220 Triathlon May 2025

Are we all guilty of taking training too seriously..? Saying this as Editor of a triathlon magazine might seem strange and if I'm honest, our team Monday morning conversations tend to be around training sessions completed, long runs conquered, PBs set and number of weeks left until that ‘A’-race. When we only focus on performance as a motivator, I think we're missing a trick though. Finding the fun in swimming, cycling and running can lift our mood, get the endorphins flowing and make the toughest session feel easier – and so that's the focus of this month's Masterclass feature on p70. Whether it's engaging with your surroundings, picking up a new skill or finding ways of adding fun competition to club sessions, you might be surprised at the benefits. Hope…

TIM HEMING Cutting through the spin of tri to address the issues that matter, Tim is a sports journalist who has written extensively on triathlon for the national press. There's a fine line between innovation and exploitation, a grey area where smart minds study the rulebook and try to gain an edge. Some athletes tread cautiously. Others seize opportunities before the authorities catch up. Magnus Ditlev, the Danish powerhouse, arrived at last year's Ironman World Championship in Kona with a rear-mounted hydration system that was more Formula 1 aero package than bottle cage. Designed to hold fluids but offering an aerodynamic advantage, it's been described as a hybrid between a pannier frame and a spoiler, but few have set eyes on it. Being the gentleman his reputation is built on,…

MONICA PUIG Monica Puig is a former professional tennis player who won Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medal when she took the women's singles title in Rio 2016. Having been forced to retire early through injury, the 31-year-old has become a successful commentator and now triathlete, finishing last year's Ironman World Champs in Nice. The Olympic gold medal came out of nowhere. Nobody expected me to win - I didn't expect myself to win! At the beginning, I just wanted to enjoy being in the Olympic Village and meeting all the athletes. I come from a very small island, you can drive around it in four hours. I turned pro at 16 and was fortunate enough to be injury-free until my whole career came crashing down. I had three…

A strong start, solid Olympics and then tapered off towards the end.” That's Aussie pro Matt Hauser's succinct summary of his 2024 season, one in which he won his second WTCS event (in Hamburg to add to his Montreal 2023 victory), and placed second in Yokohama. A “good day” at the Paris Games resulted in a solid seventh place, but admitting that he perhaps “bit off a little bit more than I could chew” towards the end of the year, the popular 26-year-old Gold Coast resident overcooked it on a corner shortly after leaving T1 at the Grand Final in Torremolinos. Hoping to take back a series medal, he instead had 13 stitches in his chin. But after a reset, which included a week in Majorca with partner Georgia Humphreys,…

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED For short-course athletes, 2025 is post-Olympic Games season. Which translates as expect the unexpected. This is the year where short-course stars break free from the Games’ four-year cycle for a season, try their hand at longer events, attempt off-road ventures, experience single-discipline racing, focus on family and, well, just have some fun. In 2013, reigning Olympic champ Alistair Brownlee turned some of his attention to the 10,000m on the track. After another successful games at Rio 2016, Brownlee first tried his hand at Ironman 70.3 racing the next season, while his fellow Rio gold medallist Gwen Jorgensen took time away to become a mum. Cut to 2025 and Paris Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand has already raced 5k track events this February (posting a French national record of…

MEET THE TEST TEAM HELEN WEBSTER 220's editor is also a qualified open-water swimming coach. ROB SLADE 220's content editor and resident adventure seeker. MATT BAIRD Has spent years testing tri kit and accessories for 220. JACK SEXTY A strong age-grouper focusing on top-end gains. JAMES WITTS Former 220 editor James specialises in sports science. OUR RATINGS 0-49 % POOR SIMPLY PUT, DON'T BOTHER! 50-69 % AVERAGE IT'LL DO THE JOB WELL ENOUGH 70-79 % GOOD A DECENT PERFORMER 80-89 % IMPRESSIVE ONE OF THE BEST YOU CAN BUY 90+ % BUY NOW A GENUINE CLASS LEADER “A study published in 2021 in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that male and female runners across a number of high-profile marathons were around 2% and 2.6% faster when wearing carbon-plate shoes”…