• The Tempo
  • Posts
  • As IRONMAN Suffers Broadcast Woes, T100 Celebrates Production Perfection

As IRONMAN Suffers Broadcast Woes, T100 Celebrates Production Perfection

IRONMAN broadcast boondoggle, busy training hacks, and key swimming muscles

Author

Matthew Sharpe
March 25, 2025

TOGETHER WITH MAUNA APPAREL

Good morning everyone,

After six weeks of managing a broken toe, it appears I’ve come out the other side. So far I’ve done a couple of short run/walks and it feels like the bone has healed 🙌 

The goal now is to manage my return to run properly so I can compete at IRONMAN 70.3 St. George in early May. In the meantime, I’ll be doing plenty of swimming and biking to prepare!

In today’s edition:

  • 📡 As IRONMAN suffers broadcast woes, T100 celebrates production perfection.

  • 📝 How do you balance a busy training and work schedule? Mauna Apparel’s CEO has a few secrets!

  • 🏊‍♀️ And what muscles do you use while swimming?

Thanks for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Headshot of Matt Sharpe

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free.

ONE BIG THING

As IRONMAN Suffers Broadcast Woes, T100 Celebrates Production Perfection

IRONMAN

What is it: This past weekend the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series kicked off at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong. But instead of wall-to-wall coverage of IRONMAN’s first big race of the season, fans of the sport were left in the dark as technical difficulties forced the broadcast team to suspend coverage of the event.

Big money, little coverage: With over 1.7 million dollars in Pro Series bonus money available, many of the world’s best triathletes - including current IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens (BEL) - were in Geelong to kick off their 2025 campaigns.

  • Along with the on-course talent, IRONMAN also boosted their broadcast with 3x IM World Champion Mirinda Carfrae and 1x IM World Champion Greg Welch.

As the gun went off and the races began to unfold, it appeared viewers were in for an exceptional show. The men’s competition featured a large pack of athletes - including Geens - with many of whom could win on the day. The women’s race featured a smaller lead group of athletes whose distinct skill sets made it uncertain who would break the tape.

Fade to black: About halfway through the bike, the live video ceased to function. After many minutes of suspended coverage, Welch’s voice briefly returned to explain the interruption,

“An internet outage at our production hub today and the inability to receive and transmit video or audio signals from our onsite cameras, we are unfortunately suspending our coverage of today’s IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.”

The show goes on: Although the live broadcast would DNF, the athletes still made the most of their Pro Series start. In the men’s race, Geens entered T2 in a group with ten other athletes including fellow Olympians Jake Birtwhistle (AUS), Kenji Nener (JPN), and Tayler Reid (NZ).

  • Geens, Reid, and Nener ran together for the first seven k’s before the Belgian blasted away. He would take the win, while Birtwhistle and Reid earned the final podium spots.

  • Full men’s results

In the women’s race, Hannah Berry (NZ), Regan Hollioake (AUS), and Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) entered T2 together hoping to start their Pro Series with a W. Berry would take the early run lead, only to have the Olympian, Van Coevorden, reconnect at 8km.

  • The Aussie continued to push to the finish, breaking the tape and taking the early Pro Series lead.

  • Full women’s results

Tempo’s take: In the battle for professional triathlon series supremacy, IRONMAN’s early Pro Series start should have given them a comfortable head start over the T100. But after this weekend’s broadcast disaster - contrasted with the T100’s flawlessly executed T1 Indoor Triathlon production - its seems the endurance behemoth is well and truly miles behind.

  • IRONMAN has the scale, the robust race calendar, and the talent to produce a world-class triathlon media product. And yet, with competition for attention becoming more ruthless by the day, these production own goals suggest they don’t understand or aren’t willing to do what it takes to execute well in this environment.

After broadcast issues last season, T100 showed it could take feedback and rapidly improve its product. And this weekend’s T100-produced event showed they are hungry for the triathlon market’s attention, and coveted advertising dollars…

  • As the athletes head to IRONMAN South Africa for round two of the Pro Series, we hope the inbound flights also carry a few extra broadcast personnel!

TOGETHER WITH MAUNA APPAREL

From Suit and Tie to Trisuits, How Philipp Billikopf Built Mauna Apparel into an Endurance Empire

Philip Billikopf is a triathlete and the CEO of Mauna Apparel. In this interview, he tells us how he pivoted from a career in finance to building Mauna Apparel, the challenges of running a successful triathlon brand, and his top tips for balancing training and work!

What's your triathlon origin story? 

I come from a cycling background, specifically mountain biking and cycle tourism. I started running as cross-training and discovered it was quite natural for me.

  • This led me to try triathlon, which meant I had to learn how to swim. Even after 10 years, I'm still figuring out the swimming part, haha!

Was it scary leaving a successful finance career to start Mauna Apparel?

For me, the scariest part would have been staying in the finance industry. Seeing people focused solely on making money or advancing their careers without pursuing their passions made me realize that life's too short.

  • I turned my passion into my lifestyle, and now I have the freedom to do what I love, with a flexible schedule that allows me to take a 5-hour ride on a Wednesday, even if it means working late that night.

Why has Mauna found such a strong following despite being in a competitive space?

We've built a tight-knit community that's come naturally since everyone behind the business is passionate about triathlon. We've focused on four core values: quality, design, price, and quick, reliable turnaround times. 

  • And we've invested countless hours in developing high-performance, technical equipment that meets the needs of any type of athlete.

What are the significant highlights and unexpected challenges you've faced building Mauna?

One of the biggest challenges is separating my business from my personal life! When you're deeply invested in something, it's hard to draw that line. I'm always thinking about how to improve Mauna, and there are ups and downs every day. However, when people try to bring me down, it only confirms that I'm doing things right.

Rumor has it you're the fittest CEO in triathlon?!?

Haha, I'm not sure about that! Some might say I'm buying fake TSS on Training Peaks!

  • But seriously, my advice for busy athletes trying to balance training and running a business is to plan ahead, be flexible, and adapt to circumstances!

Sometimes things don't go as planned, so it's essential to have a backup plan. And most importantly, get things done – talk is cheap, and it won't get you anywhere in work or training!

FAVORITES

🏊‍♀️ Swimming muscles: Have you ever wondered what muscles you use while swimming? Turns out, most of them! But which ones are used for propulsion? And which ones are for stabilization? This video explains! [U.S. Masters Swimming]

🍑 Wake up your glutes: “The glutes are the powerhouses of running and cycling.” Yes, but only if they’re actually working! Make sure these key muscles aren’t asleep when you need them by doing this simple, but effective glute activation! [Dr. Rangan Chatterjee]

🌻 Seed oil scandal: If you listen to TikTok influencers, you might think that even being in the same room as a seed oil could chop 20 years off your life. But are they right? Are seed oils actually bad for you? Not exactly, and this article explains how they can be a part of a healthy diet! [Mass General]

😈 Sadistic Sanders: A 70.3 focused swim workout, followed by an hour of power on the bike, and finished with a massive track workout? It’s just another day of training for Lionel Sanders as he prepares for the upcoming IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside! This video gives a quick glimpse of how he gets the work done. And he held how many watts for one hour?!?! [Lionel Sanders]

TEMPO TALKS PODCAST

What Are The Secrets of World-Class Transitions?

Which pro races should you really pay attention to?

And will millions of new dollars mean the T100 can compete with IRONMAN?

All this and more in the latest episode of the Tempo Talks podcast. 

Together with The TriDoc, we’ll bring you the biggest stories in Triathlon,

  • Training tips to make you faster,

  • And breakdowns of the latest in sports science and performance!

Listen to Tempo Talks on Apple, Spotify, and more!

REEL TIME

Sometimes your mind still thinks you’re on your long bike ride! 🚴‍♀️😆

QUICK NEWS

Multisport constable: Pilli Raju is a dedicated police constable from Khammam, who uses his passion for triathlon to help inspire thousands to chase their own finish lines! [The Hans India]

New President: European Triathlon has a new leader as Luxembourger Marc D'hooge was unanimously elected President. He takes over from Renato Bertrandi who held the post for 12 years. [FFTRI]

Massive kids tri: The Houston Kids Tri, which sees 1,500 youth compete in the largest kids tri in the world is celebrating 10 years of success! [Endurance Biz]

Santos success: Held since 1992, the Santos International Triathlon saw another successful outing as one of Brazil’s most iconic triathlons! [Atribuna Regional]

Indoor action: Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) showed she is the one to beat this year, and Henry Graf (GER) might be considered a new top dog after both athletes took the respective wins at the T1 Indoor Triathlon Cup. [World Triathlon]

TEMPO EXCLUSIVE ARCHIVE
LATEST EDITIONS

What did you think of today's newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Reply

or to participate.