Triathlon

What is a triathlon? Fundamentally we are looking at three sports, done in direct succession with a small transition between each to change clothing and equipment. The sports involved are Swimming, Cycling and Running in that order. The distances involved are:-

Super Sprint 250-400 metre swim - 10 Kilometre bike – 2.5 kilometres run

Sprint 400 - 750 metre swim – 20 kilometre bike – 5 kilometres run

Olympic 1500 metre swim – 40 kilometre bike – 10 kilometre run

Half Ironman 1900 metre swim – 90 kilometre bike – 21.9 kilometre run (Half Marathon)

Ironman 3800 metre swim – 180 kilometre bike – 42.2 kilometre run (Marathon)

Though there can be some variation in race distances, particularly among short triathlons, most triathlons conform to one of those above standards. The swimming section can be in either a pool or open water.

There is also variety in Children’s Triathlon and this tends to work in age groups as follows:-

 

  • Tristar - 8 years
     
  • Tristar 1 - 9/10 years
     
  • Tristar 2 - 11/12 years
     
  • Tristar 3 – 13/14 years
     
  • Youth – 15/16 years
     
  • Junior - 17/18 years
     

 

The main difference between these and the adult version of the sport is that the swimming section normally take place in a heated swimming pool (although open water events in children’s triathlon are being introduced) and the bike and run take place on grass or tarmac in a traffic free environment. The distances vary from 50 metre swims, 800 metres cycling and 600 metres running to 400 metres swimming, 10 kilometres cycling and 2.4 kilometres running.