Olmo and Luis Take Chequered Flag in Daytona

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In this edition we have a recap from the thrilling Clash Daytona, why sculling is superb, and who will World Triathlon be cracking down on this year?

Thank you for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, Canadian Olympic triathlete, current long course racer, and now, a newsletter writer.

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ONE BIG THING

Maternity Considerations Amongst New World Triathlon Rules for 2023

What is it: World Triathlon recently released their new competition rules for 2023. There are a number of significant rule changes including the introduction of maternity support for elite female athletes. Other notable changes include:

• Obligatory anti-doping education.

• Regulations for running shoes (which we previously discussed here).

Why it matters:

• New rules for maternity show a progressive turn for World Triathlon.

• When athletes announce their pregnancy they will have their ranking frozen until their child is two years old.

• In 2023 if athletes serve their penalty it will be considered accepted and no protest will be allowed.

Quick thought:

The new maternity policy is a huge step forward for World Triathlon. No doubt this will make a huge difference for female athletes moving forward. Kudos to them for bringing this in.

What else: A new change is the introduction of penalties for bike behaviour.

• Athletes who have been determined to have caused a crash will be disqualified.

• If they cause numerous crashes they could be prohibited from competing.

Crashes are part of bike racing. However, if it is clear athletes are taking too many risks with competitors, then there should be punishment.

NEWS

💸 Challenge cash: Sam Long (USA) and Fenella Langridge (GBR) were the big winners of the Challenge Family year-end athlete bonus, each taking home 25k for their efforts. [Challenge Family]

⛳️ Hole in one: LPGA professional Anne Van Dam recently competed in 70.3 Indian Wells while raising money for a competitor’s daughter’s complicated medical treatments. [Golf Channel]

🏅 Cheers coach: Malcolm Brown, long-time coach of Olympic medalists Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee recently received the IOC lifetime achievement award for his outstanding support and mentorship of Olympic athletes. [World Triathlon]

👑 Royal Triness: Recent World Triathlon Word Champion Flora Duffy just can’t stop racking up the accolades, as she was recently knighted for her service to the sport of triathlon and her country, Bermuda. [Royal Gazette]

🥊 Curry fury: “Pretty shitty,” is how Kiwi long-course star Braden Currie describes Ironman’s decision to split their World Championship. He pulls no punches in this interview. [Triathlon New Zealand]

RACE RECAP

Olmo and Luis Take Chequered Flag in Daytona

Women's Race

What happened: Olympian Valerie Barthelemy (BEL) pushed the pace in the swim with Sara Perez Sala (ESP) the only athlete to exit the water with her.

• Watch: Barthelemy and Perez Sala exit the swim

Perez Sala wasted no time jumping onto her bike and into the lead as she lead the bike from start to finish.

• Watch: Perez Sala leads the race on the bike

Sif Madsen (DEN) and Angelica Olmo (ITA) were big movers on the bike as they pulled within 90 seconds of Perez Sala as they headed out onto the run. Olmo went into hunt mode and eventually had Perez Sala in her sights. Later on the first lap she jumped into the lead and never looked back, taking the win in her first long course event.

• Watch: Olmo breaks the tape at Clash Daytona

It was Olmo’s first race since the Tokyo Olympics. She has admitted that difficulties with her Triathlon federation caused her to take a long break from the sport

Matt's take: There were a lot of wildcards in this race with proven long-course athletes like Perez Sala, and short-course athletes like Barthelemy stepping up to a new distance. Perez Sala greatly benefited from Barthelemy helping to push the pace in the swim.

• Olmo’s performance with no previous long course experience was stellar. Look for her on more podiums in 2023.

• Athletes like Barthelemy and Julie Derron (SUI) made it harder for themselves after competing in the WTCS grand final the week before.

Clash Daytona Women’s Podium: 

• 1st - Angelica Olmo (ITA)

• 2nd - Sara Perez Sala (ESP)

• 3rd - Julie Derron (SUI)

Men's Race

What happened: Henri Schoeman (RSA) pushed the pace in the swim and with Vincent Luis (FRA) and Seth Rider (USA), they were able to establish a significant gap over chasing athletes including Jason West (USA) and Tom Bishop (GBR).

• Watch: the lead swim pack charges onto the bike.

Bishop was not keen on letting them ride away with it and pushed hard, eventually catching the leaders and overtaking them.

• Watch: Bishop cycles past Seth Rider to take the lead.

Onto the run Bishop took off looking for the upset win. However, Luis clawed back the gap and once he settled into the lead he was able to cruise to victory.

• Joao Pereira (POR) ran like a man on fire, finishing in second, with Jason West (USA) taking third.

• Watch: Vincent Luis wins Clash Daytona.

Matt’s take: Editors note, I competed in this event.

The intrigue of who would perform better, the short or long-course athletes, set the stage for a great race. The breakaway group worked well to create a solid gap coming off the bike. And it looked like the podium was sealed.

• The bike efforts may have been a bit rich for some, and some class runs from the chase made for an awesome race right till the end.

• Shoutout to short-course athlete Pereira for an impressive effort and racing like a long-course vet.

Clash Daytona Men’s Podium: 

• 1st - Vincent Luis (FRA)

• 2nd - Joao Pereira (POR)

• 3rd - Jason West (USA)

Other Results

Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells

• Women’s race: Paula Findlay (CAN) rode away from the field and didn't look back to take the win in 4:06:10.

• Men’s race: Sam Long (USA) stayed patient through the race and was able to break the tape in a time of 3:43:34.

Ironman Western Australia

• Women's race: Sarah Crowley (AUS) showed her class over the full distance finishing in 8:46:09.

• Men's race: Max Neumann (AUS) backed up his big Kona performance with a winning time of 7:45:22.

Challenge Brazil

• Women's race: Pâmella Oliveira (BRA) used her home country support to come away with the win in 4:27:28.

• Men's race: Andre Lopes (BRA) took the emphatic win in a time of 3:53:53.

Upcoming Races

• Challenge Brazil │Dec 4 │Race Details

• Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells │Dec 4 │Race Details

• Clash Daytona │Dec 2 │Race Details

• Ironman Western Australia │Dec 4 │Race Details

TRAINING THOUGHT

Superb Sculling

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.

💪 Improve core strength

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

🛥️ Body position

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

This video highlights key focuses for sculling.

FAVOURITES

🛐 Iden visits "lucky hat" temple: Ironman World Champion Gustav Iden was recently en route to Taiwan to visit some sponsors, but more importantly, catch up with the folks from the Puyan Shunze temple, the Taoist temple featured on his lucky cap. [Focus Taiwan]

🤯 Iron crazy: Competing in one Ironman is often enough for some folks. But not for John Wragg and Elizabeth Model who have completed over 400 Ironmans between them! [Triathlete]

🕴️ CEO knows: Did the Ironman World Championships need to be split between two venues? Decide for yourself after watching Ironman CEO Andrew Messick explain his decision. [Triathlon Insider]

COMMUNITY CORNER

I'm currently on a plane heading to Hawaii for a long-awaited honeymoon! If you are a previous subscriber, thank you for reading. If you are a new subscriber I am stoked to have you here!

-Matt

Did you race this past weekend? Send us photos or an update from your race, we'd love to feature it in a future newsletter.

FUN AND GAMES

Quiz time - who's placed first in ITU this year? Reply with your name and we'll include it in the next edition (if you reply correctly!)

LATEST EDITIONS

• Huge Kona news, carbs are king, and Clash Daytona preview.

• Men's World Champion crowned, and where is World Triathlon?

• Women's World Championship, and major PTO network deal.