Köln has been host to the ETU Aquathlon Championships now for a few years. Why? Because the venue is just perfect!

This year it was graced by the presence of ETU President, Renato Bertrandi who came away impressed, pleased and with the great news that there is a good chance Aquathlon is there to stay for a while yet as, hot off the press, comes the announcement that they will bid for the 2016 & 2017 Championships.

With the amazing backdrop of the great gothic cathedral and the central location, it is an event that is easy to get to, that does what it says it will and where athletes, organisers and officials can have a good race.

Returning to the city and hoping for another go for gold, was British Elite athlete Hannah Kitchen. She had silver here last year and then bronze in Edmonton. A keen “Masters Swimmer” she is returning to race fitness after injury. Her performance at Blenheim Palace in the UK was good enough to take her to 5th. Before the race in Köln, she told British Triathlon, 'I've only just started my season due to injury so I'm really keen to get back racing, Blenheim was my first race just over a week ago and I was pleased with the result there though I know I've got a lot more still to come.' Her swim coach is Richard Stannard, himself a previous world champion and for many years it was Richard who led the swims in many ETU and ITU races.

On race day she popped in the fastest swim to take a clear lead over the other athletes. Would her run hold ?

Well, with a superfast transition she had done enough to win gold. It was Jana Koradej SLO who took silver, with bronze going to Jitka Šimáková CZE.

It was the Czech Team that dominated this race with three of the top 6 places. This was the view that most other athletes had as the Czech athletes pushed forwards.

In the Elite Men, defending champion, Oleksiy Syutkin UKR was absent as he was racing in Ukraine at the Kyiv ETU Triathlon European Cup. So the gold was up for grabs. The swim was dominated by Jakub Powada CZE who had a 20 second lead as he left the water. Second onto the quayside was Nik Kojc SLO who went to Germany feeling strong and certainly showed that in the swim. Some distance behind were Tomáš Svoboda  CZE and Dmytro Malyar UKR.

It was to be a battle at the front with fast-paced running that would snatch the medal from Powada. With the fastest run of the day and making up for lost time in the water, it was Malyar who pushed up to take silver behind the stronger Svoboda.

With a tremendous performance, coming off a terrible accident last year in Mamaia-Constanta, it was fellow Ukrainian athlete Sergiy Kurochkin who took bronze. Yes, it was Kurochkin who, leaving T1 in that race in Romania, managed to sever one of his toes as it was caught in the spokes of his rear wheel. After a helicopter evacuation from the venue to a hospital in Bucharest, surgeons successfully secured his toe back onto his foot and since then he has been working hard to reach race fitness again. This bronze medal suggests that he is well on his way to recovery. After the race it was time to celebrate, “To be in Germany and not enjoy a good German sausage, is not to be in Germany!” Быть в Германии и не сьесть сосиску, значит не быть в Германии))

Malyar, who is also the coach for the Dnepr Triathlon Team , with medal in hand, said, “2nd place! Today while the guys competed in Kiev. The European Championship kicks off in Aquathlon in Cologne. Thank you ‪#‎megadrive‬ store, ‪#‎pinabicicletas‬ Club and team ‪#‎dnipro‬ triathlon club!”

Powada, after his amazing swim, settled for 4th but as in the women’s race, in the top 6 positions were 3 Czech athletes.

Aside from the Elite there was a full race programme. The U23 races saw victories for Jana Koradej SLO. Silver went to Irene Cabrera ESP and bronze to Kaja Schröder GER.

In the men’s race it was a gold for Spain’s Alejandro Cañas. He stamped his mark on the race, pushing team-mate Camilo Puertas Fernandez ESP into silver. Bronze went to Jesse Lormans BEL

For Lormans, who works as lifeguard, it was “Mixed feelings. 20 minutes before the race it was decided that no wetsuits would be worn. The same for everyone but then, as I left the water I slipped on the run out and that dented my moral. Still, 3rd place in the U23!!” His coach, Kristof Van Rooy, was proud of his performance.

Then came the Juniors. In the women’s race it was once again a great day for the Czech Republic. Simona Šimůnková took gold, leaving Dutch junior, Marije Dankelman NLD the silver. The Junior Men saw gold go once again to Slovenia as Urh Klenovšek came home an easy winner. His superior run pace took him from the back of the pack to gold, leaving silver to British athlete, Michael Lewis.

Mark Mandic, also from Slovenia, took bronze. For Mandic, this was his first taste of international racing and his medal was a great prize.

Amongst the ParaTri athletes, there were medals for Germany’s Benjamin Lenatz, for Rob Noordzij NLD and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Stepanenko.

A European Championship event is always a big event when the Age Group athletes are in town. This year hundreds came to the Rheinland to wear their national team uniform and to enjoy the friendship of meeting up with old rivals and new friends. Despite the industrial action in Calais, many managed to make the trip from Great Britain and you could have been mistaken indeed if on occasions the race looked like the British National Championships.

A massive medal haul from Team GB took them to the top of the medal table. In the Age Group races Team GB came away with 10 gold medals, 13 silver and 15 bronze. In three categories they took all three medals. Only in one category, the men’s 45-49, did they fail to get any podium places. Germany was the next strongest team with pretty much half that tally. France, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ireland, Sweden, Italy and Ukraine all saw their athletes win medals. Athletes came from all over Europe to race and to enjoy the hospitality of the German Triathlon Federation.

Relaxing after the race and before their trip back many were asking, “Is the race going to be here next year?” Well, following the announcement from ETU President, Renato Bertrandi, there is a pretty good chance.

Recht vielen Dank Köln. Auf Wiedersehen !

A very big thank you to Oliver Kubanek, who is Director of Communications with the Deutsche Triathlon Union for his professional images and to those athletes who posted such great photos.