Posted: May 21, 2005

Multisport: Acknowledging Gender in Triathlon

By Matt Bauer and Kelley Koehler, © 2004 Bauer Triathlon News, LLC.

Triathlon is a rapidly growing sport with the United States of America Triathlon (USAT) association growing by 37% and a majority of that growth are women. In 2003 women comprised 35% of new memberships while in 2004 they comprised 42% of new memberships. What does this mean for triathlon? Sherri Wattenbarger, chairperson of the USAT Women’s Commission, has an idea, “Increased numbers of women in the sport will bring new energy in terms of racers and volunteers and new consumers to the purchasing counter.” The continued growth of triathlon will require not only the participation of women at all distances, but acknowledging and championing the differences between men and women.

The recent growth of women in triathlon did not happened by sheer chance. Groups such as the USAT, Danskin, Reebok and YWCA have worked hard to produce educational materials, training camps, clinics and races geared to the novice female triathlete. The Danskin women’s series in its sixteen years has had over 140,000 women compete. As noted by sixteen time Ironman finisher and Danskin spokesperson Sally Edwards, “Most of those women are new to triathlon and Danskin actively works to recruit first-timers to their races”. The USAT Women’s Commission has seen an explosion in the demand for women’s camps and clinics which it provides educational materials and grants to. Women’s camps and clinics are needed to address differences in the way women approach triathlon training. As Sherri Wattenbarger points out, “women seem to approach triathlon in a very communal way – they like group workouts and especially companionship when they train. If women can’t find this, they are less likely to be active members of the triathlon community. Some of this desire for training groups is due to concerns about personal safety on roads and trails. However, it also stems from the tendency of women to create relationships around their activities.” In addition, the appearance of women’s triathlon clubs like Transcend Racing in LA are enabling more and more women to train and compete in triathlons.

Today there are women in every distance of triathlon with professionals like Loretta Harrop in the Olympic distance, Lisa Bentley in the Ironman distance and Lauren Fithian in the Ultraman distance. While these women compete at the same distances as the men, their victories are often viewed differently or in some cases, not viewed at all. A look at 2004 race reports from a large triathlon magazine showed men received 12% more coverage than women. In addition, the women’s winner was left out of the headline seven times. There’s also a tendency to talk about the women’s race in less athletic terms compared to the men’s race. The worst case was the Ultraman World Championships last year. In the final online race report of a larger triathlon magazine, ten paragraphs detailed the men’s race while only three paragraphs noted the women’s results. Lauren Fithian, the women’s Ultraman World Championship winner, has some ideas on why this was:

”The women’s times were slow. They were in fact slower than the previous year’s times due to various injuries and bad luck that fell on the women. In addition there were not as many women competing as there were men. This combined with the idea of a single race winner as opposed to a men’s and women’s winner contributed to a lack of coverage for the women. It might be a case of the media lagging behind since nearly all the men in triathlon are supportive of women competing but until media coverage is equal, men’s and women’s sports will never be equal.”

While media coverage may be poor at treating women equal, triathlon itself doesn’t. Both men and women compete on the same course, do the same distance and often start at the same time. This is a significant difference when compared to women’s cycling which has significantly shorter courses and tennis with only three sets for the women where the men have five. While the race distance and course are the same for men and women, men and women are not the same.

Men have a physiology that allows them to be faster than the women. Lifetime Fitness champions this difference with their Equalizer Event where the women are given a head start to allow the crowning of a true race winner. This physiological difference is a problem for women in Ironman and Ultraman events which have cutoff times for the swim, bike and run portions. The World Triathlon Corporation who oversees Ironman races has a two hour an twenty minute cutoff time for the swim for example. This cutoff time is gender agnostic requiring women to compete at the same level as the men even though their physiology does not allow it. Interestingly, this same cutoff is age agnostic which required a seventy-six years old to perform at the same level as a twenty-six year old. Published Ironman results don’t include the number of athletes that fail to make the cutoffs; however, some conclusions may be made from the published finishers’ results. Four Ironman races held last year were looked at to compare the results of men to women. In each age group and pro category, women on average were one hour behind the men. Based on these numbers it’s very likely that the cutoff times are disproportionally given to women because their physiology doesn’t allow them to perform at the same speed as men. Only the World Triathlon Corporation knows the exact numbers and repeated requests to their office have gone unanswered. To grow these events it will be important for the World Triathlon Corporation and other groups to take physiology and age into account when setting cutoffs.

Women may be able to close the difference between them and the men with a little help from their equipment, i.e. bikes, wetsuits, apparel, etc. That is if their equipment was designed for them. Sherri Wattenbarger notes that, “it’s still very difficult to find appropriate equipment unless you fall within the size ranges of the average male triathlete. In many cases ‘unisex’ really just means ‘we don’t care enough about female athletes to make appropriate clothing and equipment for you, but we’d like you to pay good money to buy this ill-fitting (clothing, equipment) because you don’t have any other choice.” The same physiology that makes men faster than women is also responsible for wider hips, shorter arms and narrower shoulders and feet compared to men. It’s usually difficult to find wetsuits and tri-specific clothing of all sizes for women. Most women’s specific clothing is often modeled after the thin and buff pro females, not the average age-grouper. Lauren Fithian notes that, “most women’s tri-specific gear is designed to be ‘photo opportune’ rather than functional.” Some manufactures are responding like Terry Precision Cycling which makes equipment and clothing designed especially for women. Most are not though. Equipment manufactures have a large opportunity in developing gear tailored to women who represent the largest growing group of triathletes.

Triathlon is a rapidly growing sport because both men and women are taking it up. To continue to success of triathlon as a sport it’s important we acknowledge and champion the differences between men and women. It’s essential we look at everything related to our sport ncluding media coverage, cutoff times and equipment to make sure everyone can compete and reap the rewards of doing a triathlon.

© 2004 Bauer Triathlon News, LLC - Posted with Permission