2022 Collins Cup Preview
The second Collins Cup will take place Saturday at Samorin, Slovakia in an innovative format based on golf’s Ryder Cup. Competing for a total of $1,500,000, elite teams of six men and six women representing the United States, Europe and Internationals will compete in head-to-head-to-head matchups. Each heat will commence every 10 minutes and will include a total of three competitors with one representative each from Teams U.S., Europe and Internationals. They will cover a course of slightly shorter than the standard 70.3 distance – 2 kilometers swim, 80 kilometers bike and 18 kilometers run.
The field is loaded with tri-stars, arguably none bigger than Olympic gold medalist and Ironman champion Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway. Patrick Lange of Germany has two Ironman World Championships (2017, 2018). Gustav Iden of Norway won the 2019 Ironman 70.3 Worlds and won the 2019 PTO Championship. The list continues: Gustav Iden of Norway is an Ironman 70.3 World Champion, Lionel Sanders of Canada placed 2nd at the 2017 and 2022 Ironman World Championships, Rudy Von Berg of the U.S. is a 70.3 World Championship bronze medalist. Matt Hanson of the U.S. set a record for Ironman North America Championships at 7:39:25, grabbed silver at the 2020 PTO Championship and won 2019 Ironman Boulder.
The women's field includes Olympic gold medalist Flora Duffy, Nicola Spirig of Switzerland is an Olympic gold and silver medalist and is a successful Ironman sub 8. Ashleigh Gentle of Australia is a PTO Canadian Open Champion. Daniela Ryf of Switzerland is a 5-time Ironman World Champion and 4-time 70.3 World Champion. Anne Haug of Germany is an Ironman World Champion and 3rd place finisher.
The Collins Cup will also include team captains with star power including Natascha Badmann and Normann Stadler of Team Europe, Dave Scott and Julie Moss of team U.S., and Erin Baker and Craig Alexander of the Internationals.
The Collins Cup assembled exciting and oft-honored fields of athletes. They are made up of triathletes who have qualified in a carefully created points system for the top four men and top four women for the Team U.S., Team Europe and Team Internationals.
Same as last year, points will be awarded by finishing order: three points for first, two points for second, and one point for third. Once again, additional points will be awarded to the winner of each race depending upon their margin of victory, as well as to second place depending on their gap to third. Last year, on the women's side, Taylor Knibb's 16:43 margin helped earn her the maximum of six points. For the men, Gustav Iden took top honors with a 7:13 gap to last-minute substitution of Collin Chartier of the United States.
This Year's Team Rosters
Team Europe
Qualifiers
Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)
Gustav Iden (NOR)
Patrick Lange (GER)
Magnus Elbaek Ditlev (DEN)
Daniela Ryf (SUI)
Anne Haug (GER)
Laura Phiipp (GER)
Kat Matthews (GBR)
Captains Picks
Holly Lawrence (GBR)
Nicola Spirig (SUI)
Daniel Baekkegard (DEN)
Sam Laidlow (FRA)
Captains:
Natascha Badmann
Normann Stadler
Team International
Qualifiers
Lionel Sanders (CAN)
Braden Currie (NZL)
Max Neumann (AUS)
Jackson Laundry (CAN)
Paula Findlay CAN
Ashleigh Gentle AUS
Tamara Jewett CAN
Ellie Salthouse AUS
Captains Picks:
Aaron Royle (AUS)
Hayden Wilde (NZL)
Flora Duffy (BER)
Vittoria Lopes (BRA)
Captains:
Erin Baker
Craig Alexander
Team US
Qualifiers
Matt Hanson
Sam Long
Rudy Von Berg
Chris Leiferman
Taylor Knibb Replaced by Jocelyn McCauley
Skye Moench
Chelsea Sodaro
Jackie Hering
Captains Picks:
Ben Kanute
Jason West
Sophie Watts
Sarah True
Captains:
Dave Scott
Julie Moss
2021 Recap
The inaugural Collins Cup honors were earned by Team Europe, led by performances from Lucy Charles-Barclay, Emma Pallant-Browne, Katrina Matthews, Jan Frodeno, Gustav Iden and Daniel Baekkegard, whose six match wins and additional contributions by Daniela Ryf, Anne Haug, Sebastian Kienle and Joe Skipper added up to an unofficial 42.5 points, Of the winning team, Lucy Charles-Barclay, Emma Pallant Browne, Jan Frodeno, Sebastian Kienle and Joe Skipper will not be back.
While there were no photo finishes, there were a handful of fierce battles. In the tightest overall battle on the day, Lionel Sanders topped Sebastian Kienle by 1:08 and Andrew Starykowicz by 1:51 in the eagerly anticipated uberbiker race of Match 9. Elsewhere, Jackson Laundry edged Joe Skipper by 38 seconds in Match 12, and Emma Pallant-Browne outpaced Chelsea Sodaro by 1:13 on Match 5.
2021 TEAM STANDINGS
Team Europe – 42.5 points
Team US – 31.5 points
Team Internationals – 25.5 points
Because the Collins Cup is a team competition with Team Europe, Team U.S. and Team Internationals vying for gold and silver cups – with the last place team earning the dubious honor of receiving the Broken Spoke Award – like golf’s Ryder Cup, no performance-based prize money is awarded. On the other hand, the PTO awards the $1.5 million prize purse based on the highest to lowest PTO Qualifying Points – starting with $90,000 for men’s and women’s highest points for first, $80,000 for 2nd, $70,000 for 3rd and down to $20,000 for the lowest.
Jan Frodeno $90,000
Daniela Ryf $90,000
Teresa Adam $80,000
Lionel Sanders $80,000
Anne Haug $70,000
Gustav Iden $70,000
Lucy Charles-Barclay $60,000
Sam Long $60,000
Holly Lawrence $55,000
Joe Skipper $55,000
Paula Findlay $50,000
Braden Currie $50,000
Patrick Lange $45,000
Emma Pallant-Browne $45,000
Carrie Lester $40,000
Rudy Von Berg $40,000 Did Not Start due to illness
Katrina Matthews $35,000
Matt Hanson $35,000
Skye Moench $32,000
Daniel Baekkegard $32,000
Katie Zaferes: No PTO Points, $20,000.
