USA Triathlon - Perplexed!

TrackCoach wrote:

Why can't we take a few NCAA all-Americans in cross, who are unlikely to make a national team and train them for the tri?

I'm pretty sure USA triathlon does exactly that

"Wow I finished 4th in my age group in my local Turkey Trot while wearing trainers, the guy who won told me I could have finished second if I simply wore racing flats and added a third day to my training plan!"

I forgot to add that I enjoyed watching the event, it was every bit as exciting as a track race. Any runner who has never watched a tri, I suggest you check it out, it is definitely entertaining. And, the USA athletes were game and did well, but the tri just seems like an event we can win.

USA Triathlon has a staff member dedicated to recruiting athletes from the single sport into triathlon. Often a college runner with some sort of swim background.

So the American women are really good, and are perennial threats to win races and take podiums. With Gwen Jorgensen moving on, there's been a small drop off for the top US women, but they aren't doing badly at all. It's more just that Flora Duffy has been crushing it most of this season.

As far as the men go, it's a fair question. We have some really good talent though and Matt McElroy seems to be breaking out

and will hopefully take one of the ITU races soon. It's really difficult to win these races, though. Between Mola, Murray, and a few of the younger guys, they can absolutely fly.

As far as the development goes, I think the fact that good swimmers in the US generally swim throughout childhood and don't do track (and vice versa) makes it difficult to develop world class talent. Triathlon is still a niche sport so it's not on many people's radar. However, it's making good strides; many states have high school championships, USAT has programs to develop junior elites, etc. I am nowhere near the level of an ITU athlete, but I've noticed that the level of competition has increased greatly over the past decade. 10 years ago, it was a big deal that the Collegiate National champion broke 2 hours at the Olympic distance. Nowadays, it's the mark of a good, but not exceptional, college triathlete, with the top guys at least 10 minutes faster. It was really cool to watch that progression take place, and I only expect it to continue.

Although I have only done one tri, I have been to a lot of tris, swimming and bike events as a photographer. What I have noticed is there isn't much diversity (economic), the equipment cost and the events are 2 and 3 times the cost of a running event. I've met recreational triathletes who have $10K invested in equipment and travel several states away to compete on a regular basis. The things the U.S. is good at have strong grassroots programs. Can U.S. runners become great at the tri without a decade of cycling and swimming muscle memory the European and Oceania athletes have? Are there any youth or high school tri teams?

You sound like the guy who said he beat Galen at Boston this yr cause Galen DNFed. People are dilusional. Quit trying to find a way to toot your own horn.

you suck dude wrote:

You sound like the guy who said he beat Galen at Boston this yr cause Galen DNFed. People are dilusional. Quit trying to find a way to toot your own horn.

Everyone who finished Boston this year did beat Galen.

awesdfasdfads wrote:

"Wow I finished 4th in my age group in my local Turkey Trot while wearing trainers, the guy who won told me I could have finished second if I simply wore racing flats and added a third day to my training plan!"

+1

Matt McElroy anchored the US Mixed Relay team to 2nd place. He was a pretty decent collegiate runner. The top US woman was 6th. Until recently she held the steeple and indoor 5000m records at Syracuse. The 3rd US woman ran XC at Georgetown. What was your point again, besides getting the overall results totally wrong?

USA Triathlon is doing ok. Katie Zaferes is leading the World Triathlon Series, Matt McElroy is coming from the best result for a US male in a long time (11th at the most competitive race race of the season-WTS Hamburg) and Team USA finished on the podium for every MR of the year. We even won a World Series Mixed Relay;

https://youtu.be/B4LHN6GeTF4

That's an excellent point. Triathlon is extremely expensive which is a serious problem to be addressed if we ever want to really compete on the world stage. For junior elites, the costs are a little bit less than for age groupers. The biggest expense is generally a time trial bike, but draft legal events don't allow these, so one uses a road bike.

In a peloton, the difference between a $10K bike and a solid used road bike is greatly diminished, so you can't just buy speed like in the non-drafting distances. Still, wetsuits are expense, trisuits are expensive, and all the other costs quickly add up. My collegiate team had a bunch of bikes that we allowed people to use, as well as some old trisuits. We would also let people borrow any spare wetsuits we had lying around. This helped offset the costs, but it definitely is not a cheap sport.

As far as high school teams go, I know there are high school championships. I'm not sure if those are just individual kids who swim and run with their schools and bike on their own or if it is a genuine high school sport now.

Live is too short to just sit and watch something

All fair points, triathlon is a very expensive sport.

But you're currently the somewhere between 11 and 13th richest country in the world (GDP per capita) depending which measure you believe so you have an advantage compared to most.

So here's the thing: if you know where to look, you can really keep those costs down without much compromise on quality. I've been doing triathlons for long enough on a modest income that I've figured out all the tricks. For instance, with $1250, you could get this:

Used entry level TT bike: $600

Used entry-level front aero wheel: $150

Rear wheel disc cover: $50

Used aero-helmet: $50

Entry-level bike shoes: $100

Bike miscellany (pump, tools, water bottle, tire levers, spare tubes, lube): $100

Trisuit: $50

Used entry-level wetsuit: $50

Goggles: $15

Running shoes: $85

This may still seem expensive, but bear in mind that this is almost all the bells-and-whistles that you see with your typical loaded middle-aged triathlete. With this level of gear, you will be barely held back versus even Mr. $10,000 bike with $3,000 wheels.

But the problem is nobody who is just starting out would possibly know how to get all these deals, or even what to purchase. It's not like some poor kid wants to start in the sport, and their parents know all the best ways to get the best bang for their buck on race wheels. It would take say a year in the sport to realize how to navigate the equipment aspect without breaking the bank, and poor kids surely don't get that chance.

Here's what I would *actually* recommend for a true beginner Total is $480, which assumes that for instance the person doesn't already have running shoes or a road bike.

Used road bike with flat pedals or cages: $200

Helmet: $30

Bike miscellany (pump, tools, water bottle, tire levers, spare tubes, lube): $100

Trisuit: $50

Goggles: $15

Running shoes: $85

You're definitely going to lose to people you shouldn't with this setup, but if you've got elite talent, you'll kick ass anyway, and people will notice you.

Triathlon definitely has an expense problem, but along with that it has an information problem.

You finished fourth in your age group that had seven racers in your age group. And most of which were "dudes from the office" who decided to do a triathlon. You must be proud. You should go pro.

It is a matter of putting all three together in a race. Just because you are the best at one doesn't mean you can do the others. Even if you are a great swimmer and take it easy on the swim, you still need to be a quality biker and runner.

Plus biking at that level takes some skill and tactics. We do have really high level women but most of them are weaker on the bike. I am not sure why our men are not better, I think it may be because many of them don't have triathlon background, but even the ones that do aren't near the top.

Those are all good points, and there is definitely an information gap. I think that a kid who wants to go fast enough to be a junior elite needs at least your first set up (although they should get a new helmet for safety). There are a lot of fast kids who cannot put $1250 towards a sport, not counting race fees and maintenance. I think if clubs had the infrastructure to lend bikes to new-comers and teach them the ropes, we could start to steal some of the better athletes from swimming and running and hopefully develop them as triathletes.

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I don't think that there are many high school athletes who can race on a $200 road bike in a non-drafting race anywhere near fast enough to get noticed. If they are dropping crazy swim and run splits they might get some attention, but they are likely going to be well off the front of any reasonably sized race, even with a lot of talent.

The difference between placing well in your age group versus being able to compete in the ITU is the difference between being able to run a 21 minute vs a sub 13 minute 5k. By the time you are against serious triathletes, anyone who can easily outrun them is going to be far behind after T2 and won't be in contention.