# How to Set Up Registration for a Triathlon: Formats, Waves and Waivers > By Amit K · Published 12 November 2026 · Updated 13 November 2026 · Event Management · [Read on endurace.pro](https://staging.endurace.pro/blog/how-to-set-up-registration-for-a-triathlon) A triathlon has more moving parts than almost any other race. Athletes swim, ride and run, they leave a bike in transition, and the swim is where most of the safety risk sits. Your registration has to reflect all of that: the right format, a controlled number of athletes in the water at once, and enough information about each athlete to run a safe start. This guide covers how to set that up. ## Pick your formats Triathlon distances vary by organizer and sanctioning body, so treat these as typical rather than fixed. A sprint is usually around a 750 m swim, a 20 km bike and a 5 km run. A standard or Olympic distance is around 1.5 km, 40 km and 10 km. A middle distance is about a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike and a half marathon, and a full distance is about 3.8 km, 180 km and a marathon. Many organizers add a shorter beginner or relay option so that newcomers can try the sport. Each format should be its own category inside your event, with its own price, capacity and start time. Athletes should see the distances clearly, in km or miles, before they pay. ## Control the swim start The swim start is the bottleneck. Water space, safety boats and lifeguards limit how many athletes can start at once, so most races use waves by age group, gender or estimated swim time. Set capacity per wave, not only per format. If you give each start time its own ticket with its own capacity, the system enforces the limit for you. Ask each athlete for an estimated swim time, as a time and not free text. It lets you place weaker swimmers in a later or calmer wave, and it gives your safety team early warning about athletes who may struggle. You can also ask a simple choose-one question about open-water experience. ## Ask about bike and kit A few choose-one questions pay for themselves on race morning: road bike, triathlon bike or mountain bike; wetsuit or no wetsuit (wetsuit rules usually depend on water temperature and your sanctioning body); and club or team name. Add a tick-box acknowledging your helmet rule and your bike check-in time so that nobody can say they were not told. ## Relays and groups Relay teams of three are popular with first-timers and clubs. The team captain should be able to register the whole team and pay once, with each member still recorded as their own athlete with their own emergency contact. Set the largest group size per ticket so one person cannot buy the entire field. ## Waivers, medical and safety Triathlon waivers matter more than for most events because of the swim. Use clear versioned text, store the signed name, the time and the exact wording with each registration, and collect an emergency contact and blood group for every athlete. Make sure your medical and safety team can open one list with all of it on race morning, including every member of a relay team. ## Race-morning check-in Triathlon check-in often starts the day before, with bike racking and kit collection. Assign a bib number per athlete, check people in individually, and keep a manual entry option for anyone who registered offline. A clean registration list that you can search and export is what keeps a long check-in queue moving. ## Common mistakes - **Capacity only per format.** The limit that matters is how many athletes start in the water at once. - **No swim information.** Without a swim-time estimate you cannot build sensible waves. - **Relay teams registered by one name.** You need each member’s details and waiver, not only the captain’s. - **Unclear helmet and bike rules.** Put the rule in the form and the confirmation email, not only on a website page. ## Set it up on endurace.pro - One event with several formats, each with its own price, capacity, early-bird dates and distances in km or miles. - Separate tickets per wave or start time, each with its own capacity, and a waitlist for any wave that sells out. - Your own questions per format: a time question for swim estimate, choose-one for bike type or wetsuit, tick-box for rule acknowledgements. - Group booking for relay teams, with one payment and the largest group size set by you. - Waivers stored with each registration, plus date of birth, blood group and emergency contact in a CSV you can export for your safety team. - Bib assignment and check-in per person, including each member of a group booking. ![Summary graphic: seven things to settle before triathlon entries open: format and distances, capacity per wave, swim ability question, bike and kit details, relay and group entries, waiver and medical info, and race-morning check-in.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/42sizs9z/production/26a8069013cae30fcc25b5204e5c7428f01e1ee7-2400x3138.png?w=1600) Ready to list your race? 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