An Australian Triathlon

The first triathlon may have been held in California in 1974, but Aussies and Kiwis have more or less dominated the sport since. Consider that even with a population about one fiftieth of America's, New Zealand still sent the same number of triathletes, based on rankings and qualifying events, to the Beijing games (six) as America did. Australia wasn't far behind with five.

I can't tell you why exactly the Aussies are such good triathletes, but I suspect it has something to do with them being born with gills and thus being phenomenal swimmers. Oh, and half of them live within 8 miles of the ocean. That and the fact that the phenomenal weather makes it enjoyable to train year-round and that tan people are always fast.

If you follow the summer Olympics at all (which I do some years), you know that the Australians are always a force to be reckoned with in the pool. Since the first event in the triathlon is the swim, and swimming is one of those skills best acquired sometime before birth (whereas running and biking skills can be granted to anyone willing to suffer through enough endurance and speed work), I suspect this has something to do with the Aussie's advantage

Regardless of the reasons for their strength in triathlons, I got to see the madness firsthand at the seaside town of Mooloolaba (pronounced Muh-LOO-luh-buh) during their annual triathlon.

Keep in mind that this isn't your little Beaver Lake Triathlon over in Sammamish, where you can register the day of the race and mere mortals fill most of the ranks.

No, this is a triathlon with over 5000 participants that features both an "elite" and an "open" division in the morning's competition (in addition to all of the age-groupers). And then, in the afternoon, they have a completely separate race and course for profressionals (i.e. Olympians) from all over the world. (This is for reasons unclear to mortals like me. The distances are the same - surely professionals can handle the same course that amateurs do?). So yes, this is pretty serious.

I've raced in a couple of smallish triathlons and managed to finish in the top 2 in my age group each time despite hating swimming more than, say, brussel sprouts. (A blessedly short swim helps here.) But I can say with confidence that I would be lucky to finish in the top half of an Australian tri.

If you've gone to a local triathlon, you've probably seen some really fit people. The kind of people you see on the cover of Triathlete magazine. But the rest of the crowd is usually somewhere between weekend-warrior and ooh-I-didn't-need-too-see-that-in-a-wetsuit.

In Australia they have enough people in one race to make the cover of Triathlete magazine from now until, say, we establish a colony on Mars. It's just that ridiculous.

Considering this, I was very impressed (and proud!) that my cousin Mindy managed to finish significantly higher than dead-last as she had feared (and much closer to the middle of the pack) in her second triathlon. But she would have actually finished in the top half of the race if she had finished with the same time at, say, the Black Diamond Triathlon here in Washington. This despite crazy downpours during the bike, murky river waters, and not being born with gills.

Best of all, check out her smile on the run (after nearly being drowned by her competitors in the swim and the torrential downpours on the bike)! W00t!