USA Triathlon Is Here to Answer Your Questions About Its Athlete Recruitment Program & Runners Becoming Triathletes(Partner)

Thanks for the intro, Weldon! The LetsRun.com community is a passionate bunch and I'm excited to tap into the far reaching influence that your readers have. I, too, would love to find our next Olympic medalist through Letsrun.com! Gwen has represented herself, USA and triathlon with class, a thankful heart, and generosity in these last 7 years. I won't begin to pontificate on her future in marathon. You all know what it takes more than I do to make an Olympic team in marathon, let alone win a Gold. I do know that she will add value, bring her professionalism, and dedicate all to marathon. But this thread is not about looking back; it's about looking forward! I would love to answer questions about triathlon and share more about the opportunities that triathlon can bring to a runner with a swimming background.

I can’t swim.

Can you give Meb a call?

Are you working with collegiate triathletes currently (i.e. collegiate students participating in Triathlon in the club format at events such as USAT collegiate club nationals)?

Barb Lindquist has one of most respected resumes in the sport. She's about as humble as they come. Won the single largest prize purse in the sport, not once but twice, at Lifetime Fitness' Equalizer. $500k. Oh yeah, she is an Olympian herself. That's only scratching the surface on her list of wins during her career. USAT found themselves a winner to create this program. And, it's already produced an Olympic Gold Medalist.

Background: Male, 27. Swam in high school, never really high mileage, 2-4 x training a week. No idea about times, but think I was talented. Started running for fun during college and got down to a sub 15 minute 5k and 2:30 marathon on 70-90 mpw.

Multiple questions:

(1) What running times would be good for a runner who can swim?

(2) What swimming times would you expect to label a runner as "can swim"?

(3) How does pool swimming translate to open water?

(4) I've never sat on a racing bike. Is it hard to learn? What are some factors that predict bike talent if you've never tried?

(5) I'm pretty big (large and relatively heavy for my times) for a runner. Would that be less of a problem in triathlon?

(6) Which triathlon distance should I start on? I feel like I'm better at the longer running stuff (marathon) - but the Ironman distance puts more focus on the bike leg, which would probably be my weakest. Olympic distance?

(7) How does one start the transition?

Hi Barb, thanks for stopping by here to answer questions. I'm a post collegiate runner who is curious about triathlon, but I find the sport prohibitively expensive . I'm a graduate student making little money. I can get the running shoes and gear I need through an arrangement with a local running shop. But the equipment required for triathlon seems way out of reach for me, not to mention the necessary travel and high registration costs for races.

What is your organization doing to make your sport affordable to those without high incomes, and how can people get connected with any such efforts? What would you suggest that a 23 year old who is aerobically talented but budgetarily limited do if he wants to get into a sport that seems simply too rich for his blood at the moment?

currentcollegiatetriathlete wrote:

Are you working with collegiate triathletes currently (i.e. collegiate students participating in Triathlon in the club format at events such as USAT collegiate club nationals)?

I'm glad you have already found the sport of triathlon! Sometimes there are former NCAA runners or swimmers who don't complete their 4 years of eligibility with their school and find triathlon on their own. If you are one of these athletes, I'd still want to start a conversation to see how else the CRP can speed up your transition to the elite level of triathlon. If you haven't met either our run or swim A standards (for the run this is 14:10 and 16:20 5k's for men and women) and are more well-rounded as a triathlete already, then you probably don't fall under the purpose of the CRP.

John B wrote:

Hi Barb, thanks for stopping by here to answer questions. I'm a post collegiate runner who is curious about triathlon, but I find the sport prohibitively expensive . I'm a graduate student making little money. I can get the running shoes and gear I need through an arrangement with a local running shop. But the equipment required for triathlon seems way out of reach for me, not to mention the necessary travel and high registration costs for races.

What is your organization doing to make your sport affordable to those without high incomes, and how can people get connected with any such efforts? What would you suggest that a 23 year old who is aerobically talented but budgetarily limited do if he wants to get into a sport that seems simply too rich for his blood at the moment?

Hi John, Thanks for the question about the costs of the sport. It can be overwhelming to think about all the gear you need to toe the line in a race, especially if you are looking at the triathlon magazines! $10k bikes and $1k wetsuits, oh my!

I'd first like to answer the question as if I was in the shoes of someone your age and I was NOT going to pursue triathlon as an elite or follow the Olympic dream. For this athlete, I'd not get wrapped up in all the latest and greatest gear and instead focus on the basics. At the start of triathlon, quality of equipment (to a degree) is not going to be your limiter-- training, skills and experience will be. See if your school has a cycling club and get in on their loop. Someone is always selling a bike. I'd buy a road bike and put on TT bars. This bike will be easier to resell when/if you get to a point where your bike is a limiter. Skip the race wheels and aerohelmet. Race in your jammers instead of buying a one piece suit. Rent a wetsuit instead of buying one. Race local and pick one bigger race to drive to a year to compare yourself to others. Go old school and grassroots to get yourself to the start line!

At the beginning level of the sport, for collegiate recruits who we see Olympic potential in (through college run times and swim tests), we do have some USAT sponsor gear that we can loan to an athlete, including Litespeed bikes, Roka wetsuits, and race suits. We can also subsidize coaching fees and provide travel reimbursement to some races, on top of paying for camps. Not every athlete who gets loaner gear makes it, so it's a way we help take some of the bigger ticket items off the table while both parties are seeing how far the athlete can go in the race. An athlete still has costs and skin in the game obviously.

I hope that helps. To summarize, if you're in the Olympic potential pool, we'll work with you to help get you to the start line!

Barb - for HS kids looking at college scholarships for running or swimming, you're competing with them. Are you aware of college tri programs which provide 'in the ballpark' scholarships? It'd be great for you to list them.

Hi Barb - Can we just make Paulo Sousa the head triathlon coach for the US? He's done an amazing job with his squad.

John B wrote:

Hi Barb, thanks for stopping by here to answer questions. I'm a post collegiate runner who is curious about triathlon, but I find the sport prohibitively expensive . I'm a graduate student making little money. I can get the running shoes and gear I need through an arrangement with a local running shop. But the equipment required for triathlon seems way out of reach for me, not to mention the necessary travel and high registration costs for races.

What is your organization doing to make your sport affordable to those without high incomes, and how can people get connected with any such efforts? What would you suggest that a 23 year old who is aerobically talented but budgetarily limited do if he wants to get into a sport that seems simply too rich for his blood at the moment?

Figure it out yourself or do another sport. Be responsible.

Hey Barb,

My situation is that I am currently a junior in college and running track/xc. Last year as a sophomore I ran 14:44 which, as I read on the website is not fast enough as you are looking for a 14:10, but I do think by my last year of track racing I would get down to around that time. On your website I was reading the collegiate swim standards and saw that you look for a swimmer who can swim 5:05 in the 500 after swimming 52 for a 100. In high school I was a swimmer and I swam 5:04 my senior year and split a 54 in a 4x100 free relay.

Assuming I reach a the 14:10 standard, are you then looking for someone who trains on their own to meet the 52/5:05 splits or, by reaching the 14:10, would I be considered a "Bona Fide Recruit" as described on your website?

Thanks!!

Are visors and sunglasses required?

Interesting to see where my membership dues end up.

For a distance runner that has run under your 14:10 qualifying mark what would you consider a reasonable time to swim a 1500 in to be under your "background in swimming" category?

[quote]ex lifeguard wrote:

Background: Male, 27. Swam in high school, never really high mileage, 2-4 x training a week. No idea about times, but think I was talented. Started running for fun during college and got down to a sub 15 minute 5k and 2:30 marathon on 70-90 mpw.

Multiple questions:

(1) What running times would be good for a runner who can swim?

(2) What swimming times would you expect to label a runner as "can swim"?

I'm going to take your questions in smaller chunks! For a male runner, we are looking for times in the 3:49 (1500m) to 14:10 (5000m). That may sound fast to some, but considering the best in the world are running sub 29' off the bike, the bar is high. The swim times for a runner who "can swim" do take into consideration many factors such as recent time in the water and what your HS times were. If you haven't touched water in 10 years, for example, my answer would be a little different than if you've been able to swim 2x/wk through college. If you were doing a cold turkey swim test (100yd, 1' rest, 500yd, both from a push not dive) and swam close to a minute for the 100 and then 6:15 for the 500, I'd definitely want to see where your swim could go with training and video analysis. In the interim for a second swim test, I'd give you swimming workouts and would ask for video so that I could tailor drills to work on technique issues. I can tell a lot from swim video, whether an athlete has "feel" for the water and whether there is a lot of time being left on the table due to easy fixes with technique. Just for our female readers, we are looking a 4:23 (1500m) to 16:20 (5000m) with a cold turkey swim test of 1:10 and 6:40.

[quote]ex lifeguard wrote:

Background: Male, 27. Swam in high school, never really high mileage, 2-4 x training a week. No idea about times, but think I was talented. Started running for fun during college and got down to a sub 15 minute 5k and 2:30 marathon on 70-90 mpw.

Multiple questions:

(3) How does pool swimming translate to open water?

(4) I've never sat on a racing bike. Is it hard to learn? What are some factors that predict bike talent if you've never tried?

Tackling your second questions here... at a basic level, definitely we need to train in a pool even though we race open water (OW). I was a swimmer at Stanford and I will tell you that my first year of racing elite I was beat out of the water on numerous occasions by racers who I could have smacked around in the pool. They just had more OW experience that I didn't have growing up in Wyoming! So it took me a year to figure out the nuances of OW swimming. Turns can make a huge difference either way in our 100/500 swim test. We have actually developed an OW swim test which can be done in a pool in order to help take this variable out. It's basically a triangle swim around 3 buoys, which not only takes the turn out, it also tests the ability to generate speed from an almost dead stop. Swim stroke is a little different OW vs. in a pool, needing to have more turnover vs. longer and smoother. But for initial testing purposes, we use the pool.

Is the racing bike hard to learn... a road bike (what is used for draft-legal racing) is much easier to learn to ride than a Time Trial (triathlon) bike (where you are in the aerobars and your weight is forward on the bike, making steering more difficult). When you think of triathlon and skills work needed, the swim and run come to mind first. Everyone knows how to ride a bike, right! We feel if an athlete has an engine and is "athletic", the bike is teachable. Skills work with riding on grass or going to a parking lot can be super fun. Having good balance (that's the athleticism we look for), a bit of fearlessness (riding 25mph in a swimsuit with riders all around you is not for the faint of heart), and a good power to weight ratio (for accelerations out of turns) are some of the factors that can affect your success on the bike.

ex lifeguard wrote:

Background: Male, 27. Swam in high school, never really high mileage, 2-4 x training a week. No idea about times, but think I was talented. Started running for fun during college and got down to a sub 15 minute 5k and 2:30 marathon on 70-90 mpw.

Multiple questions:

(5) I'm pretty big (large and relatively heavy for my times) for a runner. Would that be less of a problem in triathlon?

(6) Which triathlon distance should I start on? I feel like I'm better at the longer running stuff (marathon) - but the Ironman distance puts more focus on the bike leg, which would probably be my weakest. Olympic distance?

(7) How does one start the transition?

Onto the last set of your questions!

Size... triathletes do come in all shapes and sizes, though like most things at the extremes of very small or very big there are fewer success stories. There are successful elites 6ft +, but most are built lean like a runner. Going back to the question about the bike, I mentioned power to weight ratio. The heavier you are, the more power you'll need to generate on the bike. Sometimes there can be more awkwardness on the bike for larger athletes, but if you are athletic, it's probably something you've been negotiating your whole life. In the water, it's an advantage to take up more space! You'll get beat up less.

I feel strongly that if you haven't done a triathlon, start with the sprint (750swim/20k bike/5k run), even if you think your sweet spot will be longer. You can learn so much from shorter racing without having as big of a training or monetary (entry fee) commitment. And you can race more often! The Olympic distance is still a 2hr race (comparable to marathon about) and obviously doesn't have the bias towards the bike like the Ironman. There's something in cycling called "old man strength", where years on the bike do matter. At 27, you still have plenty of time to start shorter and move up in distance. I'm biased, of course, but longer (Ironman) doesn't necessarily mean harder. If you do an Olympic distance right, man, it's a huge challenge to hover at that red line.

Thanks for all the great questions, and please feel free to email me if you want more in depth answers.