Triathlon is a sport that combines swimming, cycling and running. It is practiced in a natural environment. Triathletes have to face all three segments in this order and without rest between one and the other. The swimming segment takes place in open waters (lakes, swamps, beaches, rivers). In cycling, triathletes cannot receive any external help (breakdowns, communications). The area where you go from swimming to cycling and from cycling to running is called the transition area. The triathlete who first reaches the finish is the winner of the competition.
In both swimming and triathlon, athletes have to swim a distance of 1,500 meters. The length may be the same, but the goal in each is different. In the case of swimming, it is sought to be the fastest: to win the test. On the other hand, in the triathlon, the sportsman aims to be in the first group to come out of the water, spending as little energy as possible. In short, the triathlete is looking for an economical and efficient swimming technique, to swim those 1,500 meters in the first group but making it easy and comfortable at the same time. As the race does not end with the swimming segment, so saving energy in the primary sector of a triathlon can be vital to perform better in the rest of the test.
Triathlons are ranked according to distance, with Olympic triathlon (including The New York Triathlon) with a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bike race and a 10 km running race. But although this is the first step and the shortest distance of all the covering triathletes turned out to be swimming as the deadliest. Are you surprised?
Of course, you are, because you have in mind that swimming is the first leg of the triathlon, and the athletes do not suffer from heat and are not that exhausted at this point of the competition. Although, through the years, swimming has resulted as the deadliest leg of the triathlon. All that swimmers entering the water at the same time bring the adrenaline on a higher level and swimming in a pool is an entirely different sport than the triathlon. An important thing that makes the triathlon even harder is the fact that you are unable to rest properly if you need, as you could do it while being on a marathon or bike race. And last but not least, there are so many difficulties if an athlete is in trouble and is in the middle of an enormous number of athletes, the lifeguards are not transparent to help the swimmer. Despite what many people believe, the first 300 meters in a triathlon are not made by swimming. Athletes end up on top of each other, using at their discretion elbows and fists. Watch out!
As additional information, as far as the use of supporting material is concerned, it is not advisable to train with them, or if it is going to be done by short sets, because in the end the competition that is what we are focused on, you will not be able to use either the shovels, or the fins. Because when you dispense with them, you tend to swim as if you had them but without the added effect breaking again with the rhythm of stroke and considerably worsening your swimming technique.