Why one of the fastest amateur British triathletes insists on swimming breaststroke: “My brain doesn’t compute front crawl”

As a young girl, I ran 800m and cross-country at school and enjoyed it about as much as any teenage child does being dragged out in the cold! I used to win my sports-day competitions, but I didn’t have any great talent and didn’t take it any further.

I got the marathon bug after university, regularly earning a Championship start at London, so I must have been doing something right.

I took a big break to have a family, and that period when all three were tiny was more challenging than any Ironman. When I was pregnant – and ironically, given what was to come – I used to swim a mile of breaststroke every morning before work.

It wasn’t easy to return to running and, following injury, I went to see a local physio whose husband wanted to start coaching local athletes for free.

I signed up, and immediately he set me a goal to run a sub-3hr marathon. I hadn’t run a sub-90 min half-marathon at that point and didn’t think it would be possible, but I went to London, ran 2:53, and just got faster and faster.

I was invited to the Tokyo Olympic marathon trials in Kew Gardens, but picked up an injury beforehand and cried for probably longer than the race would have lasted! It was while recovering that my friends challenged me to do an Ironman.

That was a red rag to a bull, so I bought a £500 Boardman hybrid bike and started training for Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. The triathlon training helped my running, and in September 2022, I ran 2:40 in London as the fifth-placed amateur woman.

I qualified and travelled to the Big Island in the Pacific the following year as part of my 40th birthday celebrations. I was just about the last woman to finish the swim, but it didn’t bother me. I had a good bike ride and was in my element on the run, with a 3:04 marathon to place 10th in my age group.

This year, I returned to Hawaii in the same sort of shape and, despite putting out the same power, was 20min slower on the bike, where it felt windier and warmer.

The run was going well until mile 20, and then it became a death march. Honestly, it was the toughest thing I’ve done – worse than childbirth.

I have tried to learn front crawl, but after winging it in Spain in 2022, everything went backwards. This summer, I headed for Challenge Roth with the plan to swim it all breaststroke and clocked 1:20 non-wetsuit in the canal for 3.8km, which I didn’t think was too bad.

I followed it up with breaststroking 1:14 with a triathlon wetsuit at the Outlaw in Nottingham. By this point, I was determined to try the strategy in Kona and swam 1:19 in the Pacific Ocean, where people said they were struggling because of the swell (this placed Jo in the top half of the field!).

My brain doesn’t compute front crawl and I just don’t have the technique, but I can use my aerobic capacity. Breaststroke also means I can sight easily, especially when it’s choppy, but I appreciate it’s not for everyone.

There’s an argument to say I’ll make my legs more tired, but I think I over-kick in front crawl anyway. I don’t have eight hours a week to spend in a swimming pool, and I see the Ironman swim as a tool to move you on to the next thing. I’d rather invest more time in cycling because there is more to gain there.

I’ve managed a sub-10hr Ironman, been to the World Championship twice and podiumed in other races – not bad for three years of work, without being a professional athlete and having all the time in the world.

To move to the next level would be almost impossible, but I think I can strategically pick a hilly Ironman with a challenging swim and maybe try to win one.

I’d also like to take part in the Tokyo Marathon. Culturally, it should be a very different race, and I can’t say no to the London Marathon, so will always return as long as I qualify.

But my big life goal is to win the Médoc Marathon near Bordeaux, where you win your bodyweight in wine. That would be better than winning Kona. After all, life is about balance…

Who is Jo O’Regan?

Mum-of-three Jo O’Regan, 42, is a wedding coordinator in Cambridgeshire, and in the past three years has become one of the fastest amateur Ironman triathletes in the UK – despite taking an unusual approach to the swim leg.