people should note 2022 had two ironman world championships so, Ironman long course Pros would most like be down the next year if they are ironman race distance favored.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
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From what I see she still had her main job at Lloyds.

If most of us were good enough to race pro AND keep our full time jobs, damn right, every race would be somewhere awesome. She is literally living the dream lifestyle with a normal job plus enough time off to do her hobby that she gets OK pay to go and do, and last year her pay was a solid second full time job. Why go to a bunch of crappy "convenient" pseudo local races . Heck I pay with my own cash to go do races that are cool and not exactly convenient, but they make for good vacations. She's doing that and getting paid to do the hobby job!!!

At some point are we going to realize that triathlon just isn't very marketable in most places (especially the US). Should you be able to make a "real" living being a pro triathlete? Maybe the answer is no for almost every pro? I'm certainly aware that I'm biased living in the US, where triathlon is essentially invisible to the general public, but I don't really understand the constant "pros should make more" or "pros should be able to make a living" approach. Sure, if there is legit revenue then yea, they should get a fair portion of that, but if not, maybe being a pro athlete (again, I'm mainly thinking about the US) just may not be sustainable as a main source of income? I love triathlon, by the way. Just my 2 cents.

2022 earnings were like 62k, you forgot to deduct expense from the 2022 figure.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

From past videos I believe she's an admin/exec assistant and now only works the equivalent of 2 days/weeks for a few months a year or something like that so probably a nice complement to help support her lifestyle and a security blanket if she needs to return to the 9-5 life but most certainly not a "full time" job or enough to make ends meet.
I was surprised at the cost of her swim training with Front Pack Swim; given all the advertising she does for them one would hope they would give her a better deal. On the flip side, it looks like her other sponsors are fairly supportive.

Kudos to Ruth for being so upfront. It’s easy to see why so many pros find it difficult to make ends meet. GTN also had a video out this week that featured how much prize money the top pros made. It was evident that without the PTO they’d all have made a fraction of that income. Hopefully 2024 should be better all round.

Yeah i think she's mentioned before that she might work 1 day a week for them, assuming she gets pro rata pay from that so cant be that much

I agree about the cost of her swim training (over £3k i believe), especially when it seems it hasn't really progressed 😬 i wonder if she sees that as a good investment

GTN really just voiced Thorsten Radde's analysis (which I linked upthread):
Deep Dive Into the 2023 Triathlon Money List - https://www.trirating.com/...riathlon-money-list/

Thorsten also offers the 'fractions' of PTO v other earnings in this article.

Yes that’s true, I just listened to an old Tri Mockery podcast and they were joking about guys on a tandem as the drafting was so bad in Spain

Front Pack Swim has a reputation of gouging age groupers and pros while overpromising and under delivering. They also have some shady sales tactics where they offer free swim analysis, then they end up cornering you on a zoom call in a full on sales pitch.

From Bard TY summary (didn't watch the video so take this for what it is):

This video is about Ruth Astle, a professional triathlete, sharing her earnings and expenses for the year 2023. She made a total of £48,994 and spent £33,532, resulting in a profit of about £7,000.
Astle made most of her income from sponsorships, which totaled £33,785. She also earned £17,757 from YouTube and £4,249 from prize money. Her biggest expenses were travel, which cost £10,480, and content creation, which cost £5,300.
Astle acknowledges that she didn't have a great racing year in 2023 due to injuries, and this affected her ability to secure sponsorships for the following year. However, she is grateful that her existing sponsors have stuck with her and is hopeful that she will have a better year in 2024.
Overall, this video provides a transparent look at the finances of a professional triathlete who is not at the top of her game. It is a reminder that even for successful athletes, there can be financial challenges, and that income can vary greatly from year to year.
Here are some additional details from the video:

• Astle's prize money was significantly lower in 2023 compared to 2022, when she won £50,000.
• She spent more on swimming coaching in 2023 in an effort to improve her swimming, which was a weakness for her.
• She paid her content creator, Jack, a monthly retainer and also paid him for specific content creation projects.
• Astle emphasizes that triathlon is not a sport where athletes can make millions unless they are at the very top.

Ruth seems like the kind of athlete who can benefit from the 2 competing pro series next year. She picked up an extra $3k for being #19 PTO in 2022. If she can be that kind of athlete in 2024 & PTO takes ~10-12 women in front of her, she could come in around 5th-ish in the Ironman Pro Series. 5th gets $50k. That's the kind of money that takes the stress out of it for that caliber of an athlete. Pros like Ruth deserve some comfort.

About FPS - Indeed, not going to lie, I almost fell for it (until they told me the price). I actually learnt from them through Ruth's videos and had the infamous free call. I assume they gave her the same speech being a "short woman"... apparently NONE of the advice ever given to us is relevant, all the drills we've learnt are counterproductive and only them can develop a "custom" stroke made for short women. I didn't like the aggressive "fear mongering" marketing strategy but in fairness they did make some valid points and then showed me a video of one of the very fast short pros they coach (can't remember for sure but I think it was Gina Sereno). Hopefully Ruth did improve given her investment into it (time and $). Nice to see that her main coach, Will Clarke, is supportive; he does seem like a great guy and smart coach.

Here's another chance for you (@tamii) to watch (and incrementally increase the <£2000 income she made (and shared) from youtube).
I have difficulty believing this effort is worth the candle but I guess it's establishing her 'brand' which may pay long term dividends if she can gain results at 2022 level for the rest of the decade (esp better swim and dependable sub-3 run). Astle suggested that partners/sponsors (eg Argon 18 et al) are sticking with her for 2024 but sounded realistic about 2025 prospects really depending on 2024. Has kept Parcours as a wheel partner for next year (returning to them in 2023? after their support when she was an amateur in 2018)? Presume this is with the Classified hub:
https://www.cycling-insights.com/...nabled-disc-wheel-2/

For anyone intrested. Here are my numbers from the opposite end of the "Pro" athlete scale.
I work a full time job, so racing "Elite" would be a more fitting term.

This was my frist year in the pro category and finished the Year PTO ranked 189 (Higher than I expected)
Race calander was: 3 x IM's, 3 x 70.3's & 2 other events

Prize money won: £3400 (from 3rd at IM70.3 Stafford, 5th at IM70.3 Cork & 5th at Xterra UK)
Sponsorship: £0
License and race entry: -£1200
Travel costs: -£1600
Accommodation: -£600 (Sleeping in my Van mostly or staying in Hostels)
Net profit: £0


I am actually pretty happy with breaking even for the year. In a situatoin where my hobby mostly paid for itself.

The mid to back "pro's" are definitely in an odd spot. Dont have the talent to compete with the best + being handicapped by working a job.

Still seems mad I went to Germany, France, Ireleand, Italy & Portugal + 3 UK race with only £600 of accommodation bills.

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Full-time Engineer / Part-time Pro Triathlete
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Sounds like a great season. Congratulations

Ruth had a strong 2022, and a weak 2023 results-wise (injury played a big part). From her 2022 results she managed decent sponsorship earnings in '23 that are likely to go down in '24 (sponsorship lags performance). She'll need much better results in '24 without the sponsorship earnings to fall back on.

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Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)