pro triathlete's average age

many of the triathletes you r referring to under the age of 23 are racing elite U23. i assume your referring to ironman athletes since they do seem to be older than your average ITU elite athlete. 

Yeah ironman triathletes. Are the U23 doing races around the same times or faster? You don't hear about them as much thats for sure.

theyre usually faster. i know quite a few 17 yr olds that i race with running 5k off the bike in sub-15 and finishing sprints in sub-54

You don't hear much about the ITU athletes in North America but as others have pointed out, the fields are very competitive and many of the fastest triathletes are competing at this level. Although there are exceptions, the typical career path for an elite triathlete is typically ITU events (junior, U23, elite) before eventually moving to HIM and IM events. Some of the best IM athletes are former ITU guys who moved on after they were not as competitive in the ITU ranks (Macca) while others are those who were never quite fast enough to make a mark on the ITU circuit (Raelert brothers).

To the initial question, the typical ITU elite athlete is probably in their mid-20's while the typical HIM elite is closer to 30 and IM elites in their early 30's.

Shane

x2 - it is very common for draft legal events to have short run courses - there have been ITU events where the winners have run low-29. While they are great athletes, the fastest ITU guys are likely high-28 to low-29 standalone.

Shane