Many of the premier U.S. elite triathletes go head-to-head this weekend in one of the United States' premier cities: New York.

Barb Lindquist (Wilson, Wyo.), Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla. - - pictured), Laura Reback (North Palm Beach, Fla.) and Joe Umphenour (Seattle) are among those who will compete Sunday at the USA Triathlon Elite National Championships in New York City. The race is being directed by Bill Burke, with help from the New York 2012 Committee, which is working to bring the 2012 Olympics to the city.

The race will be draft legal and Olympic distance (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run). The swim will be a point-to-point course in the Hudson River. The linear course, parallel to the seawall, will give spectators the perfect vantage point from which to cheer participants. Athletes will enter the water from a pontoon moored at 97th street in Riverside Park and exit at the 79th Street Boat Basin.

The bike course will take athletes from Riverside Park north onto the Henry Hudson Parkway. Athletes will head north out of Manhattan onto a moderately hilly course and proceed through the famous borough of The Bronx where cyclists will make a U-turn just inside Yonkers. Participants will proceed south on the Henry Hudson Parkway to 59th street to another U-turn. Once northbound, the race will exit the Parkway at 79th St. and proceed back to the transition area. All bicycle traffic will utilize the normally northbound roadway, which will be totally closed to vehicular traffic.

Runners will enter Central Park at 72nd Street and complete one loop of the park before finishing near the band shell located near 72nd Street. Runners will pass Tavern on the Green and Strawberry Fields among other New York landmarks. Heading north along East Drive, runners will pass the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Central Park Reservoir before turning on to Traverse Road No. 4. Heading south on West Drive, runners will again pass Strawberry Fields before heading for the finish at the Band Shell near Cherry Hill.

"USA Triathlon is excited to be joining with the New York City 2012 Committee in putting on the 2001 USA Triathlon Elite National Championships in New York City, " said USA Triathlon Executive Director Steve Locke. "We are expecting an Olympic-caliber event."

Last year's U.S. pro champions, Joanna Zeiger and Marcel Vifian, are not scheduled to do the race this year, leaving the field wide open.

On the women's side, 1999 pro national champion Lindquist (No. 4 in the world), Reback (No. 6) and Jennifer Gutierrez (Greenwood Village, Colo., No. 18) will be among the favorites. But you can't count out late entry Karen Smyers (Lincoln, Mass.), a five-time U.S. pro champion and two-time world champion who has been racing very well in her comeback from treatment for thyroid cancer.

Among the men, Kemper (No. 17), a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, will be looking to regain the title he lost last year. But he will be challenged by Umphenour (No. 29), Andy Kelsey (Cupertino, Calif. (No. 35) and Michael Smedley (Colorado Springs, Colo.; No. 60) among others. Also watch for 2000 Olympian Nick Radkewich (New London, Conn.) and Doug Friman (Tucson, Ariz.), who has been racing in Europe.

The New York City Triathlon, an age group race, will begin at 6:30 a.m. while the elites will take off at 8 a.m.

Although New York has been hit hard by the eastern heat wave, the high Sunday is predicted to be 86 degrees F, with lows in the 60s.