The #SVT Podcast · Swansea Vale Triathlon Club

44. March 2025 | The one with the Queen of Triathlon

·1 hr 25 min·5 clips

“2014 horrific… that was the only year I’ve nearly given up.”

The SVT Podcast opens with the usual club energy and a warm hello to the Swansea Vale Tri community. Jane Arnold is introduced as the Queen of Triathlon, with the hosts treating the title as part joke, part obvious fact. The chat stays loose from the start, with jokes about being in Casa Arnold and the heating being on. That tone runs through the episode. The conversation keeps coming back to the practical side of triathlon, especially how easy it is to get distracted by someone else’s kit. One story lands clearly: you do not need the 15,000 pound bike, because 500 quid is fine and can still get the job done. Another example comes from Marbella 70.3, where a racer says she got the pleasure of overtaking someone on a much flashier setup. The point is simple. Engine first, bike second. The hosts use that idea to pull out a wider lesson about confidence. They tell newer athletes not to be intimidated by how other people look on race day. The same warning gets applied to race results. Strava can turn a good session into a bad mood if you start comparing yourself to everyone else in the club. That thought goes even further with the idea of going dark and keeping winter training private. There is a little playful disagreement about whether to publish data at all, which gives the episode some extra club-table life. The conversation also nods toward advice from the Lanzarote winner about not telling your enemies how well you are doing. It all feels grounded in real triathlon habits rather than theory. The episode ends by teasing a return next month, with a Paris Marathon update promised in about three weeks and the start of the season in view. It is part banter, part reassurance, and part practical nudge to keep showing up. The warmth comes from how familiar everyone sounds with the grind of training, racing, and comparing notes after the fact. Jane is treated like someone the sport already knows, and the episode makes good on that respect by keeping the conversation human, funny, and useful.

As heard by us

Warm, practical triathlon chat that values the engine more than the price tag.

Jane Arnold gets the queenly treatment, but the real draw is the club chat around what matters in triathlon: confidence, kit, training, and not getting spooked by everyone else’s setup.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

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Want Swansea Vale Tri club chat with poor banter and race-day gossip?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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