What Is Tri

Tri·ath·lon (noun) [tri + greek contest: athlon]

The sport of triathlon is a combination of: swimming, biking and running, usually in that order but not always in that order. Typically an individual athlete would participate in all three principles of the sport. There are also many events that allow relay teams to participate in which one person may swim, one would do the bike leg and then a final person might complete the run portion. This may be a great way for someone that does not feel comfortable doing any of the three principles to experience the sport of triathlon in a team effort. Of course to have the status of a true tri-geek we would suspect that an athlete should strive to participate and complete all 3 events.

All three phases of triathlon: swimming, cycling and running are done at different distances and in different environments depending on the specific event. An example would be, the swim leg could take place in a pool, lake, river or ocean in warm water or cold water. You can see some examples of the most common distances below; however there are events that may be shorter and even longer (ultra distance).

Distances:

As described above Olympic, Half Ironman and Ironman are mostly true to there designated distances; Sprint and Long Course distances may vary from race to race.

History:

Early triathlons were held as offbeat training exercises for runners. The first known swim/bike/run triathlons were held at San Diego’s Mission Bay in 1974. Organized by members of the San Diego Track Club, the events were held on summer evenings and were intended as no more than light-hearted breaks in the normal grind of training for marathons and 10Ks. One athlete who raced at the first Mission Bay Triathlon, John Collins, was very influential in the further development of the sport. Collins, a U.S. Naval Officer, took the triathlon concept to Hawaii and used it several years later to combine three of Oahu’ s endurance events – the Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Ride and the Honolulu Marathon into one race: the Ironman.

The Ironman may be triathlon’s most recognizable event, but the international or intermediate distance used in the Olympics is the sport’s most popular. The 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run is riathlon’s international standard and the format used at the triathlon world championship and eventually the Olympics. The 1980s also saw he development of the sprint or short distance triathlon, which is about half the distance of an international distance race.

Source : http://www.usatriathlon.org/MultiSport101/HistoryOfSport.aspx