Standard Race Distances

Name	Swim	Bicycle	Run	Notes
Super Sprint	400 m (0.25 mi)	10 km (6.2 mi)	2.5 km (1.5 mi)	Distances vary, but this is a standard Super Sprint course.
Sprint	750 m (0.5 mi)	20 km (12.4 mi)	5 km (3.1 mi)	A 500 m swim is also common. The Sprint Distance is the fastest growing triathlon race distance in the United States
Olympic	1.5 km (0.93 mi)	40 km (24.8 mi)	10 km (6.2 mi)	Also known as "international distance", "standard course", or "short course".
Half	1.9 km (1.2 mi)	90 km (56 mi)	21.09 km (13.1 mi)	Also called "medium distance" or 70.3.
Full	3.8 km (2.4 mi)	180 km (112 mi)	42.195 km (26.2 mi)	Also known as "long distance" or "Ironman".

What is a Triathlon?

Triathlon is an exciting multi-discipline sport for all ages and abilities. It offers you fitness, fun and friendly competition. It originated in the US in the 1970s and it is now an Olympic sport, having made its debut at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

What Sports are part of Triathlon?

A triathlon involves a swim, followed by a bicycle ride and then a run - a continuous race against the clock and fellow competitors.

What is the Ironman Race?

The famous Ironman race is a challenging test of endurance including a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride and a full marathon run, yes, that is a 26.2 mile run! There is also a ½ Ironman race, which is just that, ½ of the Ironman distance.

The sport made its debut on the Olympic program at the Sydney Games in 2000 over the Olympic Distance (1500 m swim - 40 km bike - 10 km run).

Since its founding, triathlon has grown significantly and now includes thousands of races with hundreds of thousands of competitors worldwide each year. 

Other events

Aquathlon: Composed of only swimming and running stages.

Duathlon: Composed of a running stage, a cycling stage and another running stage.

Aquabike: Composed of only swimming and cycling stages.

Triathlon explained

Triathlon training is far more complex than either running, cycling or swimming alone. It is generally recognised that an athlete must train 3-4 times per week to improve their selected discipline. If you are a runner, this is relatively simple. Even with 2 full rest days each week, you can still manage 5 training sessions, by comparison a triathlete would have to train 9-12 times per week to achieve their quota. Fortunately the benefits of cross training negate the need to train so frequently, a cycling workout develops the aerobic system thereby having a positive effect upon running and cycling performance, this allows you to more easily manage the volume of training required for triathlon competition.

One of the most important concepts to grasp is that triathlon is one continuous event and not 3 separate events. An 'Olympic Distance' event: 1500m swim / 40k cycle / 10k run takes somewhere between 2 and 3 hours to complete, for many this time is longer. An event lasting such a length of time (approaching time taken to run a marathon) is an endurance race which requires a great deal of aerobic conditioning. Always view triathlon as one continuous event, research has shown that swimming prior to cycling and cycling prior to running cause a performance drop in those subsequent disciplines.