There are very, very few people who can become good enough swimmers if they weren't doing age group swimming as a kid. Guys like Pearson were swimmers before becoming runners and then triathletes.
Maybe it is just chance that the odds of someone being a good swimmer is low (especially if you have the body of a distance guy) but it might also be a skill that is hard to learn as an adult. You see that in a lot of skill sports where the difference between the kids who played as kids and who picked it up at 30 is pretty noticeable...
She doesn't have the body of a distance guy. She doesn't have the body of a pro swimmer either, but neither does Gwen Jorgensen. This is triathlon, not pure swimming. The freestyle/crawl is the easiest skill to learn when it comes to swimming.
You also don't know as much as you think you do. You should stick to crime.
There are very, very few people who can become good enough swimmers if they weren't doing age group swimming as a kid. Guys like Pearson were swimmers before becoming runners and then triathletes.
Maybe it is just chance that the odds of someone being a good swimmer is low (especially if you have the body of a distance guy) but it might also be a skill that is hard to learn as an adult. You see that in a lot of skill sports where the difference between the kids who played as kids and who picked it up at 30 is pretty noticeable...
She doesn't have the body of a distance guy. She doesn't have the body of a pro swimmer either, but neither does Gwen Jorgensen. This is triathlon, not pure swimming. The freestyle/crawl is the easiest skill to learn when it comes to swimming.
It is the easiest. But it is also hard enough that basically nobody does it. The list of runners who didn't age group swim as kids who take up triathlon and turn into average or above average swimmers is almost zero.
Maybe she will shock us but the odds of her being a world class triathlete are less than what Gwen's chances of making an Olympic team were by quite a bit.
It is the easiest. But it is also hard enough that basically nobody does it. The list of runners who didn't age group swim as kids who take up triathlon and turn into average or above average swimmers is almost zero.
Maybe she will shock us but the odds of her being a world class triathlete are less than what Gwen's chances of making an Olympic team were by quite a bit.
This is true. It is exceedingly rare to be able to swim at a high d1 level and also run well. Unlike running, picking up swimming later in life to reach that level almost never happens. It is rare in running but a 100-1000 times more rare in swimming. We are not talking about age group racing where you can be average and still do well. In ITU you are either in the main swim pack or your day is over before the bike starts.
There are very, very few people who can become good enough swimmers if they weren't doing age group swimming as a kid. Guys like Pearson were swimmers before becoming runners and then triathletes.
Maybe it is just chance that the odds of someone being a good swimmer is low (especially if you have the body of a distance guy) but it might also be a skill that is hard to learn as an adult. You see that in a lot of skill sports where the difference between the kids who played as kids and who picked it up at 30 is pretty noticeable...
She doesn't have the body of a distance guy. She doesn't have the body of a pro swimmer either, but neither does Gwen Jorgensen. This is triathlon, not pure swimming. The freestyle/crawl is the easiest skill to learn when it comes to swimming.
She is tall, which is an asset in swimming, and something that can't be coached. That being said, it's hard to turn someone into a swimmer that was not a swimmer when they were younger. I did triathlons for a while post collegiate, and while I was better than most runners and even won a couple smaller triathlons (due to greater muscle mass, longer arms and big feet), I struggled against the elite tri guys on the swim as I never did swim team in my formative years. Was better than most on the run and did fine on the bike (as I never had a car growing up), but the swim was my Achille's heal.
Just checked her IG to see what kinda sets she's doing in the pool. She has one post from September "learning to swim".
In that post, she didn't mean she is *just now* learning to swim. She said "learning to swim as an adult..." meaning she's reflecting on *when* she started. She has been an adult and swimming for a while now.
I don't know her swimming history and it's irrelevant. It's clear after watching her body position in her video.
Her feet are sinking because her head is high.
Her head is high because she can't put her face in the water.
She can't put her face in the water because she is scared of not being able to breath with proper technique.
Body position, step 1 in crawl/free: swim parallel to the water line, not diagonal to it. Ride flat in the water.
Hydrodynamic drag is like cycling over 35mph because of waters density and our inability to move through it efficiently. Everything is magnified. You become VERY aware of your body position on a bike at over 35 mph if you are trying to be efficient and maintain speed or increase it.
What is her swimming body position mistake translated to running speak:
Take the same female hobby jogger (as my example earlier in this thread), that has never done a track workout, but suddenly must run a 4:55 mile. Only now add over striding with a massive side-to-side arm swing. Not so efficient running.
Sure, it's an easy fix, to get her face in the water, to bring her feet up, to ride level in the water, but only if she trusts that a bow wave is always created when she moves forward, guaranteeing a space for her to always breath when she turns her head to breath, no matter how slow she swims. This pocket for air is always there. Newbies don't know this and swim head up / feet down. Apparently nobody has told her this and she is fear swimming, gingerly, unable to actually dig into swimming in a meaningful, competitive way.
The bigger concern is 1. how far behind she actually is compared to D1/2 swimmers being recruited for the Oly triathlon aspirations, and 2. how unaware people in a running forum are of the most basic swimming error that exists.
This is a problem she will need to remedy for any distance triathlon and it is the gateway to learn real swimming.
In that post, she didn't mean she is *just now* learning to swim. She said "learning to swim as an adult..." meaning she's reflecting on *when* she started. She has been an adult and swimming for a while now.
The oldest IG post with her swimming is from 2017 and she said she had already been swimming for a couple of years at that point.
Thanks. I only saw a September 2022 swimming video. after 5 years she is still hobby swimmer. Completely OK and expected. No need to know what swim sets are or technique.
No story to begin with for Sodaro. No "end of story" either.
Sodaro has a running background but never made it in the draft legal / ITU format. She was relegated (by USAT) to lesser, regional world cups, which offer much less ranking points than the WTS series (highest level for tris). USAT had many other better women, who were also faster runners than Sodaro, when Sodaro was trying the Oly route. Sodaro never got called up (by USAT) to the big leagues, so to speak.
Only Morgan Pearson has made the Olympics (for america) coming from a professional running background.
Olympics (Quigley) is not the same as IM/70.3 (Sodaro)
Ever heard of Ryan Bolton? He was one of the first Americans to compete in the Olympic Triathlon and was an All American runner at the University of Wyoming.
I raced Ryan in 93' (Santa Rosa) trying to qualify for Junior Worlds (triathlon). Ryan was never a professional runner before triathlon. He never switched over. He was doing tris before he ran at Wyoming. I would know, as I watched him run away from me. Maybe he was already a freshman at Wyoming?
Anyway, he was not a runner only, like Lucas Verzbicus also was not. If Ryan was a runner only, who showed up in 93' and smoked us, then damn! And if there were a swim assisted race for someone with no competitive swimming experience, that was it. That swim was in the Russian river, a downstream, point to point swim, with a crazy strong current. I think we did the 1.5k in like 12 minutes or something stupid, way faster than the 1500 WR in the pool. We were going so fast it was hard to cut over and make the swim exit.
But I am talking about professional runners trying to be Olympic triathletes, starting from scratch. That was not Ryan Bolton.
Alan Webb was a professional runner (barely?) when he tried
Greg Whitely was a former professional runner when he tried (pre-Olympic era but eying Sydney)
I agree with this guy, although he’s a bit harsh. I’m a huge fan of Quigley, and would love her to kick ass on the triathlon circuit. She’s extremely talented and If not eroded by injuries, her run times and performances would have been even more impressive than they were. I’m confident with riding, correct workouts, and guidance, she could be more than capable to hang on the bike. I say this out of experience competing at an elite level. In the years I cycled, I saw riders ascend quickly, if very talented. But swimming is different, it’s too darn technical. I do wish her luck, but that swim makes it extremely difficult for her to have success.
You keep on moving the goalposts here. Webb was NOT a pure runner and swam competitively into his teens (I forget his swim times but they were very solid for someone his age). Pearson also had a swimming background growing up and it's a stretch to claim that he ran professionally and then switched over. He graduated Colorado in 2016 and all of his PBs are from 2015 and 2016. He started racing tris in 2017.
If you want to state that nobody without a swimming background has started racing tris (and swimming) as an adult and made it in ITU, then you would be correct. I think this is CQ and you then would be credible in predicting that she never is going to make it in ITU, Like I wrote earlier, her best bet would be to go for 70.3, which minimizes her swim and also has more sponsors than ITU.
The bike is the easiest of the three events to pick up and she looks like she has the build to be very good on the bike. I would expect her to be very strong on the bike once she's puts some miles in. The swim is going to be the hardest part for her and could be the downfall of her being very competitive. If she can become strong enough on the swim, in order to stay with the top group, She'll be a top triathlete.
Oh look here, another runner who knows nothing about how to really ride a bike and thinks it's so easy. Were you the one that taught Mary Cain how to ride?
Most US former runners that made it to elite level in triathlon got started with coach Paulo. Someone needs to send Colleen to him or she'll never make it.
I don't mean to be rude, but either english is your second language or you are cribbing this from the internet so you sound like an expert swim coach.
Nonetheless, the bottom line is that, as others have said, if Quigs did not grow up swimming, she almost certainly will never be fast enough to keep up with the pack in the swim. After that it's all over.
She might be ok in the 70.3 distance - but lots of world class runners single sport swimmers, cyclists and runners have tried and failed.
Oh look here, another runner who knows nothing about how to really ride a bike and thinks it's so easy. Were you the one that taught Mary Cain how to ride?
Ever heard of Mike Woods?
Yeah, Mike Woods, the runner who crashes his bike lots because he has bad bike handling skills.
Yeah, Mike Woods, the runner who crashes his bike lots because he has bad bike handling skills.
You forgot to mention 5th at the Olympics, held King of the Mountains during the 2021 the TdF and consistent top ten in classics like Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne - but you do you and keep on trolling.
Yeah, Mike Woods, the runner who crashes his bike lots because he has bad bike handling skills.
You forgot to mention 5th at the Olympics, held King of the Mountains during the 2021 the TdF and consistent top ten in classics like Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne - but you do you and keep on trolling.
Oh, you mean THIS Mike Woods that never wins because he crashes so often like in the recent Vuelta a Espana and gave himself yet another concussion?
Your position was that runners can't become cyclists because it is so hard to learn. Mike Woods is an example of a runner that has become a very successful cyclist - your position seems to be that since he has had a few crashes you have proven your point.
Almost every pro cyclist has had a few decent crashes. It goes with the territory. Very few professional cyclists get fifth at the olympics, or ride in the TDF, or have stage wins, or are top five in a classic. I would says Woods has definitely shown that at least one runner can learn to cycle pretty well.
Take a look at your local strava rankings a lot of the top rankings are likely held by former runners turned weekend warrior cyclists - it isn't that hard if you are halfway coordinated.
The Briton, who has also won the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, suffered a fractured right femur, a fractured elbow and fractured ribs, said a statement on his
You forgot to mention 5th at the Olympics, held King of the Mountains during the 2021 the TdF and consistent top ten in classics like Liège–Bastogne–Liège and La Flèche Wallonne - but you do you and keep on trolling.
Oh, you mean THIS Mike Woods that never wins because he crashes so often like in the recent Vuelta a Espana and gave himself yet another concussion?
