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Biathle is a multi-sport event originating from Modern Pentathlon, that consists of a continuous three-stage race involving a run, swim and run. The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) and the various national Modern Pentathlon bodies govern the sport and sanction races.

Biathle should not be confused with the winter sport of biathlon.

History
In its early incarnation, Biathle was underaken as a form of competitive training, with the aim being to "nurture youth into the original Olympic sport of modern pentahlon" REFERENCE. While Biathle is still intended to be a feeder sport for Modern Pentathlon, it is now considered a sport in its own right, with events held across the world for both elite and age group competitors. The UIPM has staged an annual Biathle World Championships since 1999, with Chad Senior and Csilla Furi, both Olympic Modern Pentathlon competitors, winning the inaugrual men's and women's senior Biathle World Championship.

Biathle bears a close resemblance to aquathlon which also involves a continuous swim and run. However, unlike Biathle, Aquathlon does not originate from Modern Pentathlon, but rather from the sport of triathlon. Aquathlon is governed by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and, like biathle, an annual World Championship is held with the inaugrial event having been staged in 1998. Competition distances vary significantly within the two distinct sports, but generally Biathle is contested over a shorter distance than Aquathlon. This is particularly true at the international level where the standard race distance for senior Biathle competition is a 200m swim and two 1.5km runs (taken from the standard Modern Pentathlon race distances). Whereas international Aquathlon events are commonly contested over a course consisting of a 1km swim and 5km run.

While both Biathle and Aquathlon are relatively new sports, the run/swim discipline has a long history. According to the UIPM Biathle has been practiced for over 50 years (REFERENCE). Likewise, run/swim events of various descriptions have been held in surf lifesaving competition since the early 1900's. The National Surf Lifesaving Association of America held its first national championships in 1965 with the run-swim-run being one of the contested disciplines (REFERENCE)

Format
Unlike modern pentathlon, Biathle consists of a continuous run-swim-run with the swim generally being held in open water.

Modern day Biathle has been designated a "Sport for All" by the UIPM, being based on "the two fundamental components of Modern Pentathlon and most practised sports in the world – run and swim" (REFERENCE). In this regard, Biathle has a number of significant advantages over a 'full' pentathlon for junior competitors. The primary advantage being the cost which is relavent to both the training/competing aspect as well as the staging of events. By limiting the sport to the two disciplines, the associated costs are much reduced, subsequently creating greater opportunities for participation.

Competition
There has been considerable crossover between Aquathlon/Triathlon and Biathle in terms of athlete participation. This has been most notable with triathletes racing Biathle events at international level, with many podium finishers at the Biathle World Championships coming from the ranks of elite triathlon.

Richard Stannard is amongst the most notable dual Biathle and Aquathlon competitors, having won three ITU Aquathlon World Championships and three UIPM Biathle World Championships. Similarly, all of Daniela Chmet, Emma Davies and Maria Barrett have won at least one Biathle World Championship and also competed in the elite field of the Aquathlon World Championships. REFERENCES

Despite Biathle having originated from Modern Pentathlon, there have been few elite Pentathletes who have competed successfully at the Biathle World Championships with Laura Asadauskaitė, Csilla Furi and Chad Senior being the most notable exceptions REFERENCES. In competition, Modern Pentathletes are not required to undertake a continuous run-swim and, due to venue requirements, competitors will often have a considerable break between the two events. Further, as of 2009 the running and shooting disciplines of modern pentathlon have been contested in tandem. As such, few elite pentathletes opt to compete over the reduced Biathle programme.

Much like the sport of triathlon, Biathle is open to age group competitors who can compete on the same course as the elite/senior competitors. Again, Biathle takes their lead from Modern Pentathlon with age groups being broken up as follows: Youth (Under 19 years), Junior (19 – 21), Senior (Elite and Open age competitors) and Masters (over 40 years, broken into 10 year age groups). (REFERENCE http://cdn.pentathlon.org/images/Rules/ii%201%20general%20aspects%2017%201%202012final.pdf)

Winter Biathle
http://www.biathleme.org/site/introduction.html http://d3is4i7ju5exiz.cloudfront.net/images/Rules/ii%207%20biathle%20rules%2017%201%202012final.pdf http://www.fipm.it/file/36201.pdf http://www.olympics-now.com/2010/10/18/biathle-championship-brings-the-peace-and-sport-message-to-dr-congo/

History
Run/swim events have long been one of the simplest forms of multisport.

Aquathlon bears a close resemblance to biathle which also involves a continuous swim and run. However, unlike Aquathlon, Biathle does not originate from the sport of triathlon, but rather from Modern Pentathlon. The ITU holds an annualAquathlon World Championship with the inaugrial event having been staged in 1998. Likewise, the Biathle World Championships have been held annually since 1999. Competition distances vary significantly within the two distinct sports, but generally Aquathlon is contested over a longer distance than Biathle. This is particularly true at the international level where the standard race distance for Aquathlon is a 1km swim and two 2.5km runs.

While both Biathle and Aquathlon are relatively recent arrivals on the international stage, the run/swim discipline has a long history. According to the UIPM Biathle has been practiced for over 50 years (REFERENCE). Likewise, run/swim events of various descriptions have been held in surf lifesaving competition since the early 1900's. The National Surf Lifesaving Association of America held its first national championships in 1965 with the run-swim-run being one of the contested disciplines (REFERENCE)

Aquathlons have been around in various forms since the early 20th century in ocean lifeguard competitions. The National Surf Lifesaving Association of America, formed in 1965, held its first national competition that year and the events included a run-swim-run. The modern international standard lifeguard distance is 400 meter run - 400 meter swim - 200 meter run.

The official distances for the annual ITU Aquathlon World Championships are a 2.5km run, 1km swim, and 2.5km run. This can change if the water temperature is low, and in this instance the race becomes a 1km swim followed by a 5km run.

Aquathlon is an excellent way for novice athletes to enter the world of multisport, and for experienced triathletes to add some spice to their race programmes.

There are a wealth of aquathlons organized throughout the year with varying distances and forms. During the colder months, pool based aquathlons are often held using the swim-run formula. During the summer, evening and weekend aquathlon race series are held by many triathlon clubs. Junior and youth aquathlons are also held (although with shorter swim and run distances dependent on age) in both pools and open water.

In its early incarnation, Biathle was underaken as a form of competitive training, with the aim being to "nurture youth into the original Olympic sport of modern pentahlon" REFERENCE. While Biathle is still intended to be a feeder sport for Modern Pentathlon, it is now considered a sport in its own right, with events held across the world for both elite and age group competitors. The UIPM has staged an annual Biathle World Championships since 1999, with Chad Senior and Csilla Furi, both Olympic Modern Pentathlon competitors, winning the inaugrual men's and women's senior Biathle World Championship.

Overview
Modern pentathlon is similar to an aquathlon in that both include swimming and running. But swimming and cross-country running are only two of the five events which make up the modern pentathlon, and these are held as distinct, noncontiguous events. Within the penthathlon sport the term biathle is also used for (training) races comprising swimming and running. These however contain distance stemming from pentathlon races, for instance 200m swimming 3 km running.

Aquathlon in general follows triathlon distances. For instance 1 km swim - 5 km run at the 2004 world champs in Queenstown, or 2.5 km run - 1 km swim - 2.5 km run in Lausanne 2006. However, distances vary depending upon the race venue and race director.

Aquathlons are most similar to triathlons, with the key difference being the lack of a cycle leg. Another sport derived from triathlon is duathlon, which combines cycling and running but has omitted the swimming part. Holding an aquathlon rather than a triathlon can be an attractive option for a race director because:
 * It reduces race logistics by removing one of the legs from a triathlon.
 * It reduces the amount of space needed to hold a race limiting it to a rather small and manageable area. Bicycling often takes up the largest area of the three legs of a triathlon making it, in a practical sense, the most difficult leg for a race director to manage.