The 2011 Lausanne ITU Team Triathlon World Championships is gaining momentum with almost thirty teams having registered interest in the event already. In all, 28 nations have confirmed participation, with several nations indicating that they may send multiple teams. Teams from every continent have registered interest for the competition, aiming to take the title away from Switzerland who has won the title for the past two years.

From the Americas, Canada, USA, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico have all confirmed participation. Mexico, Brazil and Argentina are additions from the 2010 event.  While China, Hong Kong and Korea are all Asian teams which have stated their interest in participating.

Europe is represented this year by 17 different nations. Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia and Ireland are all new teams for 2011. Teams making a return for a second year to Lausanne include France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Hungary, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine.

From Oceania, Australia and New Zealand will be present at the event again, while South Africa will also send a team.

The official team format adopted for the ITU World Championships is the 4 x Mixed Relay. Each team comprises of two men and two women. Each athlete completes a super-sprint triathlon of swimming, biking and running, before tagging off to their next team mate. The distances for the 2011 ITU Team Triathlon Championships in Lausanne event are 4 x (275m swim, 6km bike, 1.5km run).  The order of the team members are fixed, with first and third team members being women and the second and fourth are the men. Each nation is free to decide the make-up of its team.

ITU’s Team Triathlon format is racing at its most thrilling. It’s energetic, exciting, uncompromising and action-packed. The 2011 ITU Team Triathlon World Championships will take place in Lausanne on Sunday August 21. With the world’s best athletes also on site for the ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships, it is set to be some of the most spectacular racing of the year.

The 2011 event will be broadcast internationally on many of the world’s largest broadcasters and will be also available to watch live on www.triathlonlive.tv