The Ría de Bilbao, clean of Leptospirosis

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All the analyzes done are negative for the bacteria that causes Leptospirosis.

If we spoke recently that the Bilbao Triathlon was one of the best tests of Spain, today they confirm that the analyzes carried out in Ría de Bilbao have been negative for the bacteria that cause Leotospirosis. The data collected give a sampling with results comparable to some obtained in the bathing waters of the beaches of the Biscayan coast during the bathing season "

The lack of less than three months for the celebration of the eighth edition of the Bilbao Triathlon, test of Half and Olympic distance the 26 of May will take place, the last analyzes carried out by a private laboratory last 31 of January in different points of the Ría de Bilbao are conclusive and give negative in Leptospira interrogates, the bacteria that causes leptospirosis.

These results are added to the different analyzes of this bacterium that have been made in the water of the Nervión River in its passage through Bilbao since June of the 2017, both from Bilbao City Council and from the organization of the test itself. All of them have yielded a hundred percent negative result for this bacterium in each of the measurements.

Bilbao Triathlon will once again be the Euskadi Middle Distance Championship and the main candidates for that txapela have already confirmed their participation.

These data are also very positive for the dozens of activities that are held annually in the Estuary, 160 in 2016 according to City Council numbers. Among these, stand out the acrobatic jumps of Red Bull, that return the 30 of June, the rides in pirogue, the burning of Marijaia, the crossings to swim, the acts of solidarity, or the hotel events, lately in vogue in the Olabeaga area and the Mercado de la Ribera.

CONFIDENCE OF TRIATHLETS

The elite of the Basque triathlon, for example, has not hesitated to confirm their participation. In this way, Mikel Elgezabal, winner in the first two editions, the middle distance Euskadi champion Mireia Arrizallaga, Peio Osoro, recently proclaimed champion of Spain of winter triathlon and second classified in the edition of last year, Kristian Quintans, third in the Olympic at 2016 and with prominent participation in Hawaii, or Egoitz Zalakain, 10 top in several editions, will be on the starting line of the 26 day of May.

Those who surely will not fail in a meeting that brings together a thousand triathletes each year are the current champions Judith Corachán y Gustavo Rodriguez. The athlete from Sant Boi hopes to extend her idyll with this event where she has already won two silver medals and one win in her three participations in Bilbao. The Galician Gustavo Rodríguez will look for the repoker in his "favorite event", where he has already chained four wins in a row.

Other familiar faces of the national scene such as Catalan Erik Merino or the return of Extremadura Diego Paredes They have also confirmed their presence.

The popular inscriptions continue "at a good pace, despite the difficulties that we have faced this edition" as confirmed by the organization. Remember that as in the 2017 season, only those athletes who are federated in triathlon will be able to take part in the event, in compliance with the regulations of the Basque Federation. This will continue to be the case in the editions of 2019 and 2020, as agreed in the federative assembly held last Friday 16 in February. EXTRA MEASURES FOR SECURITY

As part of the quality policy that the Bilbao Triathlon has been implemented since its first edition, will reinforce the traffic control device to maximize the safety of both the participants and the thousands of fans who come to enjoy the test.

All this will be added to the usual device of more than two hundred troops between Fire, Municipal Police, Ertzaintza, Red Cross Civil Protection and volunteers, who ensure the correct development of the test. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION AND FEMALE POTENTIAL

In the absence of the organization announcing in the coming weeks the international poster of professional participants that are going to give appointment the 26 day of May in Bilbao, in this edition will increase substantially the number of triathletes arrived from the British Isles, both with options to fight for victory and popular athletes looking for a weekend of sports tourism of the highest level.

The objective of the organization is focused on enhance foreign participation, For this, it has had high-level triathletes. In recent years we have seen Olympic triathletes in Bilbao such as the Australian Ryan Bailie or the Chilean Bárbara Riveros, both top 10 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, or the winners of the Olympic distance last year such as the Australian Charlotte McShane or the Venezuelan Luis Miguel Velasquez. In the distance Half last year, the European champion, the Slovenian Denis Sketako, the Italian Massimo Cigana, the British Nikki Barlett and Hanna Drewett, the Swiss Emma Bilham, the French Manon Genet and Arthur Orseau among others participated.

Female participation has been another focal point for several editions, which has been answered in the hundred women who took part in the test in the last edition. The exits of the competition will be separated again by sex, but with a longer margin of time to guarantee a cleaner and safer swimming for all. The event will be opened by the participants of the women's Olympic distance that will start at the 13: 25, with 10 minutes after the male participants. The Half female test would go to the 14: 15, with 15 minutes ahead of the male category.

These new margins of departures is one of the great novelties of this edition, and with the growth of female popular participation required an adjustment in times for greater comfort and safety of the test in this sector.

Bilbao Triathlon is a consolidated appointment in the sports calendar from the city. Last year it counted on the participation of 1.200 triathletes from more than fifteen countries and brought together several thousand fans, who witnessed the test throughout the entire journey. The Measure Distance or Half consists of 1.800 meters of swimming, 90 kilometers in bicycle and other 21 more of race; while the Olympic Distance establishes for the same tests a distance of 1.500 meters, 45 and 10 kilometers.

Declarations of Nieves Zabala, Microbiologist of BioTalde, company hired to carry out measurements on the estuary

The microbiologist Nieves Zabala, responsible for Biotalde, laboratory where the analyzes have been carried out, explains that "bathing waters are regulated by a Royal Decree on the management of the quality of bathing waters, where sanitary criteria are established and They classify according to their quality ".

In the specific case of the Ría de Bilbao, it is not registered as a bathing water area, so it is not covered by the legislation and "there is no water control during the bathing season". "Now, there is also no express prohibition on bathing or a recommendation to abstain from it permanently," he says.

Zabala adds that being "uncontrolled waters" means "assuming a moderate risk, as in many other activities that we carry out throughout the day," and therefore "it is advisable to take a series of prevention measures" and since Innevento is something that they have already taken into account.

In any case, "the companies responsible for water activities in the estuary perform a control of the waters, prior to the tests considering the criteria established in the Royal Decree of Bathing Waters". In the case of the Bilbao Triathlon, which this year will be the Euskadi Championship of medium distance triathlon, the 'modus operandi' of the analysis consists of "collecting 4 water samples, analyzing in each of them 4 points of the estuary , considering the area where the test will be carried out, as well as upstream and downstream as they may have an influence on the water quality of the area under study, "the microbiologist specifies. "These controls are carried out based on the criteria established in the RD mentioned.

In addition, a sample has been taken to check the presence / absence of Leptospira bacteria in the bathing area, "he explains. "At the moment a sampling has been carried out that gives us comparable results with some obtained in the bathing waters of beaches of the Biscayan coast during the bathing season", summarizes the Biotalde professional.

Further information: http://bilbaotriathlon.com/