Over 1.1 million Australians swim, cycle and run—but only a few are true triathletes

10 million Australians 14+ (52%) swim, cycle or run, Roy Morgan Research shows—but just 1 in 17 of us do all three, and an elite 1 in 80 do all three consecutively in that physically brutal pursuit: the triathlon.

Swimming is the most popular of these three sporting activities, with almost 6.8 million regular or occasional participants (35% of Australians), followed by Running/Jogging (4.9 million, or 25%) and Cycling (3.7 million, or 19%). select

Around 6.1 million people do just one of the three sports, another 2.9 million do two, and 1.1 million participate in all three, whether often or on occasion. But among these tri-hards is an elite group who tri-hardest: 244,000 Australians who do triathlons.

 Number of Australian Swimmers, Runners, Cyclists – and Triathletes

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January - December 2015, sample n = 15,367 Australians 14+

Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“We think of ourselves as a sporting nation, but only around one in four Australians (27%) agree they love to do as many sports as possible.

“Triathletes are the most likely of all sports’ participants to love doing many sports (77%)—which makes sense given triathlons already include three-in-one by definition.

“However they aren’t sports snobs. Triathletes, as well as all those who swim, run and cycle, have well above-average rates of participation in just about every other activity: from ice skating and snowboarding, squash and badminton, to gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, dirt biking, ballroom dancing, sailing and darts.”