I think the best way for me to introduce myself to my new home as a Senior Editor here at Slowtwitch is to recount the entertaining Forum thread I came across a few years ago. One of the answers to “You know you’ve been in the sport a long time when …” was “You can remember Kevin Mackinnon racing as a pro.”

Sadly, I remember those days, too. My last professional race was in July 1993. I didn’t know I’d be retiring at the time, but as I tore my plantar fascia on the way to winning the Sarnia Triathlon, I was setting my next career in motion. I had just graduated from journalism school a few months before and became a dad for the first time three weeks earlier. Two weeks later I was announcing at my first race. A month after that I became the director of the Triathlon Pro Tour and media director of a Canadian triathlon series. From there things continued – I soon became communications director for Ironman Canada and Ironman North America, and eventually moved on to being the managing editor of Ironman.com before becoming the Editor in Chief at Ironman.

Along the way I continued to coach, and because all that still wasn’t enough, also became the founding editor of Triathlon Magazine Canada.

After just shy of 20 years with the magazine, I put my last issue to bed two days ago. I’m thrilled to take on this new role with Slowtwitch. I look forward to joining the editorial team and helping to build out what is already one of the sport’s most iconic platforms. I’ll be coming on board to build on the work Eric Wynn and Ryan Heisler, along with all the regular contributors to the site, bring you each week. We’ll provide even more coverage, updates, news, training tips and gear reports. I also can’t wait to start join the gang in the Slowtwitch Podcast. (And that’s just to start! Stay tuned for even more coming at you in the New Year.)

Triathlon and endurance sports have been my passion for a long time. What’s always inspired me to stay involved is the incredible community that makes what we do so meaningful. I’m looking forward to joining the Slowtwitch family and bringing you all the latest on the sport(s) we all love. (That wasn’t an accident – look forward to more endurance-oriented coverage from gravel, trail running and more.)

The saying is “there’s no rest for the wicked,” and, as you’ll quickly learn, I must be very “wicked.” Over the next month I’ll be bringing/ you news and coverage from Ironman Western Australia, Clash Daytona and the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand. I am only on day one, but I’m already thrilled that Eric, Ryan and the rest of the gang have entrusted me to do exactly what I love to do – tell the stories and capture the images of athletes pursuing excellence. Whether that’s an age-group world champion like my wife, shooting age group athletes on the bikes on the lava in Kona, Laura Philipp nailing a huge day in Nice, or Patrick Lange amazing us all on the Big Island, it’s all inspiring for me. I hope you all enjoy the ride as much as I’m going to.

The post Hello Slowtwitch, I’m the New Senior Editor first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) will be tied at the hip for the next twelve years, reaching a strategic agreement to “grow the sport” together through 2036.

The agreement includes the sole and exclusive rights to produce “the Official World Championship Tour of Long Distance Triathlon,” as well as a framework to potentially produce shorter-distance events alongside T100 Tour races. There are also provisions regarding collaborative anti-doping efforts, rights management (including media and broadcast rights), and sponsorship.

World Triathlon president Marisol Casado said in a release, “We believe that it is both ours and PTO’s responsibility to double down on the good work that we’ve already started and use the great exposure our sport enjoys at the moment as a catalyst to grow deeper engagement with the sport’s committed fan. We also want to find a way to promote our sport to the broader sports fan. We believe we’re already starting to answer part of that question through our partnership with the PTO around the new T100 Triathlon World Tour and want to ensure we provide it with the right support and solid foundation to go from strength to strength.”

Casado also specifically pointed out athletes progressing from the World Triathlon Championship Series to T100 as a future pipeline for talent development.

PTO Chief Executive Office Sam Renouf added, “We have had a very productive relationship with World Triathlon since our first event, including hosting the World Long Distance Championships alongside the Collins Cup in 2021. In working closely through the formation and then launch of the new T100 Triathlon World Tour – quickly becoming the pinnacle of long distance racing – one of the by-products has been the discussion and identification of other opportunities where we can grow the sport. By forming a 12-year partnership, both sides have the opportunity to invest together in the longer-term development of the sport.”

The next T100 race is October 19-20, 2024, in Lake Las Vegas.

The post World Triathlon Doubles Down on T100 first appeared on Slowtwitch News.