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ABOUT TRIATHLON

What is Triathlon?

Triathlon has come a long way since its beginnings in 1974 when a group of friends began to train together. The group consisted of swimmers, cyclists and runners, and before long they were organising competitions combining the three sports.

Triathlon is an exciting multi-discipline sport involving a continuous race over various distances in the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. A standard triathlon is made up of a swim, followed by a cycle ride, followed by a run.

British Triathlon Membership

The British Triathlon Federation, is the sports governing body and there are good benefits to joining.

Members join their Home Nations section - in the case of Jetstream members, this is Triathlon England.

Being a club member entitles you to Home Nation membership at a reduced cost.

Benefits include:-

  • Worldwide personal accident cover
  • Public liability cover while training & racing
  • No day membership fees when entering races
  • Eligibility to apply to join the GB Age Group Teams
  • Annual Handbook & subscription to TriNews.

Follow this link to join Triathlon England.

 

Triathlon race distances

Adult races fall into the following categories, although individaul events can vary from these standards:-

  Swim Cycle Run
SUPERSPRINT 400m 10km 3km
SPRINT 750m 20km 5km
OLYMPIC/STANDARD 1500m 40km 10km
HALF IRONMAN/MIDDLE DISTANCE 1900m 90km 21.1km
IRONMAN/IRON DISTANCE 3800km 180km 42.2km

Junior races are classified according to age. The following distances are the maximum which should be raced over:-

  Age Swim Cycle (on grass) Cycle (on tarmac) Run
TRISTAR START 8 yrs 50m 800m 1.5km 600m
TRISTAR 1 9/10 yrs 150m 2km 4km 1.2km
TRISTAR 2 11/12 yrs 200m 4km 6km 1.8km
TRISTAR 3 13/14 yrs 300m 6km 8km 2.4km
YOUTH 15/16 yrs 400m   20km 5km

Competition Status

Triathletes fall into two categories - Elite, the professional triathletes who compete at an international level, and Age Group - triathletes who are non-professional. The Age Group system allows you to compete against other triathlete entrants of the same age (within a five year band) and sex. Triathlon and duathlon World Championships give all triathletes the chance to enter - they have an Age Group category as well as an elite category.

Great Britain can enter 20 women and 20 men in each Age Group - that's a total of over 300 competitors flying the British flag. This provides opportunity and incentive to athletes who have never considered competing at an international level.