Indeed, I’m no longer her coach — “only” her friend — and I try to keep helping her with aerodynamics and equipment. Her current coach is Pablo Dapena, which I believe was the best choice Sara could have made.
There are many things that can be confusing about Sara, and this already happened when she led Daytona 2021 in her debut at this kind of race. Many people googled her and found that she appeared as a professional cyclist (she isn’t — she only did a few races during the pandemic), while her 4x100 medley relay diploma from Athens 2004 at age 16 was overlooked.
Regarding the topic that seems to draw the most attention on Slowtwitch — her equipment — she indeed doesn’t use a skinsuit because she usually doesn’t need it to be at the front of the race. It typically guarantees her the best T1 and allows her to lead the race for several kilometers (unless Lucy decides otherwise).
As for the aerodynamics of her skin, we were also convinced that bare skin is slower (and yes, we have access to the same data you do). However, after two wind tunnel sessions (Eindhoven and Silverstone) and testing on both velodrome (Portugal) and road with Marc Graveline, we found that she is sensitive to helmet changes, but fabric doesn’t make a difference for her (we’ve tested around 20 different textures, some of which worked for other triathletes). Similarly, the BTA bottle doesn’t make her faster or slower, but she keeps it for easier hydration.
Last but not least, Sara has ulcerative colitis, which forces her to stop during the run to use the bathroom, and in that regard, the swimsuit is the fastest option.
Regarding her position and bike: she rides a Cervélo P-Series to be able to use a very long and low Wattshop handlebar, which so far has proven to be her best setup. Note: the bike was purchased by her, and she’s very happy to be able to choose her own equipment.
If you want to dig deeper into the reasoning behind our decisions, here are three links about her aerodynamics
Velodrome: https://youtu.be/YOSfCfc1Qd4?si=rcfU5q5MizTcHZd8
Windtunnel 2: https://youtu.be/YOSfCfc1Qd4?si=rcfU5q5MizTcHZd8
Her Cervelo; https://youtu.be/YOSfCfc1Qd4?si=rcfU5q5MizTcHZd8
Hope it helps