In a complete contrast to yesterday’s women’s race under cloudless skies, what looked like an entire year’s worth of rain arrived on the Sunday morning for the start of the men’s race in Montreal. Not that the weather would have much bearing on the outcome of the seventh race in the 2018 World Triathlon Series, such was the two-time reigning champ Mario Mola’s lead at the start of the penultimate race in Canada’s second largest city. Wherever he finished he would still be in the lead for the Grand Final on Gold Coast in three weeks’ time, thanks in part to the absence of Vincent Luis (FRA), second in the rankings pre-race.
Maintaining a consistent level of success across three sports at each and every race is the athlete’s holy grail, regardless of your level or ability. Yet there are a few things we can all do to at least ensure we have the best shot at racing strong for as long as possible.
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For GB’s Vicky Holland, an unusual calf injury at the start of 2017 put a temporary stopper on what had been up until then a run of consistent top-10 results since 2014, which had culminated in a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“But once I’d rehabbed the injury and was back into training, things started to turn fairly quickly for me,” Holland told 220 a few days before this year’s Montreal WTS race, which she would go on to win. This to add to 2018 victories in Edmonton and Leeds, and that could see her crowned world champion in three weeks’ time at the Grand Final on the Gold Coast.
So how has she stayed at the top of the sport? And what can us age-groupers glean from her elite training? Here are her top-five train smart/race strong tips…
Consistency in training can’t be beaten
I don’t try and do hero weeks. I just layer one week on top of the next and I keep doing it again and again and again. And a key element with that is being patient that this will achieve the results you want. If you can put together three months of consistent training then you’re doing a lot better than most of your competitors are. So that’s a big one for me. And I still firmly believe in the approach that I take, which is a high-volume approach, which doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, but for me, it’s brought me my best results. There’s no denying that I’ve become a better runner off the bike since I’ve changed that element of my training. So the takeaway there is don’t shy away from riding your bike a lot!
Remain injury-free!
On the whole I’ve not had many injuries, but when I have been injured they’ve taken me out for quite a long time. A big factor in minimising those risks is gym work – I do more gym work than I probably ever have done. And I believe in it more than I ever have done as well. It doesn’t take that long to put together a good general conditioning programme that helps with injury prevention and that helps with strength. Those two factors are really important for performance. I also know what my warning signs are now, and across my body. So it’s just about keeping on top of everything.
Enjoy what you do
The moment you lose that enjoyment it translates into your results. It’s a hard sport, it’s a tough sport that we do, it takes up a lot of time. It can be gruelling and horrible in the winter but it gives me, and a lot of people, a lot back. And you have to bear that in mind, even on the days when maybe it’s not quite as much fun. But loving what I do has enabled me to keep on improving as I’ve got older.
Diet is not the most important thing!
For me, diet is part of the extra little 1%ers that you can add on the end. Obsessing too much about anything is bad. I believe that everything in moderation is fine. And as a whole my diet is pretty consistent all year round. I eat balanced meals, I like healthy meals but I also like hearty meals and I don’t believe you should ever cut out a main food group unless you’ve got a medical reason. The best and happiest you can be as an athlete is to enjoy what you eat and have a healthy attitude towards it.
Listen to your body
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I do sleep a lot, most elite athletes do! I tend to get around eight, maybe up to nine hours’ sleep a night. That’s pretty normal for me. If I did get less than that I would try to top that up throughout the day. That said, I nap quite a lot during the day. Some days it’s not possible, just because of the training schedule but I go on feel more than anything. It depends on the training load you’re in. Just listen to your body and you can’t go too far wrong.
It’s not often a triathlon film hits the cinemas, but that’s all set to change next month when the We Are Triathletes documentary arrives in the UK. But the screenings will only be confirmed if enough tickets are bought before the deadline of 5pm on Sunday 2nd September.
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The film provides an insight into the lives of six pro athletes from four different countries, and shares how each trained and prepared for the 2014 edition of Challenge Roth, the world’s biggest long-distance triathlon with 200,000+ spectators and our greatest triathlon in the world.
We Are Triathletes will delve into the spirit of endurance sport, with candid interviews from 2014 Challenge Roth champion Mirinda Carfrae; eight-time Ironman champion Luke McKenzie; and double above-knee amputee athlete and four-time Paralympian and gold medalist Rudy Garcia-Tolson.
The film also features interviews with Ironman legends John and Judy Collins, Julie Moss, Kathleen McCartney, Scott Tinley, Dave Scott, and Mark Allen.
The documentary is produced and directed by Yanfeng Zhang and co-produced by Gwendolen Twist (producer of Spirit of the Marathon). It has already been handed the Award of Excellence by the Accolade Global Film Competition.
The film will be screened at the following locations, but triathletes will need to book tickets before 5pm on Sunday afternoon to be assured that the screenings will go ahead. The full screening list is below and tickets can be booked here: uk.demand.film/we-are-triathletes/
From Beijing in 2008 to London 2012, Jan Frodeno, Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez have been involved in some epic short-course battles throughout their careers. Where Frodeno took the Olympic title in 2008 and Brownlee in 2012, today in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, it was once again Frodeno’s turn to take the honours at the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championships a day after Swiss star Daniela Ryf produced a record fourth Ironman 70.3 world title.
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.@janfrodeno is your new Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion – clocking in a winning time of 3:36:30!
“I’m going to throw a grenade. I believe the performance of Jan Frodeno at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship is the greatest triathlon performance in triathlon history.”
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Not my words, but those tweeted by Australian triathlon legend Greg Bennett, and while the three-time Olympian might be erring a little on the hyperbolic, judging by the number of ‘likes’ there were plenty in agreement.
Given the podium in South Africa on Sunday also included Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez, it was undeniably the highest-calibre Ironman 70.3 race to date, a distance that has been gathering momentum since the world championship moved from Clearwater, Florida in 2011. But while it might have been standout in nature, it also had echoes of a former classic meeting between Brownlee, Frodeno and Gomez, almost exactly a decade earlier – the 2008 Olympic final in Beijing.
It’s uncanny how history has a knack of repeating itself. Back then, Gomez was the established force, having won 11 of his previous 13 ITU races, including the world title in Vancouver two months earlier. Frodeno arrived in China after a consistent season, but was far from a gold medal favourite. Brownlee had qualified late and was the wet-behind-the-ears 20-year-old out to ruffle feathers.
In Port Elizabeth at the weekend, Gomez had the 70.3 pedigree, having twice stood atop the world championship podium. Frodeno was an established performer, true, but with questionable footspeed to challenge his younger rivals. And Brownlee, despite impressive outings in Utah and Dubai, was still a comparative novice at the distance.
The comparisons don’t end there. Once the gun went and the swim had whittled the lead pack down to eight, the Yorkshireman – just as in 2008 – was a main aggressor, forcing a hard bike leg and taking off early on the run. And just as in China, while Brownlee couldn’t sustain the early pace, neither, ultimately, could Gomez, who clawed his way up to Frodeno before dropping back complaining of a stitch.
Frodeno emerged once again the triumphant, claiming a second 70.3 title to go with two full Ironman world crowns and that Beijing gold, with an emotional outpouring to match. This time, Brownlee stayed strong for second and was magnanimous in his reaction. It may not have been the result he desired, but returning to the gold-medal winning run form of London 2012 is asking a lot of a battle-worn body.
Just as in 2008 – although for differing reasons – he looked happy to be able to compete and relish what the future at this format holds. For Gomez, the disappointment, as with the fourth place in Beijing, was palpable. The final step on the podium in Nelson Mandela Bay being scant consolation for his efforts.
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What’s perhaps most striking is the ability for the triumvirate to be racing one another – and still breaking new ground at the top level of the sport – 10 years apart. The opportunity for this longevity sets triathlon apart, but the story doesn’t end here. Injury and illness not withstanding, Frodeno and Gomez will renew their rivalry in Kona next month in one of the most eagerly awaited men’s Ironman World Championships to date. And while we might have to wait until after Tokyo 2020 for Brownlee to join them – and Frodeno will be pushing past 40 – at least it shouldn’t take another 10 years.
Conditions were ideal for a quick pace on the 75km long race course in the Stockholm archipelago but no one had expected the course records in each category men, mixed and women to be crushed with such incredible times.
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The 13th edition of ÖTILLÖ saw 159 teams of two from 25 nations tackling the 75 km long course, with 65 km trail running and 10 km open water swimming over and between 24 islands in the Stockholm archipelago. The stunning Stockholm archipelago consists of over 24,000 islands.
Competitors of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship run and swim in the Baltic Sea, crossing some of the most beautiful parts of the archipelago, from the sailing mecca of Sandhamn to the “island of love”, Utö. They encounter summer homes and uninhabited islands, they run on slippery rocks, beautiful forest trails and swim with currents. Racing with the elements of nature is unique. ÖTILLÖ is long and it is painful. As a competitor you need to be well prepared, race it wisely with your team mate to excel and find a pace that will take you all the way to the finish line, making the cut offs before dark.
With many aspiring top teams, it was impossible to anticipate who would come out as winner of the 2018 edition of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship. It proved to be a true nail biter in both the men’s and the women’s category with teams racing neck and neck through most of the extremely long course. Only seconds kept the three top men’s teams apart for hours, until Fredrik Axegård and Alex Flores (SWE) finally managed to pull away and set a new incredible record as the fastest team ever around the course with 7 hours, 39 minutes and 25 seconds, meaning 19 minutes faster than last year’s course record!
“We couldn’t even in our wildest fantasies imagine to finish this fast! You don’t really know what the other teams are doing so just have to keep going, even if it’s painful and even if you have the worst cramps. We had decided not to let anyone go. We aimed for sub eight hours and a podium finish but this is just amazing!” said the elated team Axegård and Flores at the finish line.
The undefeated duo Annika Ericsson and Kristin Larsson (SWE) had a fierce battle against second placed women’s team Fanny Danckwardt andDesirée Andersson (SWE), who led a big part of the course but finally finished 3,49 minutes after the leaders who beat their own record from 2016 by no less than 36 minutes.
”Today’s conditions were just perfect, warm water and no wind. We have been able to race properly without being stiff and cold as previous years. We also met really tough competition this year so we had to keep on pushing”, said Kristin Larsson at the finish at Utö after the team’s third world championship gold in swimrun and record fast time in the women’s category.
In the mixed category Martin Flinta (SWE) and Helena Erbenova Karaskova (CZE) held a comfortable lead over the second mixed team but raced with the top ten men’s teams and finished 8th in total with the impressive time 8:16:15, which is 33 minutes faster than any previous mixed team at ÖTILLÖ. Flinta and Erbenova Karaskova have been unbeatable in the mixed category all year at the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series. They are still wearing the golden bib and if they win at ÖTILLÖ 1000 Lakes in end of September they will win 33 000 € (after six wins in a row at the ÖTILLÖ World Series).
The winners 2018:
Men: Fredrik Axegård and Alex Flores (SWE), Team Sport Office, 7:39:25 Mixed: Martin Flinta (SWE) and Helena Erbenova Karaskova (CZE), Thule Crew/Wolffwear Swimrun, 8:16:15 Women: Kristin Larsson and Annika Ericsson (SWE), Team Outdoor Experten, 8:56:26
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Photographers: Jakob Edholm / ÖTILLÖ and Pierre Mangez / ÖTILLÖ
Reaching 100 days and 1,230 miles into his epic Great British Swim tomorrow (8th September), Ross Edgley is starting the journey back down to the South Coast. He took a break to tell us about whales, sprinting past ferries and plans for the next 600 miles…
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220: So you’ve done 100 days at sea, Ross! How does that feel?
Ross: Well, it’s a weird landmark, 100 days, because there’s still so far to go! I think it’s like a lot of the things we’ve celebrated, for example when we did the South coast we were all like “yay!” because we only had to go up and round, then when we got to John O’Groats we were all like “yay!” again because then we only had to come all the way back down again… So now we’re all going “yay!” at 100 days but the funny thing is there’s still 600 miles to go!!
I’ve got such an amazing team and I think I speak for the whole team when I say the only thing we’ll celebrate from this point now will be arriving in Margate. By Open Water Swimming Federation rules, if we don’t touch Margate this entire swim will go down as a DNF! That would just be brutal!
220: Tell us about your highs and lows so far!
Ross: My high point was the Bristol Channel. I was swimming for about 10 miles and a giant Minke Whale guided me all the way to Wales! Me and the captain were talking and we realised the whale maybe thought I was an injured seal. It was so sweet. As soon as we got to Wales the whale kind of swum off, as if to say ‘ok, you’re safe now’. That was just amazing.
My low point… Probably the West coast of Scotland between Mull of Kintyre and Toblemory as it was between there I took the most jellyfish stings. That wasn’t pleasant!
220: What are you expecting next?
We’ve just done a huge mull in Scotland which was waaaay bigger than I thought it was! The next big hurdle is Peter’s Head which I’m told will make Dover look quite tame as we have to sprint across it when there’s a gap in the ships. The coastguards have been just amazing. They asked us “how quick is the swimmer, because it’s busy here”, and we said, well, if we have to sprint then we have to sprint! That’s an interesting point actually, because this challenge is a bit like triathlon in that we’ll have a game plan, but that all means nothing if you have to sprint because you’re about to get hit by a giant ferry! I can be like “yes, but I need to regulate my heart rate right now” and they’ll be like “NO. Just GO!” I’m looking forward to that, but only to get it out of the way…
Getting back to British waters is going to be amazing and going round Lincolnshire, which is home, I’m looking forward to… Then of course touching land in Margate!
· 54 jellyfish stings · One minke whale in the Bristol Channel · One seven-metre basking shark sighting off the coast of Scotland · Twelve dolphins spotted in the South Coast · One seal spotted off the coast of Devon · 1,230 miles covered · 1,600,000 strokes completed · 2,039 hours in the water · 442 bananas · 30.99 nautical miles (the highest distance covered in a single day) · Three rolls of gaffer tape used to fix broken skin · 8.7 knots top speed · 1,250,000 calories burned · Two kilograms of Vaseline for chaffing · One freshly grown beard to try prevent more jellyfish stings!
Ross has broken a number of records since the Great British Swim began. By the end of June Ross had became the first ever person to swim the length of the English Channel. In mid-August he surpassed the world record for the Longest Staged Sea Swim of 73 days, set by Benoît Lecomte who swam across the Atlantic Ocean in 1998. Finally, last week he became the first ever Britain to swim the 900 mile journey from Lands’ End to John O’Groats in a record breaking 62 days.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Ross has previously rope climbed the equivalent height (8,848m) of Mount Everest inside 24 hours, completed a triathlon with a tree strapped to his back, and completed a marathon whilst dragging a Mini Cooper!
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Follow Ross’s Great British Swim journey via live tracker at RedBull.co.uk/GreatBritishSwim and tune in to weekly vlogs at youtube.com/redbull
The top 100 names on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes – topped by boxer Floyd Mayweather – banked a cumulative £3.8billion over the past 12 months. You cannot filter by ‘gender’, but even if you could, there’d be no need. There’s not a women on it. For the first time since it launched six years ago, the latest list doesn’t include a single female.
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The Sunday Times Rich List is also spliced to provide a wealthiest sportsmen category, Rory McIlroy and Andy Murray top that one. But – with the clue in the name – the women again fail to register.
If it proves anything, it’s that true gender equality with our sports stars is still generations away. It also brings into stark contrast how triathlon, in its own niche sports way, and with an insistence on equal prize money and profile from inception, has an enviable track record (albeit with some of the zeroes scratched off).
To illustrate, last year’s top two prize money earners were the ITU world champion Flora Duffy ($295k) and the Ironman world champion Daniela Ryf ($240k), according to the list compiled by race organisers Challenge. Of the top 100 triathletes, 49 were women.
It works because it’s not forced. The action, not gender, has always shaped the narrative, whether it was Julie Moss’s crawl in Hawaii in 1982 or the Iron War between Dave Scott and Mark Allen in 1989. The unexpected dominance of Chrissie Wellington from 2007 to 2011 or the emergence of a pair of Yorkshire brothers ahead of the London Olympics.
It continues today. In this year’s ITU World Triathlon Series, the women’s race took focus in Bermuda because of home favourite Duffy. On to Leeds and the poster boys were naturally the Brownlees.
As a young sport, triathlon does have the advantage of not battling a traditional male-dominated legacy, but it still took the pluck and vision of the ITU’s founding president, the late Les McDonald – whose grandmother was a suffragette – to put the foundations in place, and there’s always work to do.
More men (61%) than women (39%) participate in the UK, according to the Triathlon Industry Association, so sponsors need to see both the bigger picture – and opportunity – when deciding on their marketing budgets.
So too do organisers when it comes to professionals, which partly explains the opprobrium when the World Triathlon Corporation refuses to entertain an even number of men and women pros for the Ironman World Championship, or Super League Triathlon receives a backlash for not having a women’s race in its trial run.
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But these anomalies stick out precisely because they’re not the norm, and it’s a proud tradition that’ll be enhanced further when the mixed relay makes its bow in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. And perhaps, by then, the women might even be competing on the anchor leg.
When you’re given the chance to meet and swim with a bronze-medalist, you’d be daft to turn it down. Jack Cummings isn’t your average swimmer, though. After losing both his legs above the knee while working as a Bomb Disposal Officer in Afghanistan, swimming gave him a focus for his physical rehab, while the Invictus Games became a motivational force as his skills improved.
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So what is it like to learn to swim again – and to take that bronze medal? We met Jack at the Victory Swim, where he was swimming in open water for the first time and taking on a 1500m distance. The event was organised by the Felix Fund, a charity which supports the UK’s bomb disposal experts and the wider EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) community and their families. We also grabbed some time with Captain James Wadsworth, bomb disposal expert and founder of the Victory Swim, to find out more about how triathletes can get involved in the fund’s charity challenges.
220: Were you always a keen swimmer?
Jack Cummings: Well, I got my 25m badge when I was a kid! My mum and dad took me to the pool growing up and I like to think I took to the water pretty well as a kid, but not so much as a teenager! Sport for me was more about keeping fit. I was a keen footballer and used to play most sports but didn’t excel in any particular. I did everything from swimming, to cricket to football.
When I joined the army we had to do our military swim test which was to jump off the 5m board in full rig and then swim to the end and back again – not too far. It was more when I got injured and taken to Headley Court [the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre] that I went back to the pool. Obviously I couldn’t run any more, so it was really good exercise for me to start swimming and burn off some calories.
Headley Court was great because they offered me a whole range of disabled sports from swimming to wheelchair basketball. I also learned to handbike and I try to go out at least three or four times a week – weather permitting in England!
220: How important was swimming in your recovery?
Jack: It’s been a huge part of my rehab. Otherwise I’d have been just sat on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle or something – it’s got me out and I’ve lost a load of weight. I was in a coma for a month so I lost everything in terms of muscle. I went from an able-bodied lad to a skeleton basically – and the doctors and nurses panicked and kept telling me I needed to eat, so I put on a load of weight!
We had the hydropool at Headley Court which was a small pool where I started. It was about finding that balance point again first because obviously I lost both legs above the knee, but for some reason I float better now! Yeah, it was all about starting from scratch though.
It took a while to get into it and I had to build up the distance starting with a couple of lengths at first – but by the time I left Headley I was up to a mile, which I was really happy with.
220 Triathlon’s Editor Helen Webster chats to Jack Cummings about ahead of this year’s Victory Swim
220: How did you get involved in the Invictus Games?
Jack: The letter from Invictus came and I spoke to my wife Sarah and she said ‘go for it!’. I went for swimming and archery. I’m not really an archer though, more a swimmer! I did 50m free and 50m breaststroke and got bronze in the breaststroke.
The Invictus Games gave me an aim. I never gave up, it’s just I didn’t have anything to aim for and Invictus gave me the motivation to go for something. It was great watching the guys from previous years and I thought well if they can do it, then I can do it too! They inspired me and I hope I can do the same for others.
I swim in the local pool with the old girls in the morning and they always say hello and cheer me on. I feel like I’m able-bodied again because I’m zooming past everyone. It’s great, it keeps me focussed. I’m up at 5:30am every day, do an hour in the gym from 6am and then I’m in the pool from 7am.
The lake is a brand new environment for me! I’m doing 1500m today… Go big or go home! I’ll switch between front crawl and breaststroke.
220: What next? Have you been tempted to pursue Paratriathlon?
Jack: I don’t think so! I did the Royal Marines Rehab Tri with Joe Townsend and he blew me out of the water! It was great to see him go from where he was to being an elite – that takes a different type of dedication. Joe is absolutely amazing. He’s the marine machine!
I’m on the reserve list for the next Invictus Games. Hopefully I’ll get called up. I wouldn’t rule out doing another triathlon too, maybe a half-Ironman, something like that. Like I said, I do the handbike already so I’ve got two out of three – and I’m used to pushing a wheelchair so that’s doable as the third!
Jack Cummings exists the water after the 1500m Victory Swim. Image: Jo’s Photos https://www.facebook.com/memoriesforsharing/posts/
220: How has the Felix Fund helped you?
Jack: The Felix Fund is a bomb disposal charity. I was part of a search team, so searching for bombs and IEDs. If we found one, then they’d come and snip the wire and defuse the bomb. The Felix Fund have done loads to support me and my wife – we’ve been to events such as carol services and they’ve supported us financially too, by buying a load of adapted furniture for our house, so they’ve looked after us that way as well. They’re not a huge charity, but they’re always in touch and looking after us.
As well as last week’s Victory Swim, the Felix Fund host a series of sporting challenges triathletes can get involved in, spearheaded by ammunition technician Captain James Wadsworth who counts the Rat Race series, Ironmans, the Marathon de Sables, Land’s End to John O’Groats on a bike and other endurance events amongst his fundraising achievements.
220’s Editor at the Victory Swim with Captain James Wadsworth, who next year will attempt the Channel Swim amongst other endurance challenges to raise funds and awareness for the Felix Fund.
We asked Captain Wadsworth what’s next: “I’m building up to 2019 at the moment. Between the 4-8th June we are doing the Castle Cycle Ride from Edinburgh, via Windsor to Cardiff. Following that I’m doing the Frankfurt Ironman, then I’ve got a small break before the Channel Swim attempt from 13-19th September, which is daunting right now! After that we’ve got a running event on 12th October which is open to anyone of any ability from 5km to 100km. Halfway through September (date TBC) will be our Felix Festival, where we pitch a big tent in the middle of nowhere and you can come along and enjoy a beer and some good food and music!
“Felix Fund supports the IED community and I’ve worked within this area for my whole career. Around the time of Northern Ireland but also of Iraq and Afghanistan I was operating in those countries and I lost friends who were killed in those operations and I had friends and colleagues that were injured. We now have people who are still suffering with mental and physical injuries and while I am still (relatively!) able-bodied I want to raise money and awareness so I do as many events as I can and encourage others to join me.”
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Find out more about the Felix Fund here and get involved with the sporting challenge events organised by Captain James Wadsworth here.
The double Ironman World Champion and newly-crowned Ironman 70.3 World Champ, Jan Frodeno, has announced on Instagram that he has pulled out of Kona due to a stress fracture.
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Certainly not how I hoped this season would end. A stress fracture in my hip (SI joint)- see pic 2 for those interested. The highs and lows of sport have never been so close for me- winning a world title last week and being sidelined for the season the next. At least the @_promovement team kept the spirits going;) (last pic). Just a reminder to all of us that success never comes in a straight line… currently listening to Daft Punk- One More Time, so see you all next year