So you wanna take up triathlons? But you're not doing it just to make up numbers...you plan to be a contender at the pointy end...a part of the real game. A successful career as a single sport athlete - or even in an alternative multi-sport - has convinced you that you've got the 'engine' to make the transition to triathlon, and to be successful. And now you're asking me whether I think you can make it. The answer is that it depends...
See, triathlons are not as simple as swimming, biking and running. Especially at the elite level it is the fastest triathlete who wins...which might sound obvious, but actually highlights the importance of being a whole triathlete, and not just someone who swims, rides and runs well. Alistair Brownlee is not just the fastest runner in triathlons, he's the fastest triathlete. Chris McCormack is not just the strongest Ironman, he's the best Ironman racer. Chrissie Wellington is not just a phenomenon, she's a supreme triathlete.
The challenge that new triathletes face, regardless of how well they swim or bike or run, is becoming a triathlete who competes in the one, single sport of triathlon rather than 3 sports tacked together. The difference is the fitness, skill, knowledge and experience of being a triathlete...which is not to say someone can't make the transition to being a champion triathlete, but rather that they need to be realistic in their expectations and timeline to success.
Even professional football players who switch between rugby union, league and AFL are not guaranteed of success...and they often have the support and resources of a club behind them. Someone switching to triathlons is usually on their own...let's look a little closer at what is involved.
There's two ways of looking at the transition to triathlons, first is to understand the demands of the events, and second is to assess the ability of athlete making the transition. Also, we'll define successful as being top-20 in the ITU World Championship series, and top-20 in Kona (top-10 for women).
Demands of Triathlons
Triathlons are one sport, not three. The fastest person over the swim, bike, run course is the winner - they don't hand out prizes for individual split times (sorry to all you uber cyclists!!). Being the fastest triathlete also includes transitions, race tactics and the equipment you use...and for longer events, race nutrition. Regardless of the race distance the requirements to be successful have a similar profile - swim fast, ride well, run very fast.
To achieve our definition of success you need to aiming for the following ranges...in a triathlon:
ITU
Swim - 17-18min (men), 18-19min (women)
Run - 30-32min (men), 34-36min (women)
Ironman (Kona times)
Ironman (Kona times)
Swim - 50-52min (men), 54-58min (women)
Bike - 4:30-40hr (men), 4:50-5:10hr (women)
Run - 2:40-3:00hr (men), 2:55-3:15hr (women)
The mistake make athletes make in assessing the criteria to succeed is to forget that these times are in a race, and not stand-alone, and that there's tactics alongside the times - the top triathletes are racing to win so simply just looking at times does not reveal what unfolded during the race. In particular, ITU athletes run a fast first and last km, and in IM the first and last hour on the bike are the hardest (and usually the fastest), and the start of the run.
There's an evolution currently happening in how endurance events are won. Marathons are now a head-to-head race over the last 7km. ITU triathlons come down to the last 2km, and Ironmans are a tactical battle which begins at about 120km into the bike leg. If you're not in position and able to respond at those times, then you're out of contention.
Ability of the Athlete
Great athletes are the ones who adapt to changes in their sport, and how success is achieved. Superstar athletes are ones the who define how to win...look at people like Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Chrissie Wellington. These people were seemingly born into their chosen sports, and set the bar for the field to gradually close in on. Being part of the field requires a high level of talent, ability and experience.
Many successful athletes who consider switching to triathlons have talent and ability, which is to say that these athletes have demonstrated their talent and ability in their first and primary sport, which they have honed over years of specific training. In the book called "Outliers: The Story of Success", author Malcolm Gladwell proposed the "10,000-Hour Rule" which says that it takes 10,000 hours to shape and develop your talent to be a success...whether it be music or sport. Further, the principle of specificity says that your performance is specific to the field in which you practiced / trained.
All this suggests that athletes who switch to triathlons from other sports will need some time to develop their performance - fitness, skill, knowledge, experience, etc - although each athlete will inevitably progress at different rates. The age at which an athlete switches over is also a factor, considering the general age profile of the top triathletes.
Then you need to look at the physical characteristics of the athlete switching to triathlons. Most commonly they will come from the single sports of swimming, riding or running. Each of these sports develop great fitness, however swimming and riding are non-weight bearing so adding running to the program is the wild card that will cause most problems. As Chris McCormack says, swimmers do their shins and bikers blow their knees, which is to say that their metabolic fitness far exceeds their structural fitness. These athletes often fail to acknowledge that, try to train as hard as they did in their single sport and boom, they get injured. Badly.
Having said that, history has shown many swimmers who made a successful transitions to triathlons, not the least of whom includes Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Fewer cyclists have been successful in triathlon, most notable being the late Steve Larsen and Karen Thurig. Runners are even fewer in number, perhaps because of a distinct lack of muscle mass for swimming and riding.
Aside from swimmers, riders and runners, often successful multi-sport athletes make switch to triathlons - adventure racers and surf ironmen. Very few (if any? - Richard Usher perhaps) of these athletes have been successful in triathlons, perhaps mainly because these guys are either built for extreme, multi-day endurance (adventure racers) or built like tanks (surf ironmen).
Summary
Athletes tend to drift into the sport they are most suited to, and which they enjoy most...perhaps because they are suited to it!! It's self selecting. So the best triathletes are self selected into the sport because they match the characteristics required by the sport...and the same for other sports. There's no "right" or "wrong" sport for an athlete, just the choice they make along the way and which then defines them further based on the meeting the demands of the sport.
Switching to triathlons and being successful is certainly possible, but this will depend on many factors and not just the determination of the athlete. Triathlon is a single and complex sport to master in its entirety, which perhaps only those who do the sport really appreciate. To outsiders triathlons appear somewhat of a novelty, with an associated belief that it's something you can do - and master - on a whim. The reality is far different.
The mistake make athletes make in assessing the criteria to succeed is to forget that these times are in a race, and not stand-alone, and that there's tactics alongside the times - the top triathletes are racing to win so simply just looking at times does not reveal what unfolded during the race. In particular, ITU athletes run a fast first and last km, and in IM the first and last hour on the bike are the hardest (and usually the fastest), and the start of the run.
There's an evolution currently happening in how endurance events are won. Marathons are now a head-to-head race over the last 7km. ITU triathlons come down to the last 2km, and Ironmans are a tactical battle which begins at about 120km into the bike leg. If you're not in position and able to respond at those times, then you're out of contention.
Ability of the Athlete
Great athletes are the ones who adapt to changes in their sport, and how success is achieved. Superstar athletes are ones the who define how to win...look at people like Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Chrissie Wellington. These people were seemingly born into their chosen sports, and set the bar for the field to gradually close in on. Being part of the field requires a high level of talent, ability and experience.
Many successful athletes who consider switching to triathlons have talent and ability, which is to say that these athletes have demonstrated their talent and ability in their first and primary sport, which they have honed over years of specific training. In the book called "Outliers: The Story of Success", author Malcolm Gladwell proposed the "10,000-Hour Rule" which says that it takes 10,000 hours to shape and develop your talent to be a success...whether it be music or sport. Further, the principle of specificity says that your performance is specific to the field in which you practiced / trained.
All this suggests that athletes who switch to triathlons from other sports will need some time to develop their performance - fitness, skill, knowledge, experience, etc - although each athlete will inevitably progress at different rates. The age at which an athlete switches over is also a factor, considering the general age profile of the top triathletes.
Then you need to look at the physical characteristics of the athlete switching to triathlons. Most commonly they will come from the single sports of swimming, riding or running. Each of these sports develop great fitness, however swimming and riding are non-weight bearing so adding running to the program is the wild card that will cause most problems. As Chris McCormack says, swimmers do their shins and bikers blow their knees, which is to say that their metabolic fitness far exceeds their structural fitness. These athletes often fail to acknowledge that, try to train as hard as they did in their single sport and boom, they get injured. Badly.
Having said that, history has shown many swimmers who made a successful transitions to triathlons, not the least of whom includes Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Fewer cyclists have been successful in triathlon, most notable being the late Steve Larsen and Karen Thurig. Runners are even fewer in number, perhaps because of a distinct lack of muscle mass for swimming and riding.
Aside from swimmers, riders and runners, often successful multi-sport athletes make switch to triathlons - adventure racers and surf ironmen. Very few (if any? - Richard Usher perhaps) of these athletes have been successful in triathlons, perhaps mainly because these guys are either built for extreme, multi-day endurance (adventure racers) or built like tanks (surf ironmen).
Summary
Athletes tend to drift into the sport they are most suited to, and which they enjoy most...perhaps because they are suited to it!! It's self selecting. So the best triathletes are self selected into the sport because they match the characteristics required by the sport...and the same for other sports. There's no "right" or "wrong" sport for an athlete, just the choice they make along the way and which then defines them further based on the meeting the demands of the sport.
Switching to triathlons and being successful is certainly possible, but this will depend on many factors and not just the determination of the athlete. Triathlon is a single and complex sport to master in its entirety, which perhaps only those who do the sport really appreciate. To outsiders triathlons appear somewhat of a novelty, with an associated belief that it's something you can do - and master - on a whim. The reality is far different.
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