at the World University Championships will be eligible for nomination to the MR event.
• The final selection of the team of four athletes (2 male, 2 female) to compete in the MR event will be made by the coaching team at the Championships following conclusion of the individual events
•  Selection of the team will be entirely discretionary and will be based on a combination of the following, as well as any other criteria that may be deemed relevant by the Panel:
  • The individual profile of each athlete and how it relates to the course profile, competition and desired race tactics to maximise race outcomes and/or race learning
  •  Result in the individual events*
  • Athletes’ state of recovery and readiness following the individual events (taking into account injury and recovery history prior to the Championships)
  • Athletes’ race plan; AND
  •  Athletes’ previous MR experience.

The outcome or result of the individual event will NOT infer any automatic selection to Mixed Relay team.

Conditions

Any automatic nominations (as outlined in Automatic Selections) will not apply if, in the opinion of the Panel, the results of the race in which an athlete achieved a performance that qualified them for automatic nomination was significantly impacted by:

•  a large-scale racing incident (such as a crash);
• environmental conditions/exceptional circumstances which resulted in an altered or reduced race format; OR
• an anomalous incident, usually completely outside of the athletes’ control (such as a stray dog/vehicle on the course) – please note, this does NOT include individual mechanical issues.

Where this is the case, affected athletes will not be automatically nominated, but will instead be considered using the discretionary selection outlined at paragraph 7.2.
Nomination for the World University Championships is conditional on the following:

• Athletes must complete any BTF pre-travel medical questionnaire (if required, at the discretion of the CMO, in addition to the ITU fit-to-compete questionnaire). Athletes must also agree (by signing in advance of travel the EIS Data Processing Consent Form) to their personal and medical details being stored on the EIS Performance Data Management System (PDMS) and shared – where appropriate – with the relevant medical/coaching/management staff
• Start positions are limited and ranking points earned in ITU/ETU events may be crucial to Great Britain earning a full quota of places at the Games and/or persevering quota places at future editions of these championships. If an athlete is not 100% ready to compete due to injury or illness, they should inform the Head Coach immediately so that a decision may be taken on whether they should be replaced by another British athlete or whether medical withdrawal is required
•  An athlete who elects to withdraw from the World University Championships after they have expressed their interest to be considered for nomination, but before the ETU closing date, must inform Kate Shone ([email protected]) immediately so that a replacement athlete can be nominated;
• Athletes must be aware of, and compliant with, ITU rules, including those relating to race uniforms, no-shows and late withdrawals.

The Selection Panel (“the Panel”) for the World University Championships will convene either via email or conference call in advance of this deadline and shall comprise:

Voting members:

• Dan Salcedo (Olympic Pathway Manager)
•  Member of World Class or Home Nation Programme staff
• British Triathlon BUCS Team Leader
•  BUCS staff representative

 Non-voting members

• Note taker(s) if/as required.

Athletes have the right to appeal their non-selection or de-selection but only after provision of written confirmation of the relevant decision and only according to the procedure laid out in the “BTF Appeals Policy”. Athletes wishing to seek advice regarding the appeals process (including the validity of any procedure itself) are advised to contact the British Athletes Commission (BAC) at www.britishathletes.org.

In the event that any unforeseen circumstance makes any provision of this Policy unworkable or ineffective to promote the aims of the Policy, the BTF or BUCS will be entitled to amend this Policy so that the aims can be secured. Any amended version will be made available on the BUCS and BTF websites

FISU Eligibility Regulations

Only the competitors who satisfy the following conditions may take part in a FISU events:

• students who are currently officially registered as proceeding towards a degree or diploma at the university or similar institute, the status of which is recognised by the appropriate national academic authority of their country (e.g. the Department for Education in the UK); or former students of the institutions mentioned before, who have obtained their academic degree or diploma in the calendar year preceding the event
• be a national of the country they represent (i.e. hold a full 10 year passport)
• be at least 18 and no older than 25 years of age on 31 December of the year of the event

Students studying abroad are eligible for selection provided they satisfy the above criteria.

Students attending courses franchised out from a registered institution providing the also conform to the additional eligibility criteria.

BUCS Academic Eligibility Regulations

The minimum level of study has been set at Level 4 of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or equivalent. Level 4 is equivalent to Higher National Certificates (HNC) and Certificates of Higher Education (CertHE). In Scotland this is generally equivalent to Level 7. Please contact BUCS with any queries.

Exemptions to permit the selection of student athletes studying below Level 4 can be considered where:

1. The student still meets the FISU eligibility regulations
2. There is no direct financial implication to BUCS
3. It can be demonstrated that this inclusion encourages additional benefit to Level 4 students

The inclusion of students studying below Level 4 should not be at the expense of a student studying at Level 4 or above.