Triathlete July/August 2021

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. I love the Olympics despite all of the problems, the challenges, the ups and downs that come with them—and there are plenty of those. But there are also plenty of amazing moments, of life-changing moments, of dreams realized. I love the Olympics so much that one summer as a kid I tried to imitate the divers (even though I know nothing about diving), jumping off the side of my Grandma’s pool over and over, trying to get my “dive” just right, until I smashed my chin into the cement. Whatever it took, I wanted to be an Olympian. Want to get excited about the Olympics too? We have your complete guide on p. 48—who to watch, how to watch, and what to watch. Can Team USA beat…

BEHIND THE PHOTO Each month, a top triathlon photographer shares an iconic image and we uncover the stories behind it—like this shot of Caroline Steffen's triumphant Ironman Western Australia win in 2018. 10 WEEKS TO YOUR BEST 70.3 Coach Jim Vance’s complete online education program gives you the tools you’ll need to race your best half-irondistance triathlon—from a training plan and workouts to technique to race selection and bike fit. TAKE YOUR OPEN-WATER SWIMMING TO THE NEXT LEVEL These tips aren’t just for pros—we share essential skills that are important for anyone looking to get the most from their open-water swimming. WHAT’S WITH THE SUPERSAPIENS HYPE? What is Supersapiens—and what’s all the buzz about? We find out more about the company that's now the title sponsor of triathlon’s biggest event. What is blood glucose monitoring and how…

TAKE YOUR MARKS: There's no question that racer #31, Bence Bicsák, of Hungary, was ready for the start of the elite men's race at the Leeds World Triathlon Championships Series on June 6. The men's race was won by Briton Alex Yee, with American Morgan Pearson taking second, and Marten van Riel, of Belgium, finishing third. In the women's race, Maya Kingma, of the Netherlands, took top honors, while Brits Jess Learmonth and Sophie Coldwell were second and third on home soil. Canon EOS-1D X Mark II 70-200mm f/2.8L ISO 1000 f/4.0, 1/3200sec.…

When most people think of Los Angeles, they think of gridlocked tr affic on eight-lane mega freeways. Sure, if you’re trying to head from the San Fernando Valley into Santa Monica on a Monday morning or anywhere from downtown on a Friday afternoon, you’ll get just that. But there’s another side of Los Angeles—one that makes it an ideal training ground for triathletes. Use our guide to make the most of your SoCal trip. SWIM While L.A. has its share of 50-meter outdoor swimming pools (look in Santa Monica, Culver City, and the Pacific Palisades, for example), if you’re a triathlete you should be in your native habitat: the open water. Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach all have dedicated open-water swimming groups, but if ocean swimming (with the waves and…

THE OLYMPIC GAMES ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND, as triathletes, there will be plenty of events us multi-sporters can relate to as we watch with our friends. There’ll even be many sports we know how to do. And while we may be tempted to highlight our prowess, it’s important to not come across as a know-it-all when watching the Games. After all, we want to get invited back to our friends’ houses again in four years. To save you from yourself, here are some potential hot-button tri-related topics to avoid as you’re watching the Tokyo Olympics. SWIMMING: When watching swimmers rack up more medals than triathletes have bikes, hold yourself back from saying that anyone can win a swimming medal because there are thousands of events (there’s 18, actually). I’ve been…

ONCE THE OLYMPICS ARE OVER, THE sports we cheer so loudly for all but disappear from mainstream attention—until the next one, four years later. It’s only when someone breaks a world record or Simone Biles invents a new move that Olympic sports catch a blip of our attention in non-Olympic years. It’s even worse for triathlon. Most years, draft-legal racing doesn’t garner nearly as much interest as the Ironman World Championship—especially in the U.S. Some of that has to do with location. Ironman has hosted its main event on American soil every year since 1978. Meanwhile, World Triathlon has only hosted its Championship Series Grand Final in the U.S. once, in Chicago back in 2015. Then there are the athletes. America’s only gold-medal winning triathlete is no longer a triathlete (Gwen Jorgensen).…