Courtesy: USAT

The USA Triathlon Race to Athens elite triathlon series pulls into Bellingham, Wash., on June 1 with a sweet stop at the Baker's Breakfast Cookies ITU International Triathlon.

Top elite triathletes from the United States and around the world will be in Bellingham chasing ITU (International Triathlon Union) world ranking points. Triathletes must be ranked in the top 125 in the world to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, so gathering these points this year is very important.

The Baker's Breakfast Cookies ITU International Triathlon is also the second U.S. qualifier for the Pan American Games, which will be held Aug. 1-17 in the Dominican Republic (the triathlon event will be on Aug. 10). The top U.S. man and woman finisher in Bellingham will qualify for the second spot on the U.S. Pan American team.

Sheila Taormina (Livonia, Mich.) and Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.) have already qualified for the Pan American team at the Clermont ITU International Triathlon held May 4 in Clermont, Fla. Both are expected to race in Bellingham, but should one of them finish as the top American, the Pan Am spot will roll down to the next U.S. finisher.

The third spots on the U.S. team will also be determined after the Bellingham race. They will be chosen based on athlete finishes in both Clermont and Bellingham and on athlete world rankings.

"This race is extremely important for several reasons," said USA Triathlon Executive Director Steve Locke. "We plan to have an excellent field of athletes."

Among the U.S. triathletes planning to compete in Bellingham is Joe Umphenour, who grew up in Bellevue, Wash., a suburb of Seattle. Umphenour is ranked No. 2 in the United States and No. 35 in the world.

Umphenour trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and hopes the Race to Athens series will help carry him to the 2004 Olympic Team. His year has started slow after recovering from winter hernia surgery. But racing so near his hometown is sure to give him a boost.

"I am excited to have a race in my own backyard so my friends and family can finally see me compete," Umphenour said.

"My longtime sponsor, Superfeet insoles, is also in Bellingham so they will finally see me in action live. While I haven't done the course, I am familiar with the area and that will give me a distinct advantage."

Mark Fretta of Portland, Ore., a teammate of Umphenour's at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, is also expected to race in Bellingham.

Among other top U.S. elites expected to compete are Barb Lindquist (Victor, Idaho), the No. 1-ranked woman in the world; Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) the No. 1 U.S. man and a member of the 2000 Olympic team, U.S. men's national champion Seth Wealing and Taormina, ranked fifth in the world, third in the United States and a two-time Olympian with a gold medal in swimming.

Top international triathletes are also expected to compete, including Venezuela's Gilberto Gonzalez, the defending Pan American Games champion ranked 26th in the world, and Canada's Natasha Filliol, ranked 29th in the world.

The Bellingham race will be Olympic distance - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run - and draft legal. The elite women's race will start at 10:30 a.m. with the elite men following at 1 p.m.

The athletes will enter the swim course in Lake Whatcom at the beachfront located at the Bloedel Donovan Park. Competitors will swim in a rectangular designed swim course and exit the water at the boat ramp. Once out of the water, athletes will run a short distance to the transition area located in the parking lots of Bloedel Donovan Park.

Triathletes will cycle on local roads in and around Bellingham and Lake Whatcom.

On the run, triathletes will exit the parking lots of Bloedel Donovan Park and run on Electric Street and entering Whatcom Falls Park. Once in the park they will run on the paths in the park and then return to Bloedel Donovan to begin another lap. Elite competitors will complete four loops before finishing in Bloedel Donovan Park.

Preceding the Baker's Breakfast Cookies ITU International Triathlon will be an age group triathlon starting at 6:30 a.m. This race will also be at Lake Whatcom.

There is more information available at www.triathlon.org and at www.trithecookie.com.