Super League Poznan: Macca's Picks

Super League hopefuls are preparing to push themselves to the very limit in a bid to win a Golden Ticket into the 2019 Championship Series.

Just three men and three women will this weekend book their place in Super League’s thrilling 2019 series, which starts with the RBC Super League Triathlon Jersey on 28-29 September.

The fields for the qualifying races in Poznan are an intriguing mixture of athletes, and the results are hard to predict.

We called on Super League co-founder and former World Champion Chris McCormack for his picks.

Women:

Gillian Backhouse AUS

Gillian won a Gold Medal in the Mixed Relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. If you’ve represented your country, then you’re pretty good out of the blocks. The Australian triathlon team is mighty, they sift through a lot of athletes, but to win the gold is next level. She’s a superstar.

Elena Danilova RUS

Elana Danilova has previous Super League experience and in this kind of racing experience counts. She will know better than most what it takes to be successful, and that could very well prove to be the deciding factor.

Deborah Lynch NZL

At 27, Deborah Lynch is experienced. 64 professional starts and four podiums show she has some talent, but the key thing I see here is the distance she’s travelling. She coming from New Zealand to Poland for a chance at a slot. Expect to see some form.

Men:

Lachlan Neill AUS

Coming up short in our Bali qualifier meant he just missed out on a slot there, but that experience will do him well going into this weekend. He is a standout star, a mega swimmer, very very gutsy, and fights to the death. The fact he is back at trying to qualify shows how hungry he is.

Igor Polyanskiy RUS

Fresh off the back of racing last year’s Super League series, Igor Polyanskiy is very fast on his day. Couple that with the fact his brother Dmitry is also racing for a slot this weekend and much like the Brownlee brothers these two tend to draw better performances out of each other when they’re both competing. I expect to see Igor gain a slot.

Jamie Price BHR

An expat from Bahrain. This young contender is light-years ahead of any of the other youth athletes we’ve seen. Does that mean he’s ready for the professional field? I’d like to see it happen, he works hard, and will not give up.