The European Cup in Caorle, Italy, is due to kick off in one month although there is a surprising name on the start list.
Non Stanford, the 2013 world champion, is apparently in line to race. However, the defending European champion retired from elite triathlon at the end of last season.
Could this be the first step of a comeback? That seems unlikely.
For a start, Stanford has since moved on into a coaching position and has not given any indication of being on the verge of returning to competition.
The likelier story is that the British federation entered Stanford with the intention of swapping her out for another athlete.
Ahead of WTCS Yokohama, we have already seen this with Alex Yee entered and then swapped out for Jack Willis. Similarly Flora Duffy was switched for Erica Hawley while Manoel Messias was substituted out for Antonio Bravo Neto.
Moreover Katie Zaferes benefited from a substitution to race WTCS Abu Dhabi this year, as did Gwen Jorgensen at the New Plymouth World Cup.
The logic behind this is for federations to gain slots for athletes that might otherwise not get onto the start line.
Take Stanford. Despite retiring, she still has a world ranking of 66th. On its own, that would be enough to put her on most WTCS start lists, let alone European Cups. Entering her therefore all but secures that slot for Britain. With Stanford not racing, Britain will then be able to enter another athlete in the place Stanford would have taken.
In doing so, they can enter an athlete with a lower performance profile, perhaps a young athlete or even a Junior, that does not have the ranking to yet make the start lists by right.
Of course, in the cases of Willis, Hawley and Bravo Neto, all three have world rankings that would put them on the cusp of making WTCS start lists by right. However it would not be a sure thing. By contrast, the likes of Yee, Duffy and Messias are all ranked inside the global top-8 and would get to start at any race they choose.
The substitution game, then, is a neat trick that enables countries to develop the next generation through the success of its current athletes. In a way, there is a real positive multiplier effect to success in triathlon as success for one athlete can often lead to increased opportunities for a compatriot.
On the flip side, that can be why it is harder for athletes to break through from countries without an established triathlon record. Rather than being substituted in, such aspiring elites would have to earn their way into races by their personal ranking alone.
