#137: It's like we try to be boring

Is triathlon its own worst enemy?

May 28, 2025

issue #137: May 28, 2025

All-sporters, I am not getting back into things quickly. I know we tell everyone not to compare themselves in postpartum recovery (etc etc), but I can compare enough to know it’s just straight-up annoying to not be able to run yet. I don’t feel bad about myself because of it, but I would appreciate if there was more guidance and knowledge for women post C-section. “Be kind to yourself” does not qualify as sufficient medical advice.

And if you haven’t checked out the new Feisty Triathlon podcast yet, we have a couple of episodes up and we recorded the next one this morning — which is only partially why I’m just getting today’s newsletter finished.

Be kind to yourself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Kelly

Our most exciting controversy is about water bottle size?

I was trying to explain to my parents why I was going down a bunch of holes this week trying to understand Ironman regulations on integrated hydration systems. And, well, it certainly does not make triathlon sound interesting.

So that you don’t have to, here’s my quick sum-up:

Earlier this year, World Triathlon updated its rules on faring and hydration systems in order to regulate size, because athletes had gone crazy in their attempts to gain any possible aero benefit.
Ironman, in general, tries to align with World Tri rules so there aren’t totally different rules in different races — but there are some instances where Ironman asks for exceptions or tries to explain to World Tri why their rule wouldn’t make sense for long-course athletes (ie. the zipper rule, for example).
However, races are actually, in general, sanctioned and governed by the host country’s governing body. Ironman contracts with local refs on the ground at those races. There are some rule variations, then, by country — like how you have to wear your number on the bike in Europe.
German officials, being German, went a little nuts about the hydration system rules and interpreted them rather harshly. World Tri then released an interpretation document — which appears to say you can have a maximum of one liter per bottle, two bottles on the rear, and all equipment on the rear of your saddle must fit inside an imaginary 30x30cm box.
This was then interpreted by a lot of triathletes as banning you from having both rear bottles and a rear flat kit, and appeared to have the effect of making many existing bikes with integrated systems illegal. Everyone then went slightly insane for a week.

However, I don’t know if I’d totally interpret the rules that way because the World Tri clarification document says bottle holders must fit inside the 30x30 imaginary box, however “bottles may protrude beyond this area.” It also says: “bottles inside the bike frame itself (internal bladder) are excluded from the maximum volume capacity limits.”

But. Hard to say. And, it’s annoying for things to be open to any individual ref’s interpretation instead of being clearly laid out. Plus, it sounds like a few pro athletes at Kraichgau 70.3 (yes, in Germany) this past weekend were forced to modify their systems pre-race. But I also listened to the whole chat with Ironman’s head ref and it also sounds like Ironman hasn’t actually changed their rules and are trying to make sure there’s clarity across events, because no one wants the majority of age-groupers to be f’d. So, as long as you don’t try to push the limits with some crazy set-up, you’ll probably be fine with an off-the-shelf bike and hydration system. Probably.

Jimmy, did I get that right?

I will say that, from the informal conversations I’ve had with Ironman officials, any intent or desire was only to reign in the excessive “hydration” faring systems that pros had run wild with. We all know you weren’t really drinking out of that thing, OK.

Naturally, I’m hoping someone now reports back from the chaos that will inevitably be the pro meeting at IM Brazil and IM Hamburg this weekend.

This week’s Kona thought

From a simple math point of view, what is the limit on the number of athletes in a championship event — while still complying with drafting regulations? I think the pro men’s field is close to the limit already — the pack coming out of the swim together is too big. I’m not sure what the number is for a one-day mixed age-group race, but it seems likely it’s something less than 3,000. The swim simply doesn’t spread athletes out as much when everyone is the same speed. It feels like we could just do the math on this, to a degree, or live in denial. Either way.

Which race will you watch this weekend?

It’s funny how we have no races and then have all the big races stacked up against each other on the same weekends. Weird how that keeps happening, isn’t it.

IM Hamburg

A women’s only pro race. We’ve got the defending champion here (Jackie Hering), the current world champion (Laura Philipp — coming off a 70.3 win this past weekend), and the Ironman world record holder (Kat Matthews) all lined up. Plus a few more from the top 10 at the Ironman World Champs (Marjolaine Pierre), contenders to watch out for (Anne Reischmann, Danielle Lewis) and some interesting debuts (Solveig Løvseth).

I’m guessing this is probably top of everyone’s list; Kat or Laura seems to be the betting question. And I don’t keep a ton of track of the Pro Series standings this early in the season, but it’s a thing.

WATCH: Sunday at 6:15 a.m. local time/12:15 a.m. ET/Saturday 9:15 p.m. PT on Outside Watch in N. America or Ironman’s Youtube everywhere else

WTCS Alghero

We went from no WTCS races for months to two in two weeks and then another in early July. (I 100% said this wrong on the podcast episode coming out on Friday; because I thought the next one, Hamburg, was a few weeks sooner. Oops. Sorry.)

It sounds like the athletes like this new location — a brand new WTCS course — and the 9-lap bike course has quite a few hills and turns. I know we’re all rooting for more interesting WTCS courses. Could this be it?

Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde are still out, but there’s a whole bunch of the French men (Léo Bergere, Dorian Coninx, Pierre Le Corre). And both of the women’s WTCS winners so far this year (Lisa Tertsch, Jeanne Lehair) and the previous world champs (Beth Potter and Cassandre Beaugrand — though not sure how she’s recovered from her crash).

WATCH: Saturday with the women at 2:15 a.m. PT/5:15 a.m ET and the men at 6:30 a.m. PT/9:30 a.m. ET on TriathlonLive

T100 - San Francisco

This is the one I’ll be at. Probably have some Instagram stories on Feisty Triathlon and some interviews (pre- and post-), and of course an on-the-ground report next week.

Speaking of World Tri rules, I haven’t heard yet if the pros will be required to wear thermal caps and gloves again. I would also like it on the record that it’s not the full Alcatraz course and that, hopefully, the boat will be positioned so the swim is the actual distance this year.

Even with half the contracted athletes missing on the women’s side and seven missing on the men’s, we still have a Taylor Knibb v. Kate Waugh (v. Julie Derron v. Ashleigh Gentle) face-off. And I don’t know why people are betting against Marten Van Riel; I’d bet on Marten.

WATCH: Saturday at 6 a.m. PT for the men, 6:45 a.m. for the women/9 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. ET on HBO Max, Discovery+ in Europe, or PTO+ everywhere — with a second screen data dashboard, too

Rest of the results from this past weekend: Kraichgau 70.3, Shanghai 70.3, Challenge St. Polten

The -ish

Some of the other things worth knowing about this week in our sports.

Also, Eagleman 70.3 has gotten a weirdly stacked start list now. Outside of world championships, the only other times Lucy Charles-Barclay has raced in the U.S. were the PTO’s Miami & Daytona races. (Instagram)
Unbound — the Kona of gravel — is this upcoming weekend. And here’s my old man shakes fist at sky gripe: Only one of the distances should really be the elite race, and at Unbound it’s the 200. Stop trying to make everything a thing. (Cycling Weekly/Cycling News)
The next Grand Slam Track is also this weekend and they’ve condensed the format into two days — which probably makes sense from a TV perspective, but means we lose a distance event now. Fred Kerley was also suspended from competition — which also probably makes sense. (Athletics Weekly/The Athletic)
Supertri is really dragging out the announcements of their pro championship series locations. We now have three of them. I’ve also gotten a couple PR pitches about Supertri looking to raise $60 million, and it should be noted that looking to raise $60 million is a lot different than raising $60 million but I appreciate the hustle. (Supertri/Endurance Sportswire)
Strava acquired the Breakaway, a cycling coaching app, which comes on the heels of its Runna acquisition, a running coach app. So, yes, they will be adding an in-app training program. Obviously. (Velo)
Strava also is now valued at $2.2 billion (including debt) after a new funding round (which was, of course, led by Sequoia Capital). I saw someone in one of my endurance business sports groups ask then how they could have that valuation, those acquisitions, and still not be making money. And I laughed and laughed. (Wall Street Journal)
This guy became the first person to swim around Martha’s Vineyard in order to show that you shouldn’t be afraid of sharks, which really could have taken a wrong turn. (NBC)
The Enhanced Games — the Olympics with doping — are back in the news again because they’re claiming a doped up swimmer broke the 50m world record and they announced a Vegas launch for next year. (Fitting.) Reminder: We have a Q&A with the founder of the Enhanced Games. (BBC/Triathlonish)
USA Triathlon announced its Hall of Fame inductees for this year. (USAT)
Kate Curran had a bad crash. The injured reserved list seems to be catching on. (Instagram)
Leon Chevalier got married. (Instagram)
Ironman UK lost one of their longtime announcers, Jay Luke. (Instagram)
Heat training is the hot new thing. Pun intended. (Velo)
When I saw this Airbnb giveaway to ride a bike tour thing with Mark Cavendish I thought he was actually leading one of those VIP Airbnb “experiences” that you can sign up for when you book a trip, and I thought ‘man, endurance athletes really don’t make as much money as regular athletes.’ But it’s just a contest thing. But also probably true. (Airbnb)
There’s a weird internet controversy (hullabaloo might be the right word) where a lot of people are wearing hydration vests for oddly short runs and then a lot of other people are being assholes to them about it. Both things are kinda crazy to me, but only one is crazy and asshole-ish. (Women’s Health)

One last thing

How many athletes can you recognize in this old photo from the podium at the 2015 ETU Junior World Cup?

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