BRITAIN’s triathletes will compete for Olympic gold in Paris with the help of a new weapon: a cutting-edge triathlon designed to make them faster on water or bikes.
The new kit, which uses different materials and covers more of the body than a traditional three-piece, was used by Team GB’s Alex Yee and Beth Potter during the World Series in Cagliari in May. test. Yi won the race, while Porter finished third.
The events, developed by the British Institute of Sport, draw on some of the aerodynamic technologies that have helped the British Cycling team top the Olympic medal table since 2008. help.
British Triathlon performance director Mike Cavendish confirmed the new suit has been approved by World Triathlon for use at the Olympics. “For us, the triple pack is important,” he said.
“I can’t say too much, but we’ve spent the last three or four years developing the suit to cover as much of the body as possible right up to the edge of the rules.
“If you know anything about cycling, the more skin you can cover, the better. The rules of the sport are pretty strict, but we found we could do some interesting things around those rules and the types of materials we used.
Cavendish confirmed that the suits are significantly different from off-the-shelf styles produced by major brands. “You can’t buy these,” he said. “They are tailor-made for each athlete. It’s quite difficult to get materials that perform well in terms of fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and aerodynamics. But what we’ve done with our partners at UK Sport and their innovation team is A lot of work went into testing both materials, fit, and material handling.
“For example, if you look at the back of our women’s suits, you might notice that they look different than everyone else’s. The sleeves will look different, the way the zippers are designed will be different, and you can’t see them processed.
UKSI originally developed the three-piece suit for the Paralympics when rules changed to allow sleeves to be as long as the elbow. Then it realized they could also find performance advantages for Olympic triathletes, although World Triathlon has different rules. “The beauty of this program is that we’re able to tailor it to each athlete’s strengths – whether it’s the swimming discipline they want to protect, or their performance on the bike,” said Fiona Johnson, UKSI Senior Performance Innovation Consultant.
“A lot of what we learn from cycling and swimming is transferred to our triathletes.”
Johnson’s colleague Greg Stevens said that while it was difficult to quantify the precise level of performance improvement, he expected the British triplex to be “at least as good as the top triplex” in two of the three events. , and “improve any metric that an athlete really wants, whether it’s aerodynamics, heat and temperature regulation on the bike or in swimming.
“It’s not just a slightly waterproof jersey,” he said. “Also, it’s not a swimsuit with cycling sleeves.
“It’s really a hybrid of the two. What we were able to do was make sure that the key indicators of the swimming performance fabric were in the right areas of the body. The key areas for cycling are on the right side of the body. And then taping the seams where they are. The pattern makes it comfortable to run, which is also an added bonus if it looks faster and scares your opponents.
Given Team GB’s track record of success using tights in other sports, their rivals will certainly be scared. Great Britain Cycling and Team GB Skeleton used garments with special resistance ridges at the 2008 Olympics, originally developed by scientists at TotalSim and UKSI in Northampton, with success.
These ridges create a turbulent effect in the suit, reducing wind drag on the body. The suits are also custom-made, with each athlete being 3D laser scanned and fitted before being made using polyurethane derivatives.
However, Cavendish is also keen to stress that eventing is just one element of British Triathlon’s preparations for Paris, with the team’s talent, culture and careful planning of the event being far more important to success.
“I think we’re ahead of the curve on open water protocols,” he said. “I would say we’re ahead of everyone else in terms of our triplex, relay tactics and relay strategy. We’re also ahead of the curve in terms of open water preparation.
