Brownlee cranks up the heat ahead of triathlon in Singapore

The heat is on, literally, for British triathlete Jonathan Brownlee as he tries to get used to warm conditions ahead of the Singapore leg of the Super League Triathlon next month.

Brownlee, who won a bronze at the London Olympics in 2012 and followed it up with a silver at Rio 2016, converted a room in his house into a heat chamber, where temperatures can be raised up to 35 deg C.

Knowing that coping with the heat is his weakness  – he had to be helped over the finish line by his older brother and fellow triathlete Alistair during a sweltering race in Mexico in 2016 – he trains on an exercise bike and treadmill in the artificially heated environment three times a week.

He will also be going to Thailand to acclimatise before coming here for the Feb 23-24 race at One15 Marina on Sentosa.

Brownlee said in a phone interview: “I’ve got a conservatory, it’s like a glass room and I’ve converted that into a heat chamber.

“So I’ve put some heaters in there and at home in the UK at the moment, it’s like 3 or 4 degrees (Celsius) outside, so in my heat chamber... I can get it to 30, 35 degrees and I can exercise in there on a special bike and a treadmill to try and get used to the heat.

“So yeah, that’s what I’m doing, so hopefully by the time I get to Singapore, I’ll be ready for the heat.”

The Singapore leg is one of several venues for the Super League Triathlon series, which started its first official season in Jersey in September and has held stops in Malta and Mallorca. It will move on to Bali next month.

It features five formats (triple mix, eliminator, equaliser, sprint enduro and enduro) in races shorter than the traditional Olympic distance of a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run.

The Singapore stop will see Brownlee and the likes of Commonwealth Games champion Henri Schoeman of South Africa battle it out in the eliminator and enduro formats.

The eliminator comprises three rounds of swim-bike-run, with a 10-minute break between each round.

The top 15 will reach the second round, and the top 10 will make the final round.

FORMAT

The enduro features three continuous rounds of 300m swim, 5km bike ride and 1.6km run. The slowest duo at the end of each discipline will be eliminated.

Brownlee is certainly taking it seriously. He is currently fourth in the overall standings and he’s hoping that a win here would take him to a podium spot.

He said: “For me, to win the overall series is very, very difficult now. Because I’m sitting in fourth place, so the perfect play for me would be to win in Singapore and get a third place on the overall board and Super League podium.”

Members of the public can also join in the fun by signing up for the 2.5km Fun Run, racing on the same course as the professionals. Each entry to the Fun Run gets you $50 worth of goodies. Sign up at superleaguetriathlon.com