Transition zone, brick, drafting, T1: The Triathlon ABC casually explains every term you'll meet across our triathlon guides.
What on earth is a "brick"? And why does everyone talk about "T1" and "T2" like it's a Formula 1 pit stop? Honest answer: because triathlon has its own little language — and it sounds more complicated the first time you hear it than it actually is. This glossary walks you through every term you'll bump into in our triathlon guides, so you can just read and understand instead of googling every other sentence.
Sprint distance (Sprintdistanz): The shortest official distance — 750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run. Perfect for beginners because it stays manageable while still teaching you the race format without overwhelming you. Think of it as the 5K of triathlon distances: short enough to finish, long enough to count.
Olympic distance (Olympische Distanz): Twice as long as the sprint — 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run. The name comes from the fact that this exact distance is raced at the Olympics. For many athletes, the logical next step after a first sprint.
Middle distance ("70.3", Mitteldistanz): 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run — 113 km total. The nickname "70.3" comes from the fact that this is exactly 70.3 miles. More than double an Olympic distance, but only half of a true long-distance race.
Long distance ("Ironman", Langdistanz): The king of triathlon distances — 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run, meaning a full marathon at the end. "Ironman" is technically a brand name, but it's used colloquially for any long-distance triathlon — similar to how "Kleenex" is used for any tissue.
Volkstriathlon: An even shorter, often local variant below sprint distance — the most relaxed way to get your first taste of triathlon.
Wetsuit (Neoprenanzug): The suit for cold water. It keeps you warm and its buoyancy lifts your legs — that alone can bring up to 11% more swim efficiency because you sit flatter in the water. Whether it's allowed, mandatory, or banned depends on the measured water temperature on race day.
Trisuit: Your all-in-one outfit for all three disciplines — you don't change clothes in the transition zone, you swim, bike, and run in the same suit. Saves you precious time and stress.
Time trial bike / aero bars (Zeitfahrrad / Aero-Lenkeraufsatz): A specialized bike (or clip-on bars for your road bike) built for an extra wind-cheating riding position, known as the aero position. Completely optional for beginners: a normal, road-legal bike is more than enough.
Clipless pedals (Klickpedale): Pedals your bike shoes clip into, so you don't just push down but also pull up on the crank. More efficient, but you need to practice clipping in and out beforehand — otherwise you'll tip over sideways at your first traffic light.
Race belt (Startnummernband): An elastic belt around your waist that lets you spin your race number from back to front in seconds instead of re-pinning it. Costs almost nothing but saves you time exactly where it counts.
Brick (Koppeltraining): Training two disciplines back-to-back, almost always bike then run. The point: your legs feel like lead right after cycling, and that's exactly what a brick trains you to handle so it doesn't catch you off guard on race day.
Body position in water (Wasserlage): How flat or how "sunken" you lie in the water. A flat body position — head down, hips up — reduces drag and saves energy for the bike and run.
Sighting: Briefly lifting your head while freestyle swimming to spot the next buoy and check your direction without losing your rhythm. You never need it in a pool; in open water it's essential.
FTP (Functional Threshold Power): The power output in watts you can sustain on the bike for about an hour — your personal reference number for pacing. Coaches often calculate race pace as a percentage of your FTP.
Tapering: Deliberately reducing training volume in the last one to two weeks before a race. You train less on purpose so your body arrives fresh instead of tired — not laziness, but strategy.
Transition zone (Wechselzone, T1, T2): The area where you switch from one discipline to the next — swim-to-bike is called T1, bike-to-run is T2. Both count fully toward your finish time, which is why they're affectionately called the "fourth discipline."
Drafting (Windschatten): Riding or swimming directly behind or beside someone to save wind or water resistance. Allowed and even tactically smart while swimming, but strictly banned on the bike in most age-group races — a violation earns you a time penalty.
Mass start / pack (Massenstart, Pulk): The shared start of many athletes at once in the water, tightly bunched together — the so-called "pack." Body contact and choppy water are completely normal here — practice it beforehand with a few training partners so it doesn't surprise you on race day.
Pacing: How you distribute your energy across the distance — not starting too fast, not holding back too much. Good pacing often decides your finish time more than raw fitness does.
Cutoff time (Cutoff-Zeit): The time limit by which you must reach a specific point on the course, or you're pulled from the race. Especially important to know before you toe the line for a middle- or long-distance race.
If you stumble across a term in our guides that isn't here: almost every triathlon term describes either a distance, a piece of gear, or something around the transition zone. File the unfamiliar word into one of those three drawers, and the rest usually clicks into place on its own.
### What is a brick workout in triathlon? A brick, also called coupling training, is a workout where you complete two disciplines back-to-back, usually bike then run. It trains your body to handle the lead-legged feeling that follows cycling — one of the biggest surprises for triathlon beginners.
### What do T1 and T2 mean in triathlon? T1 is the transition from swim to bike, T2 is the transition from bike to run. Both count fully toward your finish time, which is why they're often called the "fourth discipline." Skip practicing them and you'll lose valuable minutes and nerves there.
### What's the difference between sprint, Olympic, middle, and long distance? Sprint (750 m/20 km/5 km) is the shortest, Olympic distance (1.5/40/10 km) doubles that. Middle distance, aka "70.3" (1.9/90/21.1 km), doubles it again, and long distance, aka Ironman (3.8/180/42.2 km), is the full distance with a marathon at the end.
### What is drafting in triathlon, and is it allowed? Drafting means riding or swimming in someone else's slipstream to save energy. It's allowed and even smart while swimming, but strictly banned on the bike in most age-group races — a violation costs you a time penalty.
### Do I need a wetsuit for my first triathlon? Not necessarily — the water temperature on race day determines whether a wetsuit is mandatory, allowed, or banned. When it's allowed, though, it's worth it: it keeps you warm and its buoyancy can add up to 11% more swim efficiency, especially for weaker swimmers.
Triathlon: Getting Started Overview