The countdown is on to the race calendar’s first PRO event of 2022 when Swansea’s IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon kicks off on Sunday, August 7.

Over 2,000 athletes have registered to compete and while the official start list is eagerly awaited, professional athletes Nikki Bartlett (GBR), and the Frankfurt and Mallorca champions have already announced their attendance.

The swim, bike and run event will see competitors from the ages of 18 to 73 embark on the 70.3-mile endurance challenge, with close to 2,000 individual entries and 24 relay teams.

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Starting with a 1.2-mile sea swim at the Prince of Wales Dock, athletes will undertake a 56-mile cycle along the sweeping waterfront of Swansea Bay, through Mumbles, and across the Gower (AONB) before heading back into the city. Athletes will then move onto their final leg of the triathlon event with a 13.1-mile run down the Swansea Bay course, returning to Museum Gardens for an epic festival finish down the IRONMAN red carpet.

“Following on from the success of Tenby’s IRONMAN Wales which is now in its tenth year, we have no doubt that IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea will become a prominent feature of the European race calendar,” said director Rebecca Sutherland.

The event will see a proud 63 per cent racing for their home country, with 1,295 registered competitors representing the host country - and 772 athletes racing from the Swansea area itself.

Nearly 37 per cent of athletes taking part in the event are members of an IRONMAN Tri Club, with locals Celtic Tri, Swansea Vale Tri, and Rhondda Triathlon Club leading the way out of the 191 different Tri Clubs represented.

An additional 20 athletes will be racing the event on behalf of the Wales Air Ambulance, a charity service providing emergency medical care across Wales.

These include Jenny Rose, a local Swansea resident, whose mother was transported to hospital by the Wales Air Ambulance for life-saving surgery when she suffered a brain haemorrhage whilst out in the Gower Peninsula.

The event is expected to bring an economic boost upward of £2.5m to the region, as tens of thousands of athletes, supporters, volunteers, and staff travel to the Swansea area for the race weekend.