After Illustrious Career, Alistair Brownlee Retires

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In today’s edition:

• 👏 Alistair Brownlee retires as one of the sport’s greatest athletes.

• 👟 When exactly should you replace your running shoes?

• 🏊 And why you should add sculling to your swims!

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ONE BIG THING

After Illustrious Career, Alistair Brownlee Retires

What is it: On Thursday, Alistair Brownlee (GBR) surprised the Triathlon world with the news he would be retiring from the sport. This was in the wake of his impressive podium result at the recent T100 Grand Final in Dubai.

• In a post, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said the sport had "profoundly shaped" his life, allowing him to fulfil his childhood dream and achieve "far more than I ever dared to imagine".

Incredible career: Brownlee’s two-decade career as a professional triathlete saw him become one of the most decorated triathletes ever:

• 2x Olympic gold medalist (London 2012, Rio 2016)

• 3x Olympian

• 2x World Champion

• 22 World Triathlon Series wins (the most ever)

• U23 World Champion

• Junior World Champion

• Commonwealth Games Champion (Glasgow 2014)

• IRONMAN Champion

• 2x IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship podiums

Game-changing racer: After first bursting onto the world stage with his win at the World Junior Championships in 2006, Brownlee quickly established himself as a generational athlete. And with his trademarked full-throttle, no-holds-barred racing style, Brownlee would change the sport forever.

• From 2009 to 2016 the “Brownlee Breakaway” was a staple of every World Triathlon event. Typically featuring himself and a rotating cast of characters, it was never a matter of if they would have a gap on the chasers, it was always how much time? 

Olympic Ovation: At the 2012 Olympics in London, Brownlee entered the race with the unbelievable pressure of being the #1 ranked athlete and competing on home soil. Even so, he was able to execute a near-perfect race that saw him cross the finish line first and become a British sporting legend.

• At the 2016 Games in Rio, Brownlee further cemented his legacy becoming the only athlete to win two individual Olympic gold medals.

Viral sensation: Not long after Rio, Brownlee brought triathlon into the mainstream psyche when, in a brotherly moment of support, carried his brother across the Grand Final finish line which ensured the World title would stay in the family.

• The incredible moment went viral with hundreds of millions of views, and to this day still makes the rounds on social media.

Injury issues: From 2016 onwards Brownlee seemingly could not get through a season without multiple debilitating injuries. This resulted in his first-ever Olympic miss when he was passed up for eventual silver (and future gold) medalist, Alex Yee.

Long course leap: In the later years of his career Brownlee would pivot to long course and he saw early promise with two 70.3 World Championship podiums in 2017 and 2018. However, he was never able to replicate his short-course success with 21st place as his best result at the IRONMAN World Championships.

A lifelong legacy: Along with lifetime memories for fans of Brownlee, he leaves a lasting legacy through his work with the Brownlee Foundation. A charity that has allowed thousands of children to experience the joy of sport and encourage active lifestyles.

Tempo’s take: Alistair Brownlee will forever be remembered as a fierce competitor who put it all on the line in every race he competed. His aggressive racing style brought a whole new level of competition to the sport that made every event thrilling and unpredictable.

• I grew up watching and eventually competing with Alistair, and I can easily say he was the athlete I was most excited, and scared, to compete against. His reputation as a General in the pack preceded itself, and if he didn’t think you were pulling your weight he would certainly let you know!

One of the most memorable moments of my career was running the final few kilometers of the 2018 Commonwealth Games with Brownlee. And although it wasn’t a fight for the win, he and I battled for that ninth-place finish like it was World Championship gold. That’s just the kind of competitor he was.

• He was an athlete who inspired an entire generation to take up triathlon. And although he is stepping away from the triathlon race course, Brownlee mentioned that he plans on pursuing “an exciting array of events, challenges, and adventures…things I've always wanted to have a crack at but haven't had the chance to pursue.”

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FAVORITES

👟 New shoes who dis: You’ve been training in your shoes for a while now and they just don’t have that “pop” like they used to. So, when should you replace them? There are a few factors to consider beyond just mileage. [Triathlete]

🧦 Socks as fit as you: Looking for unique, comfortable, and high-performing socks that can go from the boardroom to your brick workout? Outway socks are built for all-day performance, and now you can get them up to 60% off during their Black Friday sale! [Outway Socks]*

💪 Quicker strength gains: If you’re looking to find new levels of strength and injury resilience, adding strength training to your program can definitely help! But if you’re looking to maximize a certain muscle group, like glutes, doing those exercises first could help you find quicker strength gains. [Pubmed]

🤰 Training while pregnant: Simply training for triathlon can be difficult enough. But training while pregnant? Probably the most complicated scenario! There isn’t exactly a wealth of knowledge on how to manage training with a child on the way, but this post has some exceptional insights for pregnant/non-pregnant athletes alike! [Huzzah]

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TEMPO TECHNIQUE

Why Sculling is Superb

Want to level up your swim in 2025? Tempo Technique and their Olympic Triathlon swim experts will help you swim faster and with less effort by improving your stroke with proven technique analysis. Simply fill out this form and the team will be in touch ASAP!

What is it: Sculling is a swim drill that helps build a feel for the water, brings awareness to your body position, and helps improve the catch phase of the swim stroke.

Here are a few reasons why sculling is great for triathletes 👇

🦍 Increase propulsion

• When practicing sculling, the catch phase of the stroke becomes more efficient and results in an improved ROI for each stroke.

💪 Improved core strength

• The way the body sits in the water during sculling requires an increased demand on the core.

🛥️ Better body position

• When sculling properly, the hips will be higher in the water which promotes better body position while swimming.

Scull Progression

Here a two sculling drills to incorporate into your swim training:

• Of note for beginners, use a pull buoy to help maintain a good body position.

Front scull: This drill is all about feeling the water with your hands and learning to hold it at the beginning of the catch as demonstrated in this video.

Long dog paddle: Rover is definitely on to something with this drill. The goal is to build more awareness around the catch and how our hips help us generate power through the stroke.

• This video is a good representation of this drill.

Level up: Take the pull buoy out so that you can also work on maintaining a good body position, and give this challenging hybrid scull/single arm drill a go (but keep a normal stroke rate)

REEL TIME

If you add it up the math just makes sense on this! 🤪🤣

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YOU SAID

Here’s what Tempo readers said about whether they watch T100 races to see certain athletes.

RACE WEEKEND

IRONMAN Cozumel

Anne Reischman (GER) is the odds-on favorite in the women’s race. But should be pushed by Penny Slater (AUS).

The men’s race will see recent T100 World Championship winner Martin Van Riel (BEL) take on full-distance stalwarts Leon Chevalier (FRA) and Cam Wurf (AUS)

Full start lists

Challenge Florianopolis

Pamela Oliviera (BRA) should take the home soil win. While Andre Lopes and Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) should provide a battle to the finish.

Full start lists

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