The women’s Olympic triathlon was full of drama this morning. Set against a stunning backdrop of China’s lakes and mountains, the gruelling event didn’t disappoint. The race began in fresh water which obviously meant that wetsuits weren’t required. However the absence of salt in the water caused less buoyancy which explained why the women weren’t shooting off around the lake. Or perhaps it was tactical, because pacing the swimming can be crucial to completing a solid triathlon.

Recent Australian research has concluded that completing the swim leg of a sprint triathlon at time trial intensity impairs subsequent cycling and overall triathlon performance. In the study, nine highly trained male triathletes completed five separate sessions in the laboratory, including a graded exercise test, a swim time trial and three sprint distance triathlons. The swimming velocities of the three triathlons were 80-85% (S80) 90-95% (S90) and 98-102% (S100) of the time trial velocity, while subsequent cycling (on a cycle ergometer) and running (on a 250m grass track) were performed at a perceived maximal intensity.

The two most important findings were as follows:

1) The S80 and S90 cycle times were faster than the S100 time

2) The overall triathlon time of S80 was faster than that of S100.

The overall mean time improvement of about 1 minute 45 seconds between S100 and S80 is clearly of huge significance to elite athletes when the difference between first and second place can be as little as one second. The researchers concluded that ‘The findings of this study suggest that swimming intensity had a significant influence on subsequent cycling and overall triathlon performance during a simulated sprint distance triathlon.’

The women came out of the water after their 1.5km swim and hopped onto the bikes for 40km cycling. Well most of them completed 40km. Britain’s 18 year old sensation Hollie Avil had entered the race with stomach problems and was forced to retire on the bike. Shortly afterwards there was more drama with a collision near the leading group. A few of the women consequently failed to finish.

In the end it was the Aussie Emma’s who prevailed, notably Emma Snowsill, who finished in 1:58:27hours. Emma Moffatt won bronze, Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes won silver. Congratulations on a very brave and entertaining performance.

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Related links:

Triathlon Clothing - the benefits of wearing a wetsuit