Shownotes
The Feisty Triathlon podcast is back and we're getting to know our new hosts, Olympic medalist Katie Zaferes, Ironman announcer Joanne Murphy, and Feisty content director Kelly O'Mara. They're joined by special guest 4x World Champion Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae. And we're kicking off with a deep dive into their early journeys in triathlon — plus where they want the sport to go.
Each week, the new Feisty Triathlon show will showcase women’s voices and stories in the sport, as well as cover the latest news and results.
Episode 1 is all about beginnings and these four women share their surprising, inspiring, and sometimes messy stories of how they each found their way into triathlon, and how the sport has changed in the decades since they first found their way into swim-bike-run.
Then, they make their tri picks for the year. Including:
- How the sport of triathlon has evolved, especially the opportunities for female athletes and the changing landscape of competition
- What they would still like to see change in the sport
- How to attract more women at all distances
- Key match-ups and events to look forward to in the 2025 race season
Every champion starts somewhere and it's our hope that you'll be inspired by the passion, resilience, and personality behind these trailblazers of triathlon.
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Transcripts
Foreign.
Speaker B:We are live.
Speaker B:Welcome everyone to the first episode of our new Feisty Triathlon podcast.
Speaker B:We have our new hosts here, Joanne Murphy and Katie Zafarris.
Speaker B:And we have a special guest for our first episode, Mirinda Carfrae.
Speaker B:I feel like if, I feel like I should introduce you guys, but I feel like everyone knows you and they will get to know you.
Speaker B:Before we get started, I do want to thank Feisty's longtime sponsors, ORCA and Prevx.
Speaker B:If you're looking for a new wetsuit this tri season, use the code Feisty Feisty 15 for 15 off at Orca.
Speaker B:And make sure you're recovering with Previnex's plant based vegan shakes.
Speaker B:You can get 15 off with the code FEISTYTRY15.
Speaker B:We will include those links and codes in the comments here live and in the show notes.
Speaker B:And a reminder, if you are watching right now live, you can leave comments and questions.
Speaker B:We will open it up to questions towards the end.
Speaker B:But I want to start with one of my questions to get to know our new hosts, our special guests.
Speaker B:What was your first triathlon?
Speaker B:How did you get into tri?
Speaker B:Rennie I feel like, I was about to say, I feel like it was probably so long.
Speaker B:Do you remember how you got.
Speaker A:Was so long ago.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think my first triathlon was in, I, I always want to say 19, but it was 89.
Speaker A:Oh wow, 99.
Speaker A:99, not 89.
Speaker A:89.
Speaker A:I would have been, I'm like, I don't even know what decade we're in, so 99.
Speaker A:So I used to play basketball and met some triathletes at the local gym.
Speaker A:I was starting to try to bulk up for the basketball season.
Speaker A:Army 5, 3.
Speaker A:So dealing with women much bigger than myself.
Speaker A:So myself and a couple of my teammates who are also smaller in stature, met some triathletes at the gym.
Speaker A:Eventually, over time, they talked us, me, well, me into doing a race and I did a short like local race I think in like Redcliffe in Brisbane.
Speaker A:It was a 300 meter swim.
Speaker A:I feel like it was a 10k bike and a 3k run.
Speaker A:Very short and it was awful.
Speaker A:I just remember being like, what is this?
Speaker A:First of all, the swim was like choppy kind of dark water.
Speaker A:I wasn't a swimmer, so it was terrifying.
Speaker A:And people were just swimming all over the top of everyone else.
Speaker A:So that wasn't very friendly.
Speaker A:And then I got on the bike and it was just painful pushing, trying to go fast and then hopping off the bike and like, what the heck is this?
Speaker A:Running off the Bike with like lead for legs.
Speaker A:Needless to say, I finished.
Speaker A:I think I finished like third overall in the women somehow.
Speaker A:And immediately it was like, okay, when's the next one?
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:So a glutton for punishment.
Speaker A:And yeah, that was my first taste at triathlon.
Speaker B:That was.
Speaker B:After that I was going to be like, my follow up question is going to be like, why did you stay?
Speaker B:Like, why did you keep doing triathlon?
Speaker A:This is a question you can ask every single triathlete.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Why do you put yourself through this?
Speaker A:And I think it was just, well, for me, being a smaller basketball player, I was quite literally overlooked a lot and didn't matter if I was fitter than the other women or like, you know, would turn up to all the sessions and like, I just wasn't big enough to be considered for a lot of the teams.
Speaker A:And so with triathlon, I just saw this sport that, okay, I will get it out what I put in.
Speaker A:If I'm willing to do the work, which I am, then I could be good at this sport.
Speaker A:And so that was really what attracted me to the sport and just how kind of crazy it was and so different to what I've been doing in the whole, you know, team sport arena.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Does this, I feel like this resonates with, with you guys, right, Katie?
Speaker B:Joanne?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
Speaker C:Except mine's a little different because my dad was the one who got me started in triathlon because there was a Father's Day try and I'm one of three girls for of daughters.
Speaker C:And so one of us was going to do it with him.
Speaker C:And I grew up similar thing, different sports.
Speaker C:So I was soccer, lacrosse and swimming and had just started running kind of in those last couple of years.
Speaker C:And so I thought I was doing it for my dad.
Speaker C:Like, that was literally the reason I thought we were doing a triathlon.
Speaker C:And then maybe it was like years later I found out he was probably scheming for me of like thinking because I swam, because I ran, that I might be okay at it.
Speaker C:But my first time was like in a pool.
Speaker C:I mean, I had the slowest transition onto the bike because I had to pull on my like soccer shorts, pull on my T shirt, tie my running shoes on and hop onto like the pedal.
Speaker C:The pedals.
Speaker C:And then.
Speaker C:But the fastest T2 because I was ready to go off the bike.
Speaker C:Um, but it was at that point it was really just like, I didn't even, I didn't even dream possible of where triathlon would lead me because a.
Speaker C:I just didn't I had no idea that there was even that pathway.
Speaker C:Be like, I didn't know any professional athletes or Olympians or I was just doing triathlon for fun with my dad.
Speaker C:And I kind of did that race every year with him on Father's Day and then went to school to run at Syracuse University.
Speaker C:And during that time I was recruited by USA Triathlon through the collegiate recruitment program into draft legal racing.
Speaker C:And that was really the only time that I started thinking, oh, this is something like, that's going to become a bigger part of my life.
Speaker C:And even then I still had like, no idea where it was going to lead.
Speaker B:Do you wish you had known earlier or is it kind of.
Speaker B:No, she's shaking her head.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:I think the naivety benefited me so much in my career, like, especially in those initial stages because when I was recruited for the collegiate recruitment program, I basically understood it was the Olympic sport, but nothing on like the draft legal specific, like, specificity of that.
Speaker C:And I, I don't think I realized like, the different levels of racing or where I was at.
Speaker C:I was literally just trying to learn a new sport and that was enough for me.
Speaker C:And I was so just really focused on that part that there I wasn't.
Speaker C:There was no pressure or stress that would come with probably if I had really taken in, like, taken to heart, like, the program that I was in.
Speaker C:I mean, I knew enough to be nervous and intimidated.
Speaker C:Like, I've told this story many times, but when we were driving, my dad drove me out to Colorado Springs.
Speaker C:When it, when I realized that I could be.
Speaker C:We were going to be residents at the U.S.
Speaker C:olympic and Paralympic Training Center.
Speaker C:And it's a 24 hour drive from Maryland.
Speaker C:The whole way is great.
Speaker C:Like, we take our stops for football games along the way, but like we got an hour out or like 90 minutes out.
Speaker C:And I said, dad, I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker C:Like, I'm ready, like, can we go home?
Speaker C:Because it just scared me because I was like, I've never done this sport and here I am, like going to be surrounded at that, like, highest level of expectations.
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker C:And my dad is just like, hey, Kate, like, if you don't like it, like, that's fine.
Speaker C:Like, give it a week, I'll fly out, we'll drive back together.
Speaker C:And it became like a no risk thing.
Speaker C:And so like, yeah, I'm so glad I went into it just without knowing anything because it really had me focused on, like in the moment learning and obviously at, at points in my career, like, there was like, lots of pressure there.
Speaker C:So I did have to deal with that at some point.
Speaker C:But not necessarily like right off the bat.
Speaker B:Right, that makes sense.
Speaker B:I feel like there are things we all, you know, that you do wish you had known back in the, like when you guys started, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe that, you know, what's going to come isn't one of them.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, Joanne, I feel like you and I are the non world champions here.
Speaker D:Well, I have been on an Ironman World champion finish line, so, I mean, a couple of times, but just talking rather than racing.
Speaker D:Unfortunately.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:My start in the sport was I was a team sports player all my life.
Speaker D:I was an Irish dancer as a kid growing up in a very small rural community in Ireland.
Speaker D:And when I moved to the west of Ireland, to Galway, I was playing rugby and tag rugby.
Speaker D:And as a kid I used to cycle with my dad kind of in my.
Speaker D:I suppose Maybe I was 9, 10, 11, 12, maybe that kind of age group.
Speaker D:And when we played tag rugby, some of the guys were getting bikes and we decided we'd go cycling.
Speaker D: Ocean Race came to Galway in: Speaker D:And I heard this crazy thing of.
Speaker A:Like, there's a triathlon.
Speaker D:What you mean you swim, you cycle, you run?
Speaker D:What, they're going to swim and go away?
Speaker D:Are you having a laugh?
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker D:Not going to be able for that.
Speaker D:Anyway, I wasn't able for it, so I did a relay so I couldn't swim.
Speaker D: very first Triathlon back in: Speaker D:I absolutely loved it.
Speaker D:And the following year, even though the Volvo Ocean Race didn't have a stopover here, that charity triathlon went ahead and I did the swim bike and run myself.
Speaker D: f an incredible journey since: Speaker D:And yeah, I have never raced at the level that these two fabulous athletes have.
Speaker D:Have raced us.
Speaker D:But, yeah, it's just, it's a whirlwind.
Speaker D:I've done all the distances, I just haven't raced at world championship level.
Speaker B:So it sounds like triathlon wasn't a big thing in Ireland, like the same way it wasn't a big.
Speaker B:Was it big in Australia, though?
Speaker B:Because I feel like in Australia everybody knows how to swim, right?
Speaker B:Like you guys have all these.
Speaker B:Everyone's a triathlete, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, in Australia it was big, but I still had no clue.
Speaker A:I mean, I, I didn't know anything about triathlon.
Speaker A:Until I met the triathletes.
Speaker A:Like Ironman for me was the surf because we had the Iron man series in Australia and that's like surf, life saving, you know, boarding, swimming and that was on TV on the weekends.
Speaker A:And so that to me was what Iron man was until I learned about Hawaii Iron man which was like holy wow.
Speaker A:And so yeah, I.
Speaker A:No clue, I don't know why because I think in 99 we Australian women were like top, I think we got first, second, third, fourth and sixth at the world championships.
Speaker A:So we had, and we had like the, you know, ascensure series, they had like the TU's Blue Series or something way back in the day.
Speaker A:A bunch of different super sprint style racing races and I think it was televised.
Speaker A:But yeah, again I was just oblivious until I met these triathletes and I'm like no wait, you do three sports and it's one sport.
Speaker A:How does that make sense?
Speaker A:So yeah, I kind of came in blind and I was super intrigued and initially my eyes were on Olympic distance because I, I met Loretta Harrop who won the world champs in 99 in Montreal and she went on to race in the first Olympic Games.
Speaker A:Obviously was in Sydney for triathlon.
Speaker A:And so yeah, I was kind of like captivated by short course racing and Olympic distance racing but I sucked at swimming.
Speaker A:So you know, a few years into trying to chase that Olympic dream I realized okay, this is like an uphill battle for me.
Speaker A:And in that time as well I learned about Ironman and Hawaii and that just captured me my attention.
Speaker A: bviously at some point around: Speaker C:Did you enjoy Ironman like right away?
Speaker C:Like did you gravitate towards that distance or just feel like it suited your strengths the most?
Speaker A:No, I would have been a short course athlete if I could swim.
Speaker A:Like and you know I say that it kind of ingests.
Speaker A:I, I did want to do Ironman but every single Ironman I ever did I'm like, this is so dumb.
Speaker A:Like this is way too far, this is way too hard.
Speaker A:This is maybe not great for my body but my first Ironman was in Hawaii.
Speaker A:So like I got to race like the world champs because I won a 70.3 world champs to qualify.
Speaker A:And back then you could do that.
Speaker A:I think it went back and forth, I don't think.
Speaker A:Give me that again now.
Speaker A:But yeah, I got to race in Kona and I finished second that year and the next Year, it was my second Iron man was Kona, and I finished.
Speaker A:So I was like, okay, like, I am meant for this.
Speaker A:Like, I don't love the distance, but I got to race in Kona, and I loved that race.
Speaker A:So it was kind of when I, you know, then had to go and qualify and do other Ironman racing.
Speaker A:Like, no, no, no.
Speaker A:I don't want to do Ironman.
Speaker A:I just want to do Kona.
Speaker A:And I don't know.
Speaker A:Like, I think had I been able to swim, I think I would have followed the Olympic distance pipeline and tried to go to the Olympics and represent my country in that way.
Speaker A:But, I mean, I think all things happen for a reason.
Speaker A:And Ironman, Hawaii, and Kona has given me, like, my whole life.
Speaker A:So, so much to be grateful for.
Speaker B:Reverse question.
Speaker B:Katie, do you have a desire to do Iron Man?
Speaker C:No, never.
Speaker C:Half Ironman.
Speaker C:I can, like, fathom.
Speaker C:And actually, it's like, a little.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I feel like I'm pretty much done professional racing.
Speaker C:Like, I retired professionally, and I don't really plan on coming back, but I always.
Speaker C:There's, like, a little bit of what ifs for, like, the middle distance for me, because I think I would have enjoyed it.
Speaker C:I also think it would have suited my strength.
Speaker C:Ironman, though, I'm like, sometimes I think Olympic distance races feel long and, like, I can't even imagine a bad Ironman.
Speaker C:Like, like, how long that must feel.
Speaker C:So, yeah, we went to.
Speaker C:I want to say, I can't remember what year we were there, but we were there spectating with a sponsor, and people are like, oh, watch out.
Speaker C:You'll catch the Ironman bug.
Speaker C:I'm pretty sure I almost quit triathlon just training there.
Speaker C:And also spectating was really exhausting, too.
Speaker B:So I was like, oh, in Kona.
Speaker C:In.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, in Kona.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:My husband did the same thing.
Speaker B:He, like, got off the plane, went for a run, and was like, they want you to do what?
Speaker B:This is ridiculous.
Speaker D:So, Kelly, throwing the question at you then, because you're the only one who hasn't actually answered the question.
Speaker D:How did you get started in triathlon?
Speaker D:Where was your first race?
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I feel like.
Speaker B:I feel like this is gonna be very embarrassing, but for a boy.
Speaker B:My husband.
Speaker B:My now husband was on the triathlon team in college, and I was like, oh, that sounds.
Speaker B:That sounds cool.
Speaker B:And so I, like, secretly practiced swimming and, like, riding my bike at the park so that I would, like, be good when I showed up, because I did not.
Speaker B:I actually didn't know how to Ride a bike, if anyone.
Speaker B:Most people don't have to swim.
Speaker B:I didn't know how to ride a bike.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, and then it's very fun.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:So my first triathlon was Santa Cruz Sentinel, if anyone remembers the one back in the day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I did it in tennis shoes, like you just said.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I didn't know that sighting was a thing.
Speaker B:That was my, like, oh.
Speaker B:But I was.
Speaker B:But we stuck.
Speaker B:I stuck with the triathlon, and.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I married the guy, so you.
Speaker D:Got the guy in the end.
Speaker D:Kelly, was it worth it?
Speaker B:Well, there you go.
Speaker B:It's all worth it.
Speaker B:But my first triathlon.
Speaker B:So now, let's see.
Speaker B:Rennie's first was 99.
Speaker B: You said your first was: Speaker B: My first was: Speaker A:5.
Speaker C:I'm right in the middle.
Speaker C:2007.
Speaker B:So that's like.
Speaker B:We're all kind of at, like, some decades here not to age ourselves.
Speaker B:How has it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's changed a lot.
Speaker B:Like, I remember those early days when there was, like, backyard races.
Speaker B:How have you guys seen it change in that time?
Speaker C:Rennie's seen the most change, so let's start with her.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I.
Speaker A:I got to see the start of triathlon on the world stage with the World cup series and springboarding from, you know, the first Olympics.
Speaker A:So I didn't.
Speaker A:I didn't get to see kind of before that.
Speaker A:And I think, you know, you go back and you talk to, like, Greg Bennett or, like, Laura Bennett and those guys, and they have, like, even different stories.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I mean, at least I got to race, like, grassroots short course sprint races when that was enough.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Like, Right.
Speaker A:Oh, you did a sprint triathlon.
Speaker A:That's pretty cool.
Speaker A:And, yeah, got to, like, feel the grassroots.
Speaker A:And, like, the Noosa Triathlon, massive multi sport event in Australia.
Speaker A:That was one of my first, I think, Olympic distances and, like, getting to see it evolve over the years and just grow and then, like, the 70.3 series emerging.
Speaker A:I mean, for me, it was all, like, almost perfect timing.
Speaker A:Like, I came over to the us, did my.
Speaker A: first half in, like, I think: Speaker A:I came over because there were just lots of racing opportunities.
Speaker A:There wasn't a 70.3 series then.
Speaker A:So you were just kind of racing, like, I think I did a race in Florida.
Speaker A:I did a race like the Spirit of Racine, which ended up being Racine.
Speaker A:70.3.
Speaker A:I did E.
Speaker A:I don't know if Eagle man, before it was 70.3 or not, I can't remember so many years ago, but even, like, St.
Speaker A:Croix and races like that, before the 70.3 series was formed.
Speaker A:And then for me, I was like, okay, I'm doing these half Ironman distance races.
Speaker A:It's not part of the series.
Speaker A:There's no world championships.
Speaker A:I want to make money.
Speaker A:You know, right now, I'm just living sort of paycheck to paycheck.
Speaker A:Like, I need to get top three in order to break even.
Speaker A:I need to top two to, like, maybe have a little money to spend on food.
Speaker A:And if I win, then, you know, great.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm golden.
Speaker A:So I was sort of racing like that from race to race, and then I was like, okay, do I go up and race Iron Man?
Speaker A:Because that's really where sponsorship money is.
Speaker A: ries was formed, and that was: Speaker A:So I'm like, perfect.
Speaker A:Now there's a series and a world championship event that I can train for.
Speaker A:And so I just saw that evolution and how big that became so quickly just by having a world championship event.
Speaker A:I think that was really cool.
Speaker A: ut, yeah, Kona I've seen from: Speaker A:And, yeah, I mean, it.
Speaker A:I feel like it has changed, and it hasn't changed.
Speaker A:I mean, obviously, we had the women go to Nice, and now everyone's coming back together, which, you know, I see both sides of that, and I don't know what the best answer is.
Speaker A:I mean, I loved being able to race with the men and also hated it because, you know, there's all those different, you know, things that we could talk about some.
Speaker A:Some other time.
Speaker A:Like, in terms of, you know, the pro tail end of the pro men's pack interfering with the lead of the women's pack, and then the age group men sort of interfering with the back of our pack.
Speaker A:So those issues.
Speaker A:But then also having that one day where everyone gets to race was pretty cool.
Speaker B:How big was Kona when you first did it?
Speaker A: we only had, like, less than: Speaker A: Like, it was, like, maybe: Speaker A:And remember when we wanted 50 women to qualify for Kona?
Speaker B:There was like, there is no more room.
Speaker A:Yeah, there is no room like that.
Speaker A:That was like, the argument.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:And we at that point were like, we can put.
Speaker A:Can we put the pros on the road?
Speaker A:Like, let's put our rocks on the road.
Speaker A:Then there's an extra.
Speaker A:Extra space.
Speaker A:But you know, it was just a weird time.
Speaker B:Different time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And, and I, I think through that, like Iron man to their credit recognized.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We have a opportunity here on the women's side to grow the sport.
Speaker A:But yeah, I'm kind of.
Speaker A:I digress.
Speaker A:And I'm talking about something different than what you first.
Speaker B:No, no, I was curious.
Speaker B:I think one of the, I mean, I think a lot of people are curious how Kona has changed over the years.
Speaker B:Because I think Even in the 10, 15 years I've been going, it's changed.
Speaker B:But what stuck?
Speaker B:I actually wanted to ask you, as you're saying that you said that you had to do Iron man kind of to make a living.
Speaker B:Can you make a living now at just 70.3, can an athlete not like, yes, absolutely.
Speaker A:I mean, in the emergence of the T100, I mean, there's no better time than right now to be a professional athlete.
Speaker A:There's so many opportunities.
Speaker A:And I think, you know, when T100 sort of came out, I'm like, wow, like, I wish I was like 10 years younger because now you don't have to race Iron Man.
Speaker A:Like, and you have like, I mean, Paula Finlay came to mind just now.
Speaker A:She is going to race Iron man this year, which is surprising.
Speaker A:But there are athletes like Flora Duffy, like, Hollywood never wants to do an Ironman.
Speaker A:And like Katie maybe, you know, never, never say never.
Speaker A:There's opportunity, right?
Speaker A:Like, and there's pretty big contracts available and like lucrative opportunities for these athletes to go and make a living and race around the world.
Speaker A:And that just wasn't there before.
Speaker A:And now obviously with the T100 sort of came the pro series.
Speaker A:Like it forced, in my opinion, I think Iron Man's hand to, okay, let's make a series where athletes are vying for end of year bonuses.
Speaker A:And so now you don't only have T100 bonus and great prize money.
Speaker A:You have Iron man giving out the prize money.
Speaker A:It sort of always has.
Speaker A:But now, you know, the opportunities for world bonuses and being ranked number one in the world, like now you can go to sponsors and be like, okay, I've ranked number one in the world.
Speaker A:Whereas before we didn't really have that like you won the world chance.
Speaker A:That was kind of it and that was great for me because I was able to get to the top and win that race.
Speaker A:But I think it's just, it's just a more season long narrative now that, that we're able to follow, which I think is great for the fans ends of the sport.
Speaker D:Yeah, And I think as well, you know, you've mentioned a lot about there, Rene, in terms of what's changed is actually the amount of opportunity now that athletes have to race.
Speaker D:So you have Ironman, you've super tri, you've T100, you've challenged.
Speaker D:I'm sure I'm missing hundreds of other brands who are out there vying for triathletes to race at them.
Speaker D:And you have other indigenous companies that are smaller companies that are maybe doing multi sport festivals.
Speaker D:Like I think of the, the guys down in Australia, you know, there's guys here in the UK and stuff.
Speaker D:I'm sure there's plenty in America.
Speaker D:And what it has done is it's opened up the opportunity for more people to access more races.
Speaker D: ink back to when I started in: Speaker D:I think actually Mark Allen raced in Ireland.
Speaker D: Back in the: Speaker D:And the Skerries Triathlon I think celebrated around 40.
Speaker D:That's our oldest, one of the oldest triathlons in Ireland.
Speaker D: and came when Ironman came in: Speaker D:And that's really when Ironman got on people's radar.
Speaker D:So I'm sure in the States and in Canada and Australia, you know, you've got your homegrown sports.
Speaker D:We have those homegrown sports that everybody sees.
Speaker D:We've got the hurling and the football for the men, the camogi and the Gaelic football for the women.
Speaker D:We've got soccer and rugby.
Speaker D:They're the homestead sports that every kid in every rural community will play.
Speaker D:But triathlon wasn't.
Speaker D:Whereas when Ironman came, it put the sport into the public spotlight for people here particularly.
Speaker D:And now we see lots of people going abroad to race.
Speaker D:So it's broadened the horizons as well of people that it's not just racing at home, but it's racing abroad.
Speaker D:You've got athletes trying to qualify for World Championships from Ireland, going to the States for, for the extra slots that are available in some of the 70.3 World Championships.
Speaker D:You've got some of the series in the UK here as well, offering opportunities for people to experience the thrill and the excitement of the sport.
Speaker D:And I think that's really what's changed is we've had a lot more people step up to host events, to deliver events and then we've Got this load of people kind of suddenly realizing that it's not just Ironman, it's not just Kona, but actually we've got pockets of the sport closer to us and we also have the opportunity with cheaper flights in some cases.
Speaker D:If you're like us, you've got Ryanair and Aer Lingus off the island of Ireland.
Speaker D:We can go to destination races.
Speaker D:So it has become for us definitely more of a lifestyle style sport as an age grouper.
Speaker D:We can go to.
Speaker D:There's loads of people going to.
Speaker D:Irish people gone to Lanzarote this week for the Ironman.
Speaker D:Lanzarote last week, Marbella.
Speaker D:I think Ireland was probably one of the biggest countries.
Speaker D:The UK is generally in the top three, you know, and I think that's what's changed as well, that it's not just the companies that are delivering the races, but actually the whole aspect of the race and the opportunity to race from grassroots right through to world championship at various levels has made a big, big difference.
Speaker D:And the explosion of social media has helped and YouTube channels and athletes having the opportunity to share their story.
Speaker D:We don't need mainstream media, in my opinion.
Speaker D:We have so many podcasts, YouTube, YouTube channels.
Speaker D:Everybody knows who Lucy Charles Barclay is.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:I'm still a big fan of mainstream media.
Speaker D:I'm just gonna put it out there too.
Speaker D:But what I'm trying to say is I suppose social media has offered us the opportunity for everybody to have a channel and to have followers and to spread the word about the sport.
Speaker D:I suppose so I've gone off on a little tangent there as well.
Speaker D:So we might hand over to Katie.
Speaker B:No, I was gonna say we have a question for Joanna before you.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:I know what Gaelic football is and I feel like Riddy does, but yes, we have a question.
Speaker B:What is Gaelic football?
Speaker D:Does anybody else want to answer it?
Speaker B:I was gonna say it's, it's.
Speaker B:It's like a cross between rugby and soccer and football, basically.
Speaker B:That's like more violent.
Speaker D:Yeah, not more violent.
Speaker D:We don't have sticks at each other like we do in hurling and Komogi.
Speaker D:But it's basically.
Speaker D:It's a round ball.
Speaker D:It's like a soccer ball.
Speaker D:I think it's slightly heavier.
Speaker D:And you have goal posts that are like NFL or AFL goal posts.
Speaker D:So when you score a goal, it has to go into the smaller box and you get three points and for the goal.
Speaker D:And if you score it over between the high posts like in rugby or NFL, I really don't have no hope.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker D:They play, you get One point.
Speaker D:And then you've got teams from all different communities.
Speaker D:So say here, for example, in.
Speaker D:In Galway, there might be.
Speaker D:I don't actually know.
Speaker D:There could be 25 or 30 Gaelic football or GAA clubs.
Speaker D:And you'd have teams lining out and playing matches against each other.
Speaker D:Like in the middle of the week they'll be training.
Speaker D:It is like, it's amazing.
Speaker D:It's an amazing sport.
Speaker D:Our national sports are so exciting.
Speaker D:I encourage everybody to go on YouTube and look up the All Ireland football final, which is usually featuring Dublin and Mayo.
Speaker D:Not sure who's going to feature this year, but it is.
Speaker D:It's just everybody gets behind it.
Speaker D:Even if you don't play a Gaelic sport, I say Gaelic because that's what they're called.
Speaker D:You by watching it, you're absolutely engrossed in it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And you can hop the ball, kick the ball, hand past the ball.
Speaker D:There's loads of different things.
Speaker D:There you go.
Speaker B:We have a follow up.
Speaker B:What the heck is kimoji?
Speaker D:This is not meant to be this way.
Speaker D:Komobi is the women's version of the men's game of hurling.
Speaker D:So you see, it's like, it's a hurl.
Speaker D:It's like.
Speaker D:It's like a cross between a hockey stick maybe and a lacrosse neck.
Speaker D:But it's a.
Speaker D:It's a wooden.
Speaker D:It's an ash piece of wood and you have a ball that's like a tennis ball.
Speaker D:It's called a schlitter and it's really hard.
Speaker D:And when you put the ball on.
Speaker A:That'S like Harry Potter.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:And you hit it, it goes like serious speed.
Speaker D:And again, you've got three points for a goal, one point for an over the bar, ferocious game.
Speaker D:Absolutely one of the most thrilling games you'll ever watch in your life.
Speaker D:Again, I encourage anybody to check it up on YouTube.
Speaker D:I probably haven't done it a good service.
Speaker D:I used to play Koga years ago as a child, but I haven't played it for a long time.
Speaker D:So I'm sure lots of things have.
Speaker D:Have changed with it.
Speaker D:But it's a.
Speaker D:It's a fascinating game.
Speaker D:Two teams again, cross country and.
Speaker D:And huge, particularly in rural communities in Ireland.
Speaker B:So it was hard for triathlon to break in to this is what we're saying.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker D:It still is.
Speaker D:It still is.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's a.
Speaker D:It's a big sport in Ireland.
Speaker D:I did actually look at the numbers during the week.
Speaker D:It's quite big, but.
Speaker D:And it's getting bigger.
Speaker D:But it's.
Speaker D:It's breaking that not breaking it because there's room for all the sports to be there.
Speaker D:But kids play the national sports in school.
Speaker D:That's what's encouraged.
Speaker D:That's what drives a lot of the community spirit around the place as well.
Speaker D:But we've so many sports.
Speaker D:We had so many teams in the Olympics.
Speaker D:We've so many national governing bodies across so many.
Speaker D:So many sports as well here.
Speaker D:Similar probably to everybody else.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:Yeah, but it's.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So triathlon and even though we're an island, there isn't huge opportunities to swim.
Speaker D:If you're living in the middle of nowhere, there's no swimming pools.
Speaker C:You're.
Speaker D:You've to answer the question now.
Speaker D:Sorry, Kelly.
Speaker B:No, yeah, I was.
Speaker B:We were going to move away from Gaelic football, as fascinating as that was.
Speaker C:But yeah.
Speaker B:Katie, I'm wondering because obviously we talked a lot here about the expansion of like Iron man and long course and the opportunities.
Speaker B:Do you feel like the opportunities have also increased on the short course side?
Speaker B:Because I feel like sometimes the short course athletes are still like I have to fly all over and I don't make that much money.
Speaker C:I would, I'd agree with that.
Speaker C:Like there's certain.
Speaker C:So like super try was.
Speaker C:Has been a really good thing for short course racing and they had like two races last year, so Boston and Chicago, both in the U.S.
Speaker C:but and I think in general short course racing everywhere else is.
Speaker C:Is pretty great.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:But it's actually when, when you're asking what's changed?
Speaker C:For me it's been, I mean one of my first races was San Diego, like WTS or World Triathlon Championship Series and that doesn't exist.
Speaker C: , I want to say: Speaker C:Now that doesn't exist.
Speaker C:So like I think that really hurts our growth of just like draft legal triathlon in the United States because it's really hard to get to get to races.
Speaker C:And something I'm now experiencing on the coaching side of things as we get like our draft legal athletes is like you have to travel far and that's costly.
Speaker C:And so I know it's something USA Triathlon is really working on is trying to have more opportunities to race draft legal events.
Speaker C:How can we implement just more opportunities even if they're in local races and to make it more manageable so that people don't have to travel to another country or even across the.
Speaker C:Across this country is like.
Speaker C:Is enough but rather have more local, local draft legal triathlons.
Speaker C:So I think that's like one of the.
Speaker C:One of the things I would love to see in the future is just more, more opportunities to race more locally and do draft legal racing.
Speaker B:I think a lot of the non draft short course races in the US have also sort of like there used to be a heyday.
Speaker B:I mean, Rennie kind of mentioned some of them that she used.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:There used to be kind of a heyday of non drafting Olympic races in the US and there's just not as much anymore.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's.
Speaker C:Oh, now I'm going to fre.
Speaker C:There's a Muscatine Triathlon which is in Iowa and it actually has pretty.
Speaker C:Quite a good prize purse to it.
Speaker C:I think if you win, it's $5,000.
Speaker C:And I'm like, how does.
Speaker C:Like that's really uncommon now.
Speaker C:So like trying to send athletes to that race because it is an opportunity to do the shorter distance and make money in the US.
Speaker B:It'S really.
Speaker B:I mean you used to do.
Speaker B:I mean there was like Hy Vee and lifetime and Chicago.
Speaker A:St.
Speaker A:Anthony's is still around, which is awesome.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That was always a sort of a staple in the spring calendar.
Speaker A:But yeah, it's kind of sad because I feel like that's sort of where a lot of, well, myself and a lot of my peers, we cut our teeth on those races, right?
Speaker A:Like doing the short course racing and, and even like, you know, super league try is an option.
Speaker A:But like in Australia we had all of the, you know, super sprint options down there.
Speaker A: ke, I remember, like maybe in: Speaker A:Again, it was huge money for me to do the series and it was like five races and there was like super sprints or they were like double sprints.
Speaker A:So similar to what sprint Super League is doing.
Speaker A:But it was all over the country and we had people from the US coming.
Speaker A:We had like, you know, basically the best in the world.
Speaker A:And a lot of, at that point, a lot of the best were from Australia because I think we just had opportunity.
Speaker A:And to Katie's point, where there's opportunity, that's where I think the country will thrive.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like the athletes from that country will thrive because there's so much opportunity.
Speaker A:Opportunity.
Speaker A:And I think, you know, for the Iron man side of things, we have that here in the U.S.
Speaker A:but yeah, there's not many options for short course racing.
Speaker D:I think specifically.
Speaker D:Well, I know from our, from our perspective here on this side of the Atlantic, there's very little draft legal racing goes on in Ireland in particular and, and even in the UK there isn't a huge amount either.
Speaker D:I mean it's all non draft short.
Speaker D:All the short course stuff is, is non draft legal.
Speaker D:Unless it's like a mixed team relay or something where it's very, very short.
Speaker D:Closed roads.
Speaker D:Because trying to get closed roads for draft legal racing is just impossible.
Speaker D:One of the reasons it's just.
Speaker B:Have you ever done a mixed team relay joint?
Speaker D:I haven't actually done a mixed team relay.
Speaker D:I know, I'd love to, but.
Speaker D:Yeah, no, I think the, the, the national championships used to take place in Galway the last couple of years and I used to commentate the race.
Speaker D:So yeah, never got to race it.
Speaker B:Maybe sometime it's fun.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:I feel like, I mean obviously Katie's done the Mooney.
Speaker B:Have you ever done a mixed team?
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:They're wild.
Speaker A:I don't think so.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's the best.
Speaker C:It's my favorite event by far actually.
Speaker A:I did.
Speaker A:We did the first.
Speaker A:So the first ever mixed team ITU was in Tisuvaras, Hungary and I was on a team with Brad Colorfelt, Nikki Edgar at the time, Pip Taylor.
Speaker A:You probably don't even know these names.
Speaker A:They're like from year from the dinosaur era.
Speaker A:Richie Cunningham, Simon Thompson and I can't think of the other guy but was three men and three women and it was like super sprint style and we won the world champ.
Speaker A:So I also have that world title.
Speaker D:Added another world title to her titles.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know if you really count.
Speaker A:It was the first time they ever did it.
Speaker C:She has too many, she forgets about them.
Speaker B:Why was that?
Speaker B:I totally got sidetracked there by if I had a world titles I just forgot about.
Speaker B:But I was going to say you kind of mentioned Katie that if you, you know, you'd love to see more draft legal races.
Speaker B:What are some other things you guys would like to see?
Speaker B:I mean so much has changed.
Speaker B:There are as many opportunities.
Speaker B:What do we still want to see, see improve or change from here?
Speaker B:If you were like queen of triathlon.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You could just make things happen.
Speaker D:What do you mean if she were.
Speaker D:We are the queens of triathlon, the feisty ones.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean for me it's a lot about like just seeing draft legal events in the US and having more opportunities for like because it's impacted my life so much and I've just enjoyed racing like the world triathlon series.
Speaker C:I'd like having more daily training, like more places for athletes to, to go, more opportunities so they can like feel supported in an environment and it's, it is, it's just those things are just hard to do and I would love like, my dream is like to have a Hamburg esque, Bermuda esque like crowd at one of these World Triathlon Championship series in the United States.
Speaker C:Because it like I remember going to my first Hamburg and it was, it was pretty early on in my career but still I had, I have never seen like four deep in spectating of this event, like to the point where like you had to get there early to like find a place and the energy that that brings was just really, it's just such a special atmosphere.
Speaker C:So that's, that's like as Queen of triathlete, that's what I envision.
Speaker C:Like I'd love to see that and I'd like to see more of just like the overlapping of the different types of athlete from long course to short course.
Speaker C:I think now you see it in T100 which is really cool for me is like most of my, most of the athletes that I like have been doing world triathlon races with for the past like 10 years or decade are now moving on to T100.
Speaker C:And I think it's really cool when you see like the merging of world Triathlon and non draft like longer distance athletes at the same time going against each other.
Speaker C:I just think that's pretty cool.
Speaker C:I think there's complications to it because like even there's like the T100 and World Triathlon race happening on the same weekend and I'm like oh, like that's gonna be hard for people to choose between.
Speaker C:So I don't know the best way to do it yet.
Speaker C:But I like, I do like when everyone's kind of mixing.
Speaker C:We did that at like Island House was really neat to do that at.
Speaker C:Um, so I, I like those types of opportunities too.
Speaker B:Does it seem like the WTCS athletes are sort of just like dominating now at the 100k or is that just my perception?
Speaker B:Brittany's like, yeah, it does sort of sound.
Speaker C:I was like, I have a biased view.
Speaker A:But oh no, I 100% agree.
Speaker A:The best, the best Ironman athletes.
Speaker A:I mean there are some exceptions to this rule and I had an argument with, with whatever.
Speaker A:I can't think of his name anyway.
Speaker B:Some guy.
Speaker D:Some guy.
Speaker A:No, no, he's like this is not the case.
Speaker A:Like ironman athletes are beating short course athletes.
Speaker A:I'm like, no, like generally the progression is.
Speaker A:They're very fast over the short course.
Speaker A:Then some athletes, not all Short course athletes can bridge the gap, but there are a lot of short course athletes that then move to halves and they're dominant because it's basically the same training, a little bit of a longer ride and then when you move up to Ironman that's another big step.
Speaker A:But typically the short course athletes are the ones that come up through the ranks and then they dominate at the, at the highest level.
Speaker A:You know, Sam laid low is an exception to that rule.
Speaker A:He didn't really do short course and there are a couple others but you know, Christian Blumenfeld, Gustav Eden, like I came through short course ranks anyhow.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like there's so many that came through short course and, and made the jump up to Iron man and dominated that distance.
Speaker A:So like I, I feel like it's inevitable.
Speaker A:Like you've been doing that training for so long and now you just have and you know, it's another hour and a half.
Speaker A:But they, but the training that the short course athletes do like, it's brutal.
Speaker A:Like you're threshold all the time and you're having to back up those sessions and the volume is not that dissimilar to what you for half Ironman anyway.
Speaker A:So I feel like it's the same or similar training.
Speaker A:And then the Ironman athletes, I think, I think it's just harder to come back down after you've gone to Ironman.
Speaker A:I certainly found that once I started racing Ironman and this is my opinion, I think just stepping back down, it takes a lot of work to like get comfortable in that, you know, zone four because you kind of have to write so Mezzan three high zone or you know, zone four for periods of it and being able to punch the power when you've been sitting steady state for, you know, all of your training and racing.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, agree.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Okay, good.
Speaker B:Rennie agrees with me.
Speaker B:I feel.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So what races have you guys been most excited?
Speaker B:Like we're almost halfway through.
Speaker B:I mean not halfway, but we're like halfway through the year.
Speaker B:Very into the season now, what's been like the most exciting race result, biggest news for you so far this year and you can't all say Ironman Texas.
Speaker C:No kidding.
Speaker D:Of course.
Speaker D:We were all about to say Ironman Texas.
Speaker D:It has to be.
Speaker D:I'm sorry, I know Katie's probably going to pick a short course race but it has to be Cat and Taylor.
Speaker D:It has to be Ironman Texas.
Speaker D:I mean there's no doubt about it.
Speaker D:I'm going to let Rinny talk about that because actually I'M going to go back and talk about briefly Taylor doing the three peat in December.
Speaker D: I know we're through to the: Speaker D:Taylor taking the tape In New Zealand, three time Ironman 70.3 world champion and then just absolutely incredible to watch her race, to see her up close, to see that steely determination and what she has achieved at such a young age as well when you think about it.
Speaker D:And then to back all of that up when we see what she did in Texas and that segues nicely into what Renee's going to talk about.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I'll go off the back of Joanna because we are speaking long course still.
Speaker A:But yeah, I mean I did the commentary for Iman Texas and that race was just incredible.
Speaker A:What Cat did, just amazing.
Speaker A:An amazing race and I'm looking forward to that rivalry throughout the year.
Speaker A:And case in point with Taylor nib another athlete Olympic distance focused that stepped up in the ranks and is the best we've ever seen over the middle distance.
Speaker A:And now the question mark is whether she can transfer that to the Ironman distance.
Speaker D:Like incredible.
Speaker D:When you think she came, was it fourth at her very first Ironman finishes second in her second Ironman.
Speaker D:I mean she had us all on the edge of our seats because, okay, I love Taylor, but I love Cash.
Speaker D:And I really wanted Kat, I really want Kat to be the world champion this year.
Speaker D:I'm going to put it out there.
Speaker D:I love all the athletes, but I'm, I really, I, my, my.
Speaker D:I really want Cat to win this year.
Speaker D:I probably shouldn't have said that, but I have now.
Speaker D:So it's out there.
Speaker D:But to see, to see and watch it from so far away from where that racing was taking place and to look at the patience that she had to just grind away, push the power on the bike to hold her composure, to know she was obviously well behind Taylor coming into that run course and then to just have the absolute, absolute, absolute gumption and grit to be like, I am not afraid.
Speaker D:This is my race and I am going for it.
Speaker D:And that's what it looked like when I was watching the coverage and watching the tracker and trying to be like, oh my God, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker D:As much and all as you want to see Taylor win, I was like, come on, Cash, come on.
Speaker D:It was just incredible.
Speaker B:I will say I, I'm not gonna, I don't pick favorites but I will say kudos.
Speaker B:One of the things, one of the things I do think Kat has really, that I You know, kudos to her is she made a lot of money last year doing like kind of everything and she has said like, no, I want to win Kona this year.
Speaker B:And she didn't sign a T100 contract because she wants to put all her eggs in that basket.
Speaker B:And that takes like, that takes some like calling your shot, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, that's, she's, that's a choice.
Speaker B:And so, I mean, I do kind of hope I like kudos to her and I hope it works out right.
Speaker D:Well, she's racing in Hamburg, I think in a couple of weeks time.
Speaker D:That's her next, her next big focus.
Speaker D:But yeah, Renee, it must have been like.
Speaker D:So I, I've never commentated a race, so talk us through what it was like actually commentating that race because it was so exciting and sorry, Katie, I'm hopping on the ironman bandwagon here with Renee.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, that was, I mean, obviously in the men's side we had some incredible racing as well with that field was just super deep.
Speaker A:So the, the race, when you have so many storylines, it just makes it so much more fun to create, commentate and share.
Speaker A:And watching Cat, the most impressive thing to me was like, we know Taylor Nibs cycling prowess.
Speaker A:We know that she is just a phenom when it comes to putting her on, you know, a time trial bike.
Speaker A:But for Cat to basically ride the same time as her, both of them riding under the course, record time.
Speaker A:And yes, we had good conditions, not crazy wind.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think it was just, it was really a pleasure to be able to call that race with so much going on.
Speaker A:And then, you know, we sort of saw early that Taylor really wasn't on her game on the run and she made it very clear that she wasn't trying to win the race and she just wanted a Kona spot.
Speaker A:So we sort of knew that not that she'd thrown them the towel more that she's like, okay, I'm not trying to do anything crazy here.
Speaker A:I just want to get my Kona spot spot.
Speaker A:And but for Cat to just be like, I don't know, just a lot of people I think look at Taylor like, I can't beat that.
Speaker A:But Kat is like, bring it on.
Speaker A:Like you can see it in the pre race interviews.
Speaker A:She's like, I'm, I'm healthy, I've put in great training.
Speaker A:I know this course, I love this community.
Speaker A:And she know she's obviously won there before.
Speaker A:So I just appreciated that kind of confidence that she had.
Speaker A:Like, I'M not scared of Taylor Nib.
Speaker A:Like, I know how to race this race and whatever she puts down, I'm like, I feel like I have what it takes to, to, to go head to head.
Speaker A:So I, I enjoyed watching, following and helping share the story.
Speaker B:I do think a lot, we have seen that a lot in like the women's field where there'll be somebody who seems almost unbeatable and then everyone kind of steps up and is like, no, like, I can beat Chrissy, right.
Speaker B:Or I can be Daniela, right.
Speaker B:And you see these kind of jumps.
Speaker B:So I will, I'm going to say since we went to the end of last year, Joanne and said that Taylor's three people, I will say I think somebody who got underappreciated last year was Cassandra Beau grand.
Speaker B:And I mean she went Olympic medal, world championship super try.
Speaker B:Like she was just winning everything.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:That's hard to do that distance well.
Speaker C:And if you saw like the world championship where she went off course in.
Speaker A:The swim, oh my God.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was like the most impressive comeback.
Speaker C:And then she like took control like on the bike more than she like has done before.
Speaker C:And yeah, I agree with that.
Speaker B:You're like, yeah.
Speaker B:And I, and I saw her back on a start list for this weekend in Yokohama.
Speaker B:So we'll see.
Speaker B:What is your pick, Katie?
Speaker C:Well, for I need to pick a draft legal race, like short course race.
Speaker C:But we are off to like a pretty slow start in the season.
Speaker C:We've only had Abu Dhabi and Yokohama this weekend.
Speaker C:But I would actually say America's cup and in Miami.
Speaker C:And I thought it was super cool a I got to be there on the other side of things.
Speaker C:And they had collegiate club nationals at the same time as the Miami America's Cup.
Speaker C:So being able to see like a lot of.
Speaker C:And an age group race as well.
Speaker C:So being able to see just a lot of different people at the same race.
Speaker C:And for us as Americans, like, we don't usually see the top Americans racing at Miami or when there, when there is a kind of continental cup level race because there's typically World Cups or world triathlon championship series going on.
Speaker C:But like Gwen was there, Gina Serino was there from like national team members.
Speaker C:And then you also had like the NCAA athletes racing in the Americas Cup.
Speaker C:And so it's just neat for me to see like this could actually be like one of the more competitive.
Speaker B:Races.
Speaker C:In the United States for us with just like the mix of people and seeing everyone kind of intermixed with one another because normally it's just a little bit like World Triathlon, ncaa.
Speaker C:So it was, it was fun to have everybody, everyone there.
Speaker B:And how does the NCAA look these days?
Speaker B:Like, in person?
Speaker C:This is a longer conversation.
Speaker D:It is, it is.
Speaker B:I was like, it's a loaded question, but that's fine.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think it's nice because it provide like, we have a pretty robust junior series that like, it sells out with minutes within minutes for these races and fills up.
Speaker C:And then the hard part is like, where do you go once you're done with the junior series?
Speaker C:And NCAA has really, like, brought like a pathway, I think, to keep athletes still racing draft legal races within, like, our country and also bringing over, like, I think you could probably argue both sides of this because, like, half of the athletes in the NCAA and maybe don't like, quote me on that number or anything like that, but a large amount of athletes in NCAA racing are also international athletes.
Speaker C:So there's like two sides to that.
Speaker C:It's like you're building the pipeline for other countries as well.
Speaker C:But I think it's a great thing because you're going to only heighten the competition within the U.S.
Speaker C:so in terms of like, how NCAA will go with, like, not just speaking of triathlon, but just like, the wider things that are going on with.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:And I, I don't even, like, know the nitty gritty of like, the nil aspect of it, but that's still to be determined.
Speaker C:But I think in general, it's just a good way to have more opportunity in the US to continue this type of racing.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker B:I do want to remind people that if they have any questions, they can put them in the comments.
Speaker B:We'll open it up for questions a little bit here.
Speaker B:And while people are thinking of their questions, here's my question for all you.
Speaker B:What are you most excited about this season?
Speaker B:Like, still to come?
Speaker C:I'm excited for.
Speaker C:To see how like, this phase of, like this year of World Triathlon, post Olympic year kind of pans out.
Speaker C:And also there's a few.
Speaker C:I really enjoy, like, the dynamic, like, really tough courses.
Speaker C:I mean, like, I was world champion in Lausanne, which was like one of the hilliest courses ever.
Speaker C:And I feel like a tendency is that our races kind of get like, flat and a little boring.
Speaker C:But we have Carlavi Vari on the schedule, which has always been a World cup, and that one's going to be really exciting to watch, so.
Speaker B:Is that how you say that?
Speaker B:I never know how to say that.
Speaker D:Oh.
Speaker C:Oh, well, I don't know, Tommy.
Speaker C:Corrects me often.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:Maybe Joanne knows you do more commentating on places.
Speaker D:I haven't a clue.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker B:What are you guys excited about?
Speaker B:I will say I'm outside San Francisco and so the T100 is here in, like, two weeks.
Speaker B:And I do.
Speaker B:That's always just fun to have, like, right in your backyard.
Speaker B:And that one is a fun one because they do like a modified Alcatraz course, jump off a boat bike up a giant hill, all that kind of thing, so.
Speaker D:Well, the women are going to Kona this year, so I'm definitely, hugely excited for what's going to unfold across the week in Kona and on race day.
Speaker D:And in fact, the whole season is really exciting, to be honest.
Speaker D:I mean, as you mentioned, we're.
Speaker D:We're in the thick of it now.
Speaker D:Where I think we're into our.
Speaker D:Is our 6th or the 6th or 7th Pro Series race coming up this weekend in Axim Provence.
Speaker D:Like, the season has been off to an explosive start for.
Speaker D:For 70.3 Ironman distance racing.
Speaker D:And it's going to just explode, I think.
Speaker D:I think we've lots of new athletes coming through as well, and they're changing the dynamic of the fields and I just think it's really.
Speaker D:It's a really exciting time to be in the sport.
Speaker D:But for me, I think Kona and I'll be in Nice, hopefully, and Marbella as well.
Speaker D:So I am looking forward to the world championship races.
Speaker D:I do love them all, but Kona for me is going to be epic, I think.
Speaker D:Hopefully.
Speaker D:Fingers crossed.
Speaker A:Yeah, it will be, I think.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Mine are the same as Joanne's, just Kona, the women's race, having the women back there, seeing how that shakes out.
Speaker A:Taylor will be racing, Kat will be racing.
Speaker A:Laura, Philip will be racing.
Speaker A:Hopefully a healthy Lucy Charles, Bart balls like Lucy.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm missing.
Speaker A:I feel like the last time women.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Anyhow.
Speaker D:See, hopefully as well.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I just think it's going to be bonkers, you know, who gets it right on the day and that's always.
Speaker C:A pressure cooker for me.
Speaker A:It's always Kona.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker B:It's always.
Speaker B:I mean, I think we just learned that a large portions of the triathlon community agree with you.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:I know people are asking about it and I will say I recognize that everyone's very excited about Kona is built into the lore and there's lots of perks to go back.
Speaker B:I am nervous about the pro women having a clean race in future years.
Speaker B:And like you said, there's Pros and cons.
Speaker B:So I am excited about them getting one last them on the stage, them first across the line.
Speaker B:No amateur men trying to have their day on tv.
Speaker B:That'll be nice.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Oh, we do have two questions here.
Speaker B:People want to know.
Speaker B:We've talked a lot about our predictions and our hopes for the Kona.
Speaker B:Do you have any predictions for the T100 finals and.
Speaker B:And the iron.
Speaker B:The pro series?
Speaker B:Like, is Cat gonna win the pro series again?
Speaker D:You think Cat's gonna win the pro series again, Rennie?
Speaker D:Do you?
Speaker A:Yep, I think Cat will win the Pro Series again.
Speaker A:T100.
Speaker A:I think Taylor will probably take that out again.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, those kind of two low ball questions, in my opinion, but I could be wrong.
Speaker A:I've been wrong many times.
Speaker A:Who's gonna win Kona?
Speaker A:That's a bigger question.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:That's a big question.
Speaker B:I think Taylor would be hard to beat in the T100.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:If she does enough of them.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker B:And who's going to win WTCs?
Speaker B:Katie?
Speaker C:Well, I hate these predictions.
Speaker C:It'll be interesting to see how Cassandra is doing after, like, just such a big year, because while I think she showed, like, such consistency across the board, it's also, like, hard to do that when you.
Speaker C:With, like, the letdown.
Speaker C:I think of the Olympics, so I always feel like you're looking for the person who just missed it.
Speaker C:And like, that would be to me, probably Beth Potter or one of the Germans.
Speaker C:My goodness, the Germans, like, they took the podium.
Speaker C:Top three in Abu Dhabi.
Speaker C:And that you've just kind of watched them over these past few years become more and more consistently dominant.
Speaker C:And not just like one of them.
Speaker C:It's like seven of them.
Speaker C:So that's going to be very interesting, too, in the World Triathlon Championship series.
Speaker B:All right, our last question, kind of to close out is a.
Speaker B:Is a big one.
Speaker B:But again, if you were queen of triathlon, what are your thoughts about, like, how you would get more women into triathlon?
Speaker B:How would we.
Speaker B:How do we grow?
Speaker B:I mean, we know the pro women are getting more competitive and more competitive and more competitive.
Speaker B:How do we get, like, more women at the entry?
Speaker D:Like, I feel like this is the million dollar question.
Speaker B:This is the million dollar question.
Speaker D:Yeah, it is.
Speaker C:That's why we're on.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker C:We'll have it figured out by the end of the season.
Speaker C:No, I mean, I do think actually that was one of the things I thought about for what I think has changed over the years.
Speaker C:In that I've been involved in triathlon and maybe I'm just noticing it more because of now being a mom and trying to be a professional triathlete and be a mom with our, with our son Kimball.
Speaker C:There are more moms that are like staying in it and from like an elite level.
Speaker C:And I also feel like just the community of women growing in general, it's like they pull in.
Speaker C:Just how Renny got introduced to triathlon was like meeting triathletes.
Speaker C:So like you start doing it with your friends or your buddies.
Speaker C:For me it was my dad, but it could also be a girlfriend and just saying like, hey, like, let's try to do this together.
Speaker C:Let's be it.
Speaker C:Let's be on a team together.
Speaker C:Not having to do necessarily swimming, biking and running, but like being able to do a relay if you, if you're not ready to go all in.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:And just having more opportunities to race.
Speaker C:I also think there's, there's a women's triathlon series here in North Carolina and I think that's pretty, pretty cool.
Speaker C:And to see more.
Speaker C:I don't know if you've ever like seen the she is Beautiful race in Santa Cruz that they have.
Speaker C:It's not, it's not a triathlon, it's just a road race.
Speaker C:But it's really cool to see the community of women like come together for kind of women centric races and opportunities.
Speaker C:So it'll be nice to see if that evolves as well.
Speaker B:I will say I had to answer this question somebody the other day, so I got, so I randomly got a like 48 hour head starting, you guys.
Speaker B:And here's what I came up with.
Speaker B:I think we make the mistake of thinking that women are a monolith and women are lots of different things.
Speaker B:And I do think there's two large groups that we're actually talking about here.
Speaker B:One is like kind of the 40 plus women.
Speaker B:And for them it does come down to like childcare time, like logistics.
Speaker B:So childcare at races, like women's training groups that offer like a babysitter for everybody, right?
Speaker B:Like pregnancy deferrals.
Speaker B:Like all those kinds of things really matter to that group of people.
Speaker B:For the 20 somethings, it's vibes.
Speaker B:Like it is vibes, man.
Speaker B:Like they want it to be cool.
Speaker B:They're like into the like trail run, right?
Speaker B:Like they are all about like, you know, what's exciting, what's.
Speaker B:And so that's.
Speaker B:So I think those are kind of different things.
Speaker B:Anyway, this is my thought from the other day.
Speaker B:I don't know if anybody has other thoughts.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think you kind of touch on it there, Kelly.
Speaker D:The sport is a lifestyle sport, so it's got to fit into your schedule and that's one of the biggest barriers.
Speaker D:Regardless of whether you're male or a female, it's got to fit into your life.
Speaker D:You're trying to train as an age group athlete at a certain level to qualify for different things or to even get to the start line of a race.
Speaker D:I mean, we talked about, Rini, talked about the sprint racing there and her swim wasn't up to, to scratch, but then she's like a wow at an Ironman distance race and you're just kind of going, how does that even work?
Speaker D:But I think there's a huge social aspect and lifestyle side to our sport and I think we need to create more fun.
Speaker D:We gotta have more fun.
Speaker D:I think that's part of it.
Speaker D:And I think when you, if you break it down to those age groups as well, Kelly, like if you think about it, and I'm not saying everybody is doing it, but I've seen a big growth in like singles clubs, running singles clubs, or let's go hiking.
Speaker D:It's the girls only, but we're going to meet the boys or doing something on the other side.
Speaker D:And it's like you keep people separate for comfort in one respect, but then you need to bring them together because it's a very social sport in another respect.
Speaker D:So in terms of trying to grow the sport, you're probably right in having a couple of pronged approaches for different people because that was one of the things that I saw recently that, you know, I'm not a mom, I'm the only one on the group that isn't a mum.
Speaker D:So I don't have any experience of it, but if I was a race director, I think I would be putting in like baby changing areas for moms who want to race, opportunities for mums to breastfeed or to have like some sort of a childcare opportunity.
Speaker D:Not that you want to leave your child with a random stranger, but do you know what I mean?
Speaker D:That there's an opportunity for mums to actually get away for an hour or an hour and 20 minutes to do that sprint race or to provide entertainment for the other kids that are going to be there with the dads or whatever the family setup is.
Speaker D:And that's just one small thing of it.
Speaker D:So it is a million dollar question.
Speaker D:But I think ultimately we do this sport because we love it and we love what it gives us and the more we reinforce that message and we spread the message about how good this sport is not only for our physical health, but for our mental health, for our emotional well being, everything.
Speaker D:That's how we get more people into the sport.
Speaker D:You bring the girls, you'll get more boys.
Speaker D:You bring the boys, you'll get more girls.
Speaker D:Maybe I'm wrong, but I think we need to look at this broad spectrum thing of it's fun, it's social, and it's something that we all should be trying out at least once in our lifetimes.
Speaker D:Rant over.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:Since we are talking about childcare, I know Katie has to go pick up her kid, so we do have to wrap up here.
Speaker B:I want to thank everyone for joining us, thank our sponsors again, orca and thank Prev next and remind you guys all that we are officially fully back now.
Speaker B:The Feisty Tribe podcast.
Speaker B:Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and Joanne and Katie will be back.
Speaker B:We might convince Renee to come again.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker A:I'll pop in here and there.
Speaker B:Thank you everybody and we will see you at the races.
Speaker A:Sa.