If the alternate West Des Moines race site for the Hy-Vee Triathlon had not emerged from flooded conditions, USA Triathlon had an alternate plan to use the Life Time Fitness Triathlon July 12 as the third and final U.S. Olympic Triathlon Trials race.

If the race site is hit by further unexpected rains before the scheduled June 22 Hy-Vee Triathlon, the Life Time Fitness event will be utilized for the Olympic Trials, said USA Triathlon officials.

If the Life Time Fitness Triathlon, a big money show for seven years now, were to become the third U.S. Olympic Trials event, USA Triathlon officials did not specify whether or not Life Time Fitness officials would agree to change their race from a rigorous non-drafting format to an Olympic-style, draft-legal bike. As far as existing rules are concerned, they only require that the Triathlon Olympic Trials be a swim-bike-run event at the Olympic distance.

If a compromise was required, it would be more likely that U.S. Olympic Trials contenders would take off on a separate wave than Life Time Fitness officials relent and embrace a race format they strongly oppose.

Recent flooding in Iowa had required to move the scheduled June 22 Hy-Vee Triathlon and BG World Cup event from downtown Des Moines to Valley Southwoods Freshman High School in West Des Moines.

When all three potential West Des Moines swim sites remained flooded last weekend, the age group, youth elite and junior elite races were cancelled and race officials monitored the final choice – Blue Heron Lake at Raccoon River Park – to see if water levels would drop and bacteria levels returned to safe levels.

Because of Olympic qualifying rules agreed upon by USA Triathlon and the United States Olympic Committee, all Olympic Trials qualifiers must consist of a true swim-bike-run triathlon. If flood conditions didn’t abate, the Hy-Vee event could have been cut to a run-bike-run duathlon format – but it would not have counted for Olympic selection.

In that case, and if Life Time Fitness had not been selected as an alternate Olympic Trials site, selection for the third Olympic slots for men and women would have resolved by pre-determined tiebreakers. In that case, Andy Potts would have won the men’s third Olympic selection by virtue of ranking higher in ITU World Cup series points than fellow US star Hunter Kemper. In the women’s contest, Sarah Haskins would have won selection thanks to her two second place finishes in the first two US Olympic Trials qualifiers in Beijing last September and in Tuscaloosa Alabama this April.

Now, the US Olympic Trials contests will be decided by a race on the originally scheduled date. And the final scenarios for favorites and long shots go like this:

The women

Sarah Haskins, with two second place finishes in the first two US Olympic
Triathlon Trials events in Beijing and Tuscaloosa, goes to Beijing unless Sarah Groff finishes top American at Hy-Vee. Haskins’ recent superb silver medal at the ITU World Championships in Vancouver does not count in the Olympic Trials battle.

The men

Andy Potts goes to Beijing if:

He finishes as top American.
He finishes as second American, as long as Kemper does not finish as top American.
He finishes third or worse – but ahead of Kemper, as long as neither Brian Fleischmann nor Doug Friman finishes top American.

Hunter Kemper goes to his third Olympics if:

He finishes as top American.
He finishes second American, as long as Potts doesn’t finish top American.
He finishes third or worse, but ahead of Potts, as long as neither Brian Fleischmann or Doug Friman finishes top American.

Doug Friman goes if:

He finishes top American, as long as neither Hunter Kemper nor Andy Potts finishes second.

Brian Fleischmann goes if:

He finishes top American and neither Potts nor Kemper finishes second.