I entered my first triathlon right out of college in 2005. It wasn’t long after that I discovered the goldmine of knowledge that was Slowtwitch. I poured over gear reviews, articles about bike fit and training, and the race reports. The forum was a way to listen, learn and occasionally interact with experts and pros.

I made a career out of my triathlon obsession that this site helped foster, and I work or have worked for many of the partner brands of Slowtwitch.

In 2022 finally achieved my Kona goal and I thought I’ll be stepping away from triathlon. But I quickly learned this is my passion and jumped back in the deep end and I am going to Celtman in June. I’m in my 40s now but my enthusiasm for the sport in bigger than ever. I owe so much of that to Slowtwitch.

I checked the front page on Sunday nonstop to see an update of who won Singapore. I thought it had to be broken or there was something wrong. For almost 20 years Slowtwitch has been my first stop to consume triathlon related content and I had to go elsewhere.

Some of this may not be possible (for example Javier may not want to talk about this publicly), but I like where you're going with this. Cover what people don't know, but you think would like to know about what's happening around the races, the races being the things people already know about (have seen live, etc).

Gravel and trail have little interest to me. I have a gravel bike, I run on trails, but Garmin Gravel worlds articles over PTO is not my preference

PTO is probably a more complex topic. But I don't see myself paying for something were the content I am interested is intentionally not covered and something I have little interest in (like eSports) is. That sounds like an editorial decision I wouldn't support.

I am not sure how a hybrid sponsor/paywall model looks. I find, and this is a personal opinion, many articles are showcases for your sponsors, which is fine. But I am not interested in paying for it. Example, the wahoo articles was really well done, but I would prefer a comparison across training systems rather than the focus on the one.

I am fine reading about a sponsors showcased product because it supports the site, but I don't want to pay for that.

The fact EC doesn't have sponsors is good for this (IMO). I offered EC to provide data to do some product comparisons (tri related). If it works out it will be really interesting. But I remember saying to myself, such an article on a site with sponsors could ruffle some feathers.

I scan most front page articles, I read few. I used to read more. Example : I liked Greg Kopecky's tech articles.
That may be a barometer of how much I would support it : how much do I read vs scan it.

Podcasts : if interesting guests was the norm, I'd listen and support. I have expressed that already. You guys prefer another format. That's cool. But I probably wouldn't pay for it.

I fully acknowledge I may not be the subscriber you are going after

I first appreciate you taking the time.

Second -- the T100 issue is complex. It has very little to do with Eric's experience in Miami that we talked about on the podcast. But until that item is resolved, we can't cover the event with any images in our stories, etc. And I really don't want to set the precedent of writing articles, of, say, where we use pictures of athletes from other events when they're racing at a T100 one -- that opens a separate can of worms. So we are on pause.

Third -- if Mr Kopecky were still in the industry, we'd have him. But I do have some comparison articles lined up, mostly as I select my gear for IMLP. Some N=1 testing on sports nutrition, run shoes, etc.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Why can all other sites, such as triathlete or tri247 publish pictures but ST can't ?

If one day you can't use them anymore, is it that big of a deal ? There are thousands of posts on ST with images that have disappeared.

I don't know man.....between last year's reasons, this year's reasons....comments made on your podcast, I wish we could understand what is really going on.

I'll DM you.

Trying to keep some of the sausage making in the kitchen.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

^^^^ Agreed. A changing and far different place than years ago and the direction (or lack of) is troubling.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Related to this a company I work with in semi-professional sports space was just flamed rather publicly by a photographer for using over 50 of their pictures across various social media posts without paying for them.

Turns out these were for pictures used over 5 years ago and not only was the photographer credited in the posts, but the photographer was indeed actually contracted and paid for them by the sports team that provided them to this company for promotional use. The photographer didn't know how the photos ended up there, and just assumed they were ripped from their own social media account and started flaming the company in question.

Offering to take the pictures down after years of allegedly infringing would be meaningless on a years old post. The photographer could at a minimum cause some grief with legal letters and threats being sent back and forth, and then there would be legal debate over if the original contract to one party allowed them to let someone else use the photos, etc. etc. So the company just offered to pay the photographer for the photos and safe the grief over an online photo-influencer freaking out.

Anyway, you may have heard the the phrase "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"? Well, if Shakespeare knew photographers I assume he would have rendered it differently.

Replying to this thread, overall, not a specific post... I've been here a long time and - mostly - because of the community and their engagement in the forum. T100 is a big story in triathlon. Sure, there are many complaints about braodcast flaws and other issues - most of which I agree with - but, c'mon T100 is rearranging how professional triathlon operates (for better or worse) and has forced changes (IMO) in how the IM series of events operates (for better or worse). Even if T100 is a smoking crater in the ground in 8 / 20 / 32 months, right now? It is not A game changer - it is THE game changer.

That is why I am so disappointed by the lack of T100 Singapore coverage on the home page. Is ST focused on triathlon/ multisport? I think so. Is T100 among the most importnat features in the current triathlon landscape? I think so. ST must move heaven and earth and all obsticles to get T100 coverage on the front page. Full stop. Not doing so fails to serve the ST community. And those ST members head off to another source for T100 results and recaps. Is driving eyeballs to other sites the right move when there is now a thread on paywalls, etc.?

My hope is that we'll be able to get back to having some coverage of the official World Triathlon long course championship tour this year.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

That'll be the "World Series in Long Distance Triathlon" I guess, aka the T100 Triathlon World Series.
Don't sleep on the big 2024 World Triathlon Long Distance Championships in Townsville in August: at least the same newsworthy status as the E World Triathlon Championships in London, powered by Zwift:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/..._Beaugrand_8930.html.

Here's World Tri's articles reporting the races last weekend:
https://triathlon.org/...t_the_t100_singapore
https://triathlon.org/...0_title_in_singapore

Ryan: asking this in brief because I'm about to run to a meeting - so I'm aware it may sound critical but it isn't intended to be... I'm voting with my feet by being here:

I read the front page article about learning from Augusta. The way that article was written, and in particular its conclusion that the only way forward is Ironman, read (to me) like a hit-piece against the PTO. Combined with an absence of coverage of the PTO races, the appearance is that Slowtwitch has "chosen a side". I'm not saying that is the case - but I am saying that is the appearance.

So... is the intent to try to maintain a balance and remain series-agnostic going forward? Or does the site want to throw its weight behind one long-distance 'brand'? I'd be interested to hear the guiding philosophy - how ST navigates the balance between a business perspective and a 'custodian-of-the-sport' perspective. No wrong answers, just curious.

It's a perfectly fair question.

There's three separate issues:

1.) the official editorial position of Slowtwitch with regard to race series;
2.) why there isn't coverage of the race in Singapore;
3.) my opinion.

The official editorial position of Slowtwitch is that we are brand agnostic when it comes to race series, minus any specific partnership deal we may have with a particular series. (We do not currently have one. Our most recent one was with the PTO in 2022.) Our editorial plans for mainstream triathlon race coverage this year included WTCS events, the Olympics, SuperTri, T100, IRONMAN Pro Series events, and Challenge Roth -- all under the umbrella of how we were going to look at race event articles in 2023.

Now, you're probably asking, "how can he say that when they didn't cover Singapore?" We are, at the moment, unable to bring you coverage of T100 events on the front page. It involves two of our sacred cows when it comes to us being an independent publisher. Until there's a resolution we will not be able to write on the home page.

With regard to my opinion piece -- I think that the PTO would be best served by recognizing what they are good at (creating pro content, finding money) and recognizing their weaknesses (producing wholly-owned events). Again, going back to -- it's nuts that we're approaching six months until Lake Las Vegas and there's still zero indication that registration might open anytime soon. They're going to miss the window to get dollars in the door.

So why not take their strengths, use the best IM assets (as that's the brand name people associate with this stuff), be the media rights holder, and make your money that way? Not totally dissimilar from the arrangement between the FIA, Formula One Management, Liberty Media, etc. Might actually create the change they are looking for.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

did you notice you could sign up for Singapore 2025 during the mans race and all you had to do was to hold your phone against the screen to register. i had not seen that before for any race i have watched.

May I offer to kill two birds with one stone :

"We are, at the moment, unable to bring you coverage of T100 events on the front page".

Fine, don't cover on front page. Turn what was supposed to be the weekly podcast into race series review. No image copyright stuff, you are as free as many podcasts out there to express an opinion. Eric is never around, so replace him with guest hosts. David sounds like a candidate.

Bonus, you revive the podcast. I always thought front page articles and podcasts could generate forum discussion and vice versa

Do I get in trouble with PETA with the two birds analogy ?

Bonus points if you get StroBro as a guest host on the T100 event coverage.

Thank you for not just one laugh; but two!

I rarely go to the front page, I come to this forum when I come to ST.

That said we can discuss the race. Never even occurred to look for a ST race play by play or recap.

This is a triathlon forum and I don't need someone breaking it down for me.

Let's be honest, we the triathletes are the only ones watching these thing live, replayed or race highlights. T100 content is actually pretty good in terms of triathlon. I'd rather find a race thread and read through that and chime in if I feel the need to vs. reading a one person writen article.

That's my take, I think of ST more as a community vs a news source.