Heather Fell: With three different disciplines and two transitions, there is a lot to learn
when it comes to triathlon, it's no surprise that the rule book is pretty full, too. Today,
we're going to be outlining everything you need to know to get from the start
to the finish without falling foul of the referees.
[music] Let's start at the beginning with
swim rules, and one of the more obvious ones is water temperature. Now, the majority of races for
age group athletes will be wetsuit-legal, you'll be allowed to weigh your wetsuit. However, do know
that pool swims allow no wetsuits, whatever. There are a few cutoff temperatures to be aware of.
For sprint and Olympic distance events, wetsuits are allowed in water up to 22 degrees or
71 Fahrenheit, and for longer distances up to Ironman, you may wear a wetsuit,
as long as the temperature is below 24.5 degrees or 76 Fahrenheit. Generally, as a replacement to
the wetsuit, athletes will simply just wear their tri-suit or potentially a swim skin
over the top of their tri-suit, and this is obviously not allowed to have any neoprene in it,
and it is worth noting that if you're someone who usually wears calf guards
under your wetsuit, you can't use them if you're not using a wetsuit, basically,
whenever you're wearing must finish just above your elbows and just above your knees.
It's also worth noting that professional athletes actually have a lower cutoff than age groupers. If
you see the pros are walking around in their swim skins ahead of your race, don't panic,
it might well still be wetsuit-legal for you, but it's a good idea the night before to
find out what the water temperature is, and you'll know if you need to be prepared for it to change,
and they'll normally make the final announcement an hour or so before your race. Believe it or not,
there is actually a cutoff for lower temperatures. Some people choose not to wear a wetsuit when
they don't have to, although most people would prefer the buoyancy from it.
If the water is 14 degrees or colder, then you have to wear a wetsuit. Regarding kit,
there are a few specifics that you need to be aware of. For example,
a wetsuit can't be more than 5 millimeters thick, which, if you're using a triathlon-specific one,
you won't find any that thick, anyway. If you are, say, borrowing a surfing wetsuit,
it's just something you need to be aware of. Then when it comes to swim caps, they're usually
provided by the race organizer, and you'll have to wear this on the outside. I say on
the outside you are still allowed to wear your own cap underneath if you want to. If
you want a silicone cap underneath, or if it's fairly cold, you can actually wear neoprene cap
underneath and then the race cap over the top. Talking of cold conditions, if it is 14 degrees or
under, where wetsuits become mandatory, then you are allowed to wear some sort of neoprene booty
or sock. Sometimes you're allowed gloves, but that's normally only in extremely cold triathlons,
and always check with the race organizers. Finally, you're not adding any extra pieces
of kit, which probably isn't a surprise, that you can't have paddles, or fins, or music,
or a metronome. Basically, it just needs to be you, your wetsuit and your swim cap.
Now, into the transition area, and there are quite a few vital rules to learn here. The first one
being the helmet rule. Make sure you've put your helmet on and got it done up before you remove
your bike from the bike rack, and the same goes at the other end. When you bring your bike back in
to transition, make sure it's racked and fully supported before you undo your helmet strap
and take your helmet off, that's just a vital role.
Another really important one is to remember the mount and dismount lines, you can push your bike
through the transition area, but you cannot get on it until you've passed the mount line.
Now, there'll usually be plenty of official standing there, and the line is pretty clear,
but it's still a good idea to check the day before or that morning exactly where that line is,
and even more so the dismount line, because you might be coming in quite fast thinking about
your transition, and that line can creep up on you pretty quickly. You need to make sure you have got
off your bike before you cross over that line. Then there's your actual kit that you have in
transition. Each event will differ depending on the organizer. Ironman, for example, have actual
transition bags where you put all your kit in, and that's normally at a separate area away
from your bike, whereas smaller events sometimes will even provide you with a box,
or you simply put your stuff on the ground, but it's up to you to respect your neighbor's space
and make sure you keep your kit tidy. You're also not allowed to have anything that stands out or is
too obvious so it makes it unfair for you to be able to find your bike more easily than others.
Onto the bike now. This is the largest portion of the triathlon event, and as a result, there's
more rules to remember here. The first up is safety, when it comes to your bike. You need
to make sure it's in good working order as much for yourself as for the organizer. As you come
into the bike racking area, there'll usually be someone just checking that your bike is working
properly and that your front and your back brakes are in good condition. Should you suffer with
any mechanicals out on the course while it's thought that you should be self-sufficient,
making sure you're carrying enough spares for anything basic, such as a puncher,
and also having the skills to repair it. The majority of age group triathlons are
non-drafting. Therefore, you need to be aware of the drafting distance, and it's measured from the
front wheel of your bike to the front wheel of the bike in front of you. It's usually a minimum of
10 meters for short distance events, and it goes up to 12 meters on the long-distance events,
but it is always worth checking the rules because it can be as little as 7,
right up to 20 meters for that distance. You know that, but then you need to, obviously,
sometimes overtake people, and this is where it gets a little bit tricky. It's a good idea
to imagine a box, you've got the length of the box, but the box is also 1.5 to 2 meters wide.
When you go to overtake somebody, you're going to be entering into this box. In theory,
you've got to keep progressing forwards, and you have 20 seconds when it's a short distance race
or 25 seconds, when it's a long-distance race in which to from entering the box
to pass the rider in front of you. This is what the draft busters will
be looking for. The referees out on the motorbike, we'll be keeping an eye potentially even looking
at the clock as you're overtaking someone to make sure that you're not tucking in or taking
advantage of that rider in front of you, and it's really worth being aware of this rule because you
will get pulled up on it and it can be a penalty from two minutes right up through to five minutes.
Then there are a few things to bear in mind. There are rules, but they're also there for safety. This
is where you're actually positioning yourself on the road. Obviously, if you're riding in the UK,
you're going to be on the left-hand side of the road, in the US or the rest of Europe,
you're going to be on the right-hand side, but within that you need to make sure that
you're staying away from the middle of the road. Because if you are riding close to the middle,
that can be seen as blocking or stopping another athlete coming through. The only way for them to
get past you would be to go over the white line, which is a disqualifiable offense,
so you need to just make sure you keep on your side and just stay out of the way.
Talking of disqualifiable offenses, littering is high up there. You need to make sure that
everything you have on you, on the bike, in your pockets remains with you until the end of the race
unless you're going through a drop zone. Some races, Ironman for example, will have an area in
which you can drop your rubbish, but anything outside of that, you could be disqualified.
Now we're out onto the run. It's the home straight, but there's still a few rules to
be aware of and a couple that are a little bit quirky. Say you're racing somewhere really hot,
it might be tempting to simply take your tri-suit top off and just run bare-chested,
that is not allowed in pretty much any place. Just remember that one, I think there's a
certain distance which you're allowed to undo your zip, to just make sure you check that one.
Then there's outside assistance, you might have your friends and your family,
or they're supporting you, maybe your coach, and you're in between aid stations, and they've got
a water bottle there, you can't take that water bottle, or a gel, or anything from any spectators
because that seems to have outside assistance. The same goes with any sort of proven coaching.
If they're giving you any real significant coaching that's more than, "Just come on,
you can do it," and that includes running alongside, so if your mom suddenly decides
to join you, you've got to tell her she's got to wait until the finish line.
Now you are coming up to the finish of your run. We're almost there literally, but you still have
to wait until you've got across that line before you can be joined by your children, your family,
or anyone for some hugs and high fives. Make sure you get through the finish shoot, cross the line,
and then you can hug as much as you want. Hopefully, this has filled in some gaps
around your racing knowledge and got you ready for the season ahead. If you've enjoyed it,
remember, please give us a "Like." Follow us on our social media, and why not subscribe
to us on YouTube as well. [00:08:36] [END OF AUDIO]