Can you start practicing triathlon from scratch – without knowing how to swim, race on a bike, or run long distances? Do you need a sports background to begin your triathlon journey?
Robert Filipiak: Definitely! Triathlon is a sport for everyone, despite the artificially created aura surrounding its difficulty, complexity, and the level of fitness required. It is also, I emphasize, for people without a sports background or who have had no contact with any of the three disciplines!
Everyone can find a distance that suits them and their fitness level. Of course, it will require determination and training, breaking through personal barriers, and development. That’s the essence of triathlon. Having a sports background certainly makes it easier, as you can build upon the fitness you’ve already gained.
How did your journey with your favorite sport begin, and when did you decide to expand it to include two other disciplines?
RF: I started training swimming at a sports primary school. I quit at the beginning of high school due to boredom. I wanted to find a new sport to get into. I returned to the discipline while preparing for the swimming tests at the Poznań University of Physical Education. There, by pure chance, I discovered the world of triathlon. During a sports camp in Chycin, as part of the course requirements, I took part in a cross-triathlon.
After that race, nothing was the same. Later that same summer, in 2014, without even having a road bike, I signed up for my first triathlon in Sieraków (a very small event at the time). I came for a moment but ended up staying to this day.
Which of the two remaining disciplines in triathlon causes you the most trouble and why?
RF: I won’t hide that it’s the cycling part. While I quickly became friends with running, my results on the bike were poor. As we know, you don’t win triathlons by swimming alone. Therefore, I always felt a lot of frustration when I lost the advantage gained in the swimming stage during the cycling part. Over time, I gained a lot of humility and modified my cycling training. Year after year, I saw improvement. Although it still remains my Achilles' heel.
And if you had to give advice on how to train the discipline you like the least... what would that advice be?
RF: There’s a saying – keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer. I applied that to triathlon. Despite my initial reluctance, I spent a lot of time and internal effort focusing on the "bike" part. After a while, even with poor results, the cycling stage became a lot of fun and joy for me. Some results simply take longer to appear.
Do you plan to stick with swimming after your triathlon journey is over? Or perhaps one of the other two disciplines turned out to be more enjoyable, more interesting, and you’ll devote your time and attention to that in the future?
RF: For now, I don’t plan on ending my triathlon journey. Between us, I’ve already quit twice, but after a while, I stopped fooling myself and returned to regular training. My triathlon adventure has reintroduced me to the world of swimming, cycling, and running.
If I had to imagine a world without triathlon, I would definitely focus on open-water swimming and running. I have two sports dreams: the Hel-Gdynia swimming marathon and the Rzeźnik Trail Run.
Interviewer: Maciej Mazerant / Editor-in-Chief of AQUA SPEED Magazine
This material was created in collaboration with Triathlon Stryków as part of the media sponsorship of AQUA SPEED Magazine.
Photos courtesy of: Triathlon Stryków and Robert Filipiak.
