The base at home, the sport at a club

Triathlon at home

A bike, a helmet and a car-free place to ride and run; the swim always at a supervised pool or a club.

1 cards at home 3 for a park or court 3 for the club

What should we practise today?

Tell us where you are and who is playing. You get one card and the reason.

Where are you?

Who is playing?

Start a session

New to triathlon? The game in a minute

Read this once before the first card.

The sport in short: A race of three sports one after another without stopping: swim, then ride a bike, then run. The clock keeps running through the changes between them, called transitions, so changing quickly is part of the race.
The race formats: Children's triathlons use short distances, such as a 50 to 200 m pool swim, a few kilometres on the bike and a short run. An aquathlon is swim then run; a duathlon is run, bike, run, and suits children who do not yet swim well. In a relay, each team member does one sport or one short triathlon.
How races work: Athletes start together or in waves, and the first across the finish line wins. Each athlete has a spot in the transition area for the bike, helmet and shoes. Penalties are given for breaking rules such as riding without a buckled helmet.
Rules children break first: Helmet on and buckled before touching the bike; off only after the bike is back on the rack.
Walk or run with the bike in the transition area; get on and off only at the lines.
Swim only where an adult is watching; open water only at a club.
Ride only in a car-free place at first.
At home and in the park you start with: Bike control games, running games and form, a mini transition and duathlon, then brick sessions (riding straight into running) and a mini triathlon. Swim lessons and open water are at a pool or club.

Words you will hear (19, in plain language)

Triathlon: Swim, bike and run; swim and run; run, bike and run.
Leg: One of the sports in the race.
Transition: The change between sports; T1 is swim to bike, T2 is bike to run.
Transition area: The area where the bikes are kept; your own spot in it; the bar the bike hangs on.
Mount line: The lines where you get on and off the bike.
Brick session: Riding then running straight away, to train the change.
Cadence: How fast the pedals turn.
Gears: The settings that make pedalling easier or harder.
Slalom: Riding a zigzag round cones.
Hand signals: Arm signals that show other riders where you are going.
Pace: How fast you go, and a plan to keep going steadily.
Draft: Staying close behind another swimmer or rider so it is easier.
Sighting: Lifting the eyes in open water to see where you are going.
Open water: A lake, river or the sea.
Wetsuit: A rubber suit that keeps a swimmer warm and helps them float.
Buoy: A floating marker on an open-water course.
Relay: A race where team members take turns.
Pack: A group of athletes racing together.
Overuse injury: An injury from doing the same movement too much.

Try it, nothing to buy

Mark the space once. Every card starts from it.

The cards, level by level

Nobody is late. A beginner of any age starts at Basic.

Basic 4 cards · show· hide First fun: floats on the front and back, rides in a straight line and signals, running games, and a simple transition (racking the bike, a change spot for each change). No formal triathlon skills before about 6.

Move on when the child meets the self-checks on b1 to b4.

Intermediate 2 cards · show· hide Learning each sport: regular breathing in front crawl, a streamlined body; steady cadence and gears on the bike, one-handed riding, quick stops; tall running; swimming straight, in a group and close behind another swimmer; a first pacing plan. No benchmark times are used here.

Move on when the coach confirms the athlete handles all three disciplines in a controlled event.

Advanced 1 cards · show· hide Refining and racing: high fitness in all three sports, tactics for races where riding in a group is allowed, technical bike handling, run economy, mixed relay strategy, fuelling plans, a coach for each discipline.

a1 Racing At a club what the coach teaches, what to ask

Teaching this at home

Movement, safety and the words at home. The sport itself needs water, a boat, a horse or a coach.

You do not need to know the sport. Each card tells you where to stand, what to say and what to look at. Pick one thing to say in a session and say only that. The first week looks messy; that is normal. End every session on one that works.

Cards marked At a club are taught by a coach. They tell you what the coach teaches, what is safe at home, and what to ask the club before your child joins.

How to warm up before playing is at workonfitness.com. The rules of the game are at sportsmaze.com.