Agegroup Multisport Podcast (Triathlon,Duathlon,Aquabike,Aquathlon) · AMP

Alison Waters - Phobia-Finisher. Slaying the Water & The European Championships

·1 hr 13 min·5 clips

Alison’s first mass-start Ironman swim came in far faster than she expected at Almere.

1. Agegroup Multisport Podcast focuses on Alison Waters and her route to the European long-distance championships through age-group triathlon. 2. Alison Waters is the guest, Yanis Christodoulou is the tri-club member who pushed her to check qualifying times, and host role is filled by the podcast presenter who invited her after a Messenger message. 3. The episode asks how a woman with no childhood sporting background became a GB age-group athlete at 50 to 54. 4. Alison says she started triathlon around 2019, but COVID delayed her first race until 2021. 5. She describes finding out that age-group racing existed only after Yanis Christodoulou spoke to Ashford Tri Club about his own journey. 6. Alison checked her middle-distance and long-distance results, found qualifying times, and applied for the GB full-distance team. 7. She qualified for Challenge Almere in the Netherlands after her first Outlaw race in 2022. 8. Alison says the 2024 European long-distance championships were only her second Ironman-distance race. 9. She explains that she had no athletic background, no real swimming confidence, and learned to swim properly as an adult. 10. She describes moving from a pair of grass-stained trainers and short runs around the block to parkrun, a running club, half marathons, and a first marathon in Bournemouth. 11. Alison says open-water swimming was the hardest part because she could not see the bottom and found the lake cold and intimidating. 12. She forced herself into the water week after week until she could swim up and down the pool and then face lake sessions. 13. She says her first middle-distance race was Outlaw Holkham, where she set a target of seven hours and finished in just under six and a half. 14. She describes the Outlaw full-distance build-up in 2021, including marathon training, group rides, technique work, and lake sessions. 15. Alison says she was terrified at the start of the full-distance swim but settled into a rhythm and completed the distance faster than expected. 16. She reports a swim split of about 1:25 when she had expected around 1:40, and she says that shocked her. 17. The interview style is conversational, with the host prompting Alison’s timeline, training choices, and race-day details. 18. The energy is practical and reflective, with repeated details about fear, patience, and fitting training into work and family life. 19. Listeners who like age-group triathlon, adult beginners, and endurance training will relate to this. 20. Listeners seeking elite-level race tactics or short-format sprint racing may skip this.

As heard by us

A grounded age-group race story about finding the level, fitting training around life, and getting to Europe.

The story traces Alison Waters' move from club-level curiosity to a real competitive path: learning that age-group racing existed, checking the results, and realizing she had already done enough to qualify for the age-group team.

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Why you'd press play

If you want the honest route from tri club curiosity to European long-distance qualification, this one lands.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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