One Clydesdale’s Journey

A Clydesdale is one of several different divisions used for competing in during a triathlon.

The different divisions are generally broken down by experience. There is the Elite; those that compete on a regular basis and usually place, they may even be professionals. And the Amateur / Novice; those that have competed before, but generally don’t place. The Amateur division is then further broken down by age group. Some races even offer a Rookie division for those competing in their first race.

And then you have the Clydesdale division for the men and the Athena division for the females. When offered, these divisions are separate from the other ones that I just mentioned.

A Clydesdale is defined as a male triathlete that weighs over 200 pounds (sometimes 180). And an Athena is a female triathlete that weights over 145 or 150 depending on the source. That’s all I’ll say about the Athena division.

Now as for the origins of the term Clydesdale I have not been able to find anything on that yet. I can tell you that even though it is not officially recognized as a sanctioned division within the professional or Olympic events, it is still a very widely used term in the sport of triathlon.

So why call yourself a Clydesdale?
For starters; it’s not a negative term at all, so I look at it as a matter of pride. Why? Let’s face it, I’m 6′4″ and since I’ve left high school the skinniest I’ve ever been was 203. As well as putting on quite a bit of weight over the years, I have also bulked up a bit compared to back then.

So I doubt that I could ever see anything other than a 2 for that first digit in my weight. Even if I continue on this journey and get myself into shape to attempt an Ironman.

But hey, I’m fine with that! Right now my ideal weight is something in the low 220’s. Once I reach that, I’ll reevaluate things. But that would have me back to the weight that I was in when I was in the military.

So I am a Clydesdale in training and proud of it!
John W.