S3-T Super Splash Sprint Triathlon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The swim is 300 metres as six lengths in the thermal pool at Brigerbad: no open water, no buoys, no cold, but warm water and lengths you count yourself. The three performance categories go off in stages from 09:45.

The bike leaves the Camping Brigerbad car park at around 655 metres and follows the old cantonal road up the valley beside the Rhône to a turnaround near Naters, not far from the historic railway viaduct. Fewer than twenty metres separate the lowest and highest points; the only continuous rise is 350 metres at three per cent shortly after kilometre 1.8, which becomes a descent on the way back. The section was part of the 2023 Giro d'Italia route, and it is traffic-calmed but not closed; road rules and marshals' instructions apply.

The run is a 1.3-kilometre loop covered three times: west out of the event area along the Erlenweg, onto an embankment path through the bird sanctuary and back across the campsite by the thermal baths. 94 per cent of it is level, the whole loop spans less than two metres of elevation, and what sets the rhythm is the switching between asphalt, gravel and natural path. The Verein Triathlon Oberwallis stages the race for the third time, as the season's closing event on a Saturday at the end of September.

Pacing Strategy

Six lengths in a thermal pool are the shortest swim leg a triathlon can offer, and they invite you to race them like a pool event. That is allowed, but in warm thermal water your core temperature rises faster than in a normal pool, and going all out over 300 metres costs more on the bike than it gains in the water. Swim briskly but with your breathing under control.

The bike decides the race, because it is ridden as a symmetrical out-and-back. Out and back are identical, so every stretch comes twice: what was a rise on the way out is a descent on the way home, and what was a tailwind becomes a headwind. Ride to effort rather than to speed and hold a clean line through the turnaround instead of braking late. With the road open to traffic, sloppy riding here costs safety as well.

The trap is the changes of surface on the run. Three laps with several transitions each between asphalt, gravel and soft path mean your kilometre split fluctuates constantly while your effort does not. Run the first lap deliberately by feel and note where the ground is firmer; lift only on the third lap, when the event area comes into sight for the last time.

Training plan for S3-T Super Splash Sprint Triathlon: 12-week build

For the super sprint, expect roughly 40 to 60 minutes depending on your level. The demand is short and hard throughout: the terrain supplies neither climb nor descent nor any recovery, and the only breaks are the two transitions and the turnaround on the bike.

The handover from pool to bike and the second run lap decide it. After 300 metres in warm water your circulation has shifted and the first minute on the bike feels different from what it is; and on the run, lap two reveals whether lap one's pace was realistic. With the race started in three staggered performance categories, you run mostly among athletes of similar speed.

The conditions are unusual for a triathlon. The swim is in a thermal pool rather than open water: no sighting, no wetsuit, no cold, but wall turns and lengths you count yourself. Outside, meanwhile, late September mornings in the Rhône valley are cool, so there is a marked jump in temperature between the water and the start of the bike. Arm warmers or a gilet in transition are not excessive caution here. The run course also changes surface repeatedly.

Three building blocks are enough in preparation. First, pool sessions with short hard sets such as 6 times 50 metres at race effort, including turn technique and a counting routine. Second, bike sessions of 4 to 6 times 4 minutes at intended race effort, ridden alone and in race position, plus practice at a tight 180-degree turn. Third, brick runs of ten minutes at race pace, regularly on mixed ground, because the race course alternates between asphalt, gravel and path.