TriDot Pool School and Endurance Exchange

#477 TriDot Pool School and State of Triathlon

Welcome

Welcome to Episode #477 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts Coaches Rich Soares and April Spilde. Thanks for joining us for another week of endurance news, coaching tips and discussion. 

Show Sponsor: UCAN

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In Today's Show

• Announcements and New

• Ask a Coach: Webinar with Coach Brandy Ramirez

• Get Gritty Tip: TBD

• TriDot Workout of the Week - Best Average 50's

• Fun Segment: Triathlon Would You Rather - Pool Edition

 

What do sprinters eat before a race?

 

Nothing. They fast...

 

 

Announcements and News:

 

Endurance Exchange Summary

• 2004 U.S. Olympian Andy Potts to Lead USA Triathlon’s Paratriathlon Resident Team

• McLean Hermes

Presenters

• Vic Brumfield

• Krista Prescott, CMO

• Justin Trulee

Key Statistics:

• Membership Sales: 80% of memberships are sold through external registration platforms, while only 20% are sold through USA Triathlon.

• Unique Active Members: In 2024, there were 302,000 unique active members, a 2% growth from the previous year.

• Membership Breakdown:

• 121,000 annual members

• 141,000 one-day or bronze members

• 40,000 youth members

• Gender Balance: Overall membership in 2024 was 37% female and 63% male.

• Age Group Trends:

• 20 to 29 age group saw a 25% increase from pre-COVID levels, with 10,000 members.

• The largest cohort is now the 30 to 39 age group, overtaking the 40 to 49 category.

• Significant reduction in the 40 to 59 age group, primarily driven by 40 to 49-year-old males.

• Participation Rates:

• Only 4% of members race three or more times per year.

• 22% race only once per year.

• Total participation numbers have decreased from 550,000+ finishes in 2010 to around 280,000 in the last year.

• Event Numbers:

• The number of events per state varies, with states like Florida, California, Texas, and New York having healthy event ecosystems.

• States with fewer events are considered "triathlon deserts".

• Race Directors: The number of race directors has declined from 761 in 2017 to 472.

Key Points:

• The organization is dedicated to transparency and aims to provide real-time data to help key constituents drive their business decisions.

• There is a focus on understanding and leveraging data to drive active decision-making.

• The organization is working on improving the value proposition for race directors, coaches, and clubs.

• There is a need to address the decline in the 40 to 59 age group and ensure the sport's growth by tapping into younger age groups.

• The organization is also focusing on increasing the number of events and participation rates to support the sport's ecosystem.

I hope this summary helps! If you have any specific questions or need more details, feel free to ask. 😊

: Extracted from the "Endurance Exchange" page in the "Episode Show Notes" section of the "Mile High Tri Podcast" notebook.

 

Group Ride Schedule - Last week’s Pike’s Peak ride was a success. We got to about mile 9 in 75 minutes. We are planning a ride in Colorado Springs on March 1st. The plan is Garden of the Gods.

 

Announcing Coaches Corner (aka Office Hours) with Coaches April Spilde and Rich Soares. Every 3rd Tuesday of the month.

Link to Feb. 18 Coaches Corner - https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NjMzYjNjNGItYzFlOS00N2RhLWFlMjYtNGQ0MTBkNzgzYzA0%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22b66709e9-1b6a-4649-a18d-017b8a4b8aa7%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a731b547-aa9a-4990-a6bc-527e8ce60a7e%22%7d

 

Upcoming Programming - Our February focus will be on swimming.

Feb. 1 - FASST and essential pool equipment

Feb. 8 - Webinar with TriDot Pool School Director, Coach Brandy Ramirez

Feb. 15 - How to Read Swim Workout

Feb. 22 - Open Water Skills

 

Grit2Greatness Coaching Facebook Page Live - Come check out our new coaching Facebook page @grit2greatnessendurance

Ask A Coach Sponsor: G2G Endurance

Triathletes, stop guessing and start progressing! At Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching, we’ve teamed up with TriDot to take the trial and error out of your training. Personalized workouts, next-level analytics, and seamless onboarding—it's all built to make you better, faster. Try it for two weeks FREE, then keep going for as little as $14.99 a month. The right training platform can change everything. Ready to see how far you can go? Click one of the sign-up links in our show notes today! 

Ask A Coach: Brandy Ramirez on TPS

303 Webinar - TriDot Pool School with Brandy Ramirez

Welcome to the 303 Endurance Webinar Series. This is now our fourth monthly webinar and we are going to get F.A.S.S.T. in the pool today with our special guest, Coach Brandy Ramirez from TriDot. 

Brandy Ramirez is the proud mother of 4 amazing children, and 1 grandson. I am a Certified IRONMAN Coach, a Certified TriDot Coach, a Master Swim Coach for TriDot, I have a degree in Science and Health, I am a Certified Race Director with USAT, and currently I am the Director of TriDot Pool School. I am also an IRONMAN competitor when I have the time to train and race.

Link to Coach Brandy’s bio. https://www.tridot.com/coach/brandy-ramirez

https://www.tridotpoolschool.com/

To really learn the FASST method, it helps to have long blade fins, snorkel and nose clips. Here are some links to what I generally suggest and are common at the pool schools.

Amazon.com : Speedo Unisex-Adult Swim Training Fins : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Speedo unisex adult Swim Training Bullet Head diving snorkels, Shocking Lime, One Size US : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : TYR Ergo Swimclip - Black : Nose Plugs : Sports & Outdoors   The nose clips are to keep water out of your nose while using the snorkel.

 

TriDot Workouts of the Week: 

 

This week we are going with a Swim Workout that stumps some athletes. It’s titled Best Possible 50s or 75s depending on your individual programming. 

 

"Broken" swim sets consist of one or more rounds of efforts totaling a specific distance. Efforts within the set will differ in intensity, technique, and/or number of rests within the effort.

 

When you see "Fastest Possible Average on m:ss", swim these efforts as fast as you can to produce the fastest average pace. The time specified is your send off interval. You'll push off the wall on this interval regardless of how fast you completed the preceding effort.

 

In addition to building fitness, these sets force you to maintain mental focus and be intentional with your intensity and technique.

 

Mainset:

6 x 50 Best Possible Average on 2m 30s

5 x 50 @ Z1 (30 sec)

6 x 50 Best Possible Average on 2m 30s

8 x 50 Drill/Free by 25 (20 sec)

 

100 @ Z1 (30 sec)

100 Alternating Drill/Free by 25 (20 sec)

 

Today’s Fun Segment: Like It, Love It, or Leave It! (Pool Edition)

Triathlon Would You Rather – Pool Edition 

How It Works: Your guest must choose between two less-than-ideal (but hilarious) swimming-related scenarios. No skipping! They must explain their reasoning.  

1. Swim Gear Struggles

Would you rather…  

🔹 Have your goggles leak every lap OR have your swim cap slowly slide off mid-swim? 

 

2. Lane Mate Mayhem

Would you rather…  

🔹 Share a lane with someone who aggressively kicks like a dolphin OR someone who stops in the middle of every lap?  

 

3. Set Showdown 

Would you rather…  

🔹 Do a 5,000-yard straight swim with no breaks OR a set of 50s where you get out and do burpees between every rep?  

 

4. Flip Turn Fails

Would you rather…  

🔹 Miss every flip turn and push off awkwardly OR get a mouthful of water every time you breathe?  

 

5. The Goggle Crisis

Would you rather…  

🔹 Have fogged-up goggles for your entire swim OR lose them in the middle of a flip turn? 

 

6. Awkward Encounters 

Would you rather…  

🔹 Accidentally grab a stranger’s foot while drafting OR have someone grab yours every lap? 

 

7. Temperature Troubles 

Would you rather…  

🔹 Swim in a pool that’s way too cold OR a pool that feels like bathwater?  

 

8. The Never-Ending Set

Would you rather…  

🔹 Have your coach surprise you with “just one more” set for 30 minutes straight OR have your watch malfunction so your swim never gets recorded?  

 

Closing:

Thanks again for listening this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We'd really appreciate it!

Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!

Train With Coach Rich:

Coach Rich Soares

[email protected]

Rich Soares Coaching

TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares

RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares

 

Train with Coach April:

Coach April Spilde

[email protected]

Grit2Greatness Endurance Podcast Podcast Series - Apple Podcasts

TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde