Most of us are used to going back to our day job after racing in a triathlon. But imagine how you'd feel heading back to the office on the back of a podium finish and new British record at your Ironman debut. That was the scenario Tom Lowe found
is just like a normal race. I'm stood on a pontoon, I'm about to dive in and I race these guys every other week. What's the difference?" I think what stood out most was the realisation that it was just another triathlon.When will you race next?I probably
the season, and what are the differences between your base training and your race training? Little Ninja, LondonA. No one day is exactly the same, but I believe that triathlon is a 24/7 job. I devote my life to it. Exercise, resting, sleeping and eating
athletes could go to Beijing to get first hand experience of what it's like at an Olympic Games]. I loved the Olympic Ambition experience but I hated watching the triathlon race, because I didn't want to be just sat there watching it, I desperately wanted
the race – and only if you provided a self-addressed envelope. The profile of triathlon has also grown enormously; most people know about triathlon now and watch it on television. In 1983 very few people knew what a triathlon involved.What has been
to dazzle once again. In July she became the first athlete to qualify for the home Olympics following her 10km open-water victory at the Fina World Championships in Shanghai.So who better to ask about open-water racing, motivation and confidence? We caught
you train together?We train together at the same club. There's always going to be a healthy rivalry between us whenever we do a hard set together or whenever we're in a race. However, the great thing about swimming is that all competitiveness starts
. "The rivalry in actual triathlon races is not that great. I think he is still better than me and that I should concentrate on others rather than him. If I beat them, it normally means that I have beaten the best in the world."We've always been very competitive
ironmate.co.uk, coaches triathletes, runs a triathlon training camp at Tri-Topia in France, marshals at Big Cow races, and is writing a book about triathlon. He somehow fits all this activity around his unofficial role as the UK’s most prolific triathlete
suggested I do a triathlon. This was right about the time that Welchy [Greg Welch, the first Australian to win the Ironman World Championships] won Kona [in 1994]. How has triathlon changed? When I started in the mid 90s people did different styles of racing
