NEW TO TRIATHLON

Welcome to the sport of Triathlon! You will find information in this area which we hope will help you get started on the road to your first triathlon.

WHO CAN DO A TRIATHLON?

Anyone can do a triathlon. If you’re in search of fitness and looking for a rewarding challenge, Triathlon is for you.

WHAT IS A TRIATHLON?

Triathlon is a modern, exciting and endurance sport – for all abilities and ages. Individual athletes complete a swimming segment, followed by a cycling and a running segment, with the clock running from the beginning of the swim through each transition to the end of the run. The two transitions are the points in the race when competitors change from swimming to cycling, and from cycling to running. The event can also be completed by a relay team (a great way to get started!).

TRIATHLON DISTANCES

Triathlons come in various distances which are:

Try-a-Tri: 250m swim, 6km cycle, 3km run
Sprint : 750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run
Standard: 1500m swim, 40km cycle, 10km run
Middle: 1900m swim, 90km cycle, 21.1km run
Long : 3800m swim, 180k cycle, 42.2k run

WHAT AGE MUST YOU BE TO COMPETE IN A PARTICULAR DISTANCE TRIATHLON/DUATHLON/AQUATHLON ?

TRIATHLON:
Note: All ages noted refer to the age of the child on 31st December of the race year.
These age restrictions apply whether you compete as an individual or as part of a relay team. If you are 15 years of under there are lots of events suitable for you also.

Triathlon	Swim	Bike	Run	Minimum Age Required
Sprint	750m	20km	5km	16
Standard	1500m	40km	10km	18
Middle	1900m	90km	21km	18
Long	3.8km	180km	42.2km	18

DUATHLON:
Note: All ages noted refer to the age of the child on 31st December of the race year.
These age restrictions apply whether you compete as an individual or as part of a relay team.

Duathlon	Run	Bike	Run	Minimum Age Required
Sprint	5km	20km	2.5km	16
Standard	10km	40km	5km	18
Long	20km	80km	10km	18

AQUATHLON:
Note: All ages noted refer to the age of the child on 31st December of the race year.
These age restrictions apply whether you compete as an individual or as part of a relay team.

Aquathlon	Run	Swim	Run	Minimum Age Required
Standard	2.5km	1km	2.5km	16
Standard (cold waters)		1km	5km	18
Long	5km	2km	5km	18
Long (cold waters)		2km	10km	18

WHY DO TRIATHLONS?

We’ve found that Triathlon is a great sport for people as it’s very accessible, you don’t need to be super fit. It has great variety as you’re not always doing the same thing. It tends to attract social friendly types and fits in well with a variety of lifestyles. It’s also a fantastic challenge and a great sense of achievement whether you’ve just completed your 1st or 50th race.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED TO START?

You don’t have to go out and spend a fortune when preparing for your first triathlon, but there are some basics you will need. They are:

Swim: swimming togs, goggles, hat, wetsuit (it is compulsory to wear a wetsuit in all open sea swims)
Cycle: basic bike – mountain, hybrid or racer. Helmet, you will not be allowed to race without one.
Run: runners
Other: trisuit (makes transitions from swim to bike easier and more comfortable to race in)

Once you have done a race or two, you may want to upgrade to a better bike, get a faster wetsuit and buy better runners.

WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

Don’t worry too much about what to wear, especially for your first tri.
There are triathlon specific apparel such as a trisuit you can wear, but for your first race, togs for the swim, Shirt/Jersey and shorts for the bike and run, whatever is in the back of the wardrobe!!!

Just remember guys (and girls too!!!) you must have your chest covered during the cycle and run.
A wetsuit must be worn for all open water swims.

I CAN’T SWIM, WHAT CAN I DO?

Try a relay team
Try a duathlon
Reach out to one of our swim coaches for private lessons (details on Meet the Coaches page)

WHO WILL I TRAIN WITH?

Join a Triathlon Club, or start one with our help. By joining a Triathlon Club, you will have others to training with, meet new people and benefit from the advice of more experienced triathletes.

HOW PARENTS CAN FIT TRAINING AROUND FAMILY?

Train with other parents and share babysitting
Children love to cycle beside their parents running
Use jogging buggy for baby
Involve children with our Junior events and Academy Days
Many clubs now have junior sections

WHAT IS A DUATHLON?

You may hear from time to time about a Duathlon. A Duathlon is similar to a Triathlon, but the swim leg is replaced by another run leg, so it becomes a run, cycle, run race. Like Triathlon, there are varying distances.

IN IRELAND, THE MOST COMMON DISTANCES ARE:

3.5km run, 16km cycle, 3.5km run (non-standard distance) or;
5km run, 20km cycle, 2.5km run (ITU sprint distance) or;
10km run, 40km cycle, 5km run (ITU standard distance)

WHAT IS AN AQUATHLON?

An Aquathlon is similar to a Triathlon, but without the bike leg. So it becomes a swim and run race. Again, just like Triathlons and Duathlons, there are varying distances. However, the distances are normally of sprint distance.

WHAT IS TRANSITION?

Transition is the term used to describe the changeover between the individual segments of a Triathlon, Duathlon or Aquathlon.

TRANSITION 1 (ALSO KNOWN AS T1) OCCURS BETWEEN THE:

swim and cycle in a triathlon
first run and cycle in a duathlon
swim and run in an aquathlon

TRANSITION 2 (ALSO KNOWN AS T2) OCCURS BETWEEN THE:

cycle and run in a triathlon
cycle and second run in a duathlon

HOW MUCH TRAINING SHOULD I DO?

How much training you need to do before your first triathlon depends on you. It depends on what level of fitness you are at in all three disciplines and it depends on what your goals are – do you want to do a sprint, a standard, middle or full distance? Do you want to be competitive or just be able to finish the race?
To give yourself something to aim for, enter a triathlon some months ahead. Choose a race you think you can finish, and prepare adequately. By race day you should be able to go the full distance of each event in training.

WHICH RACE SHOULD I CHOOSE FOR MY FIRST RACE?

It is good to pick a race and set yourself a target to aim for. Be positive and pick an upcoming race. There are over 170 different races on the Triathlon Ireland calendar, in all corners of the country.