Taking part in a swimrun event – where you move seamlessly across land and water in a race which removes the need for transitions (or bikes) – sounds beautifully simple. After all, every item of kit you need for the day is with you in the form of a special swimrun wetsuit, your hat and goggles, your run shoes, plus optional extras allowed by the sport such as a pull buoy, hand paddles and a bungee cord, if racing with a partner.
That said, getting the right swimrun wetsuit can really make or break your day. Your suit needs to fit well enough that you can swim and run in it comfortably (trickier than it sounds) and it also needs to hit that sweet spot between keeping you warm enough in the water, but offering enough ventilation or options to unzip (or ‘cab down’ in swimrun terms) when you get warmer while running.
Swimrun wetsuits offer a range of options based on ability, too – do you want one which is super-lightweight for racing, but at the expense of buoyancy? Or are you a slower swimmer who needs to think about completing, rather than competing? On the following page, we asked swimrun coach and race organiser Jude Palmer of Run Surrey Hills to try out three of the latest suits to hit the market…
ORCA AESIR FLEX
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How to Carb Load - Packing your working cells with carbohydrates in the build-up to your big race is a proven strategy to race stronger and faster...
Whichever distance triathlon you're racing, the intensity and duration of your activity will see your body tap into its stores of carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen) to power your effort. While it's possible to top up your tank on the go, it's better to start your event with your stores full to the brim.
The Olympic Champion - On 31 July, Great Britain's Alex Yee put together arguably the greatest one-day performance we have ever seen at an Olympic Games to win gold. And we were there at the finish line to speak to tri's new poster boy...
The opening line of the race report read how 20 years on from New Zealand’s first and only Olympic triathlon gold medal, Hayden Wilde had put in a careerbest performance to regain the title for his nation. Then Alex Yee comes around the corner.Yee’s charge, seemingly from nowhere on the final lap of the 10km run in Paris, didn’t just help him become the most decorated Olympic male triathlete of all time, and didn’t just cap a rivalry that has been building for six years, it left seasoned watchers of swim, bike, run in awe. It will go down as one of the greatest triathlon races; Yee, still just 26, as one of the greatest triathletes. His medals from Paris added to the two from Tokyo, leaving his haul at two gold, a silver and a bronze, and counting.
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