Roughly 5 percent of the entrants in today’s 13th annual Whidbey Island Triathlon will be going for the gold; swimming, pedaling and running to the max in search of those precious few extra seconds needed for victory.

For the balance of the estimated 323 entrants, it’s all about fitness and having a good time. South Whidbey Parks & Recreation program director Carrie Monforte reported that half to two-thirds of those entered will be first-timers.

Guys like Langley architect Matthew Swett.

“Hey, it’s a fun event, with mostly locals and people of all ages,” Swett said. “This race has a warm, island atmosphere and I’m looking forward to trying my best out there.”

Though he’s competed in past years as a cyclist, this will be Swett’s first full race and he’s been working hard to get in shape for it.

The triathlon begins at 9 a.m. today with a half-mile swim in Goss Lake, then a 19.6-mile bike ride through the streets of Langley that ends in Community Park on Maxwelton Road. There, riders will dismount, transition to running gear and race 3.8 miles through the park’s wooded trails to the finish line and the welcoming cheers of family and friends.

Swett has traded his beat-up mountain bike for an 18-speed Univega racing cycle.

“I have a natural body for swimming and running, but cycling is my weakest area, especially because of the distance,” he said. “You need a lot of endurance for a triathlon, so I started serious training in the spring.”

He said he worked hard on the two transition phases; coming out of the water and mounting his bike, then the switch for the run into the woods.

“Moving from one intense kind of workout to another requires skills unique to the sport,” he noted.

Swett added that he’s gotten a lot of help from Kristan Wheeler, who ran an open-water swim class for the parks department.

“She covered everything from tactics to nutrition, like how much sugar I need — 1½ Clif energy bars for my weight — and the importance of evenly spacing-out water intake along the route,” he recalled.

The race begins with a major traffic jam as entrants plunge into Goss Lake.

For orcas, “spyhopping” is the act of coming out of the water vertically and staying above the surface momentarily. Wheeler teaches a variation on the theme.

When there are more than 300 people swimming at once, it’s often difficult to find an opening — the common way is to tread water and look around.

“Kristan recommended taking a stroke, raising your head, quickly find the destination, adjust course and keep going without breaking your stroke,” Swett said. “Good advice.”

Swett said that he knows his times would improve if he wore a full-body wet suit.

“But I’m not going to pay a

$50 rental for a one-time swim, so I’ll find other ways to improve my time,” he said.

Though he upgraded his bike, he refuses to pay upwards of $800 for a specialized triathlon bike, designed to help the transition to running easier.

“Not for a weekend race,” he said with a grin.

“The real beauty of this race is people are looking not so much to come in first, but to compete against themselves and achieve a personal best,” he said.

Swett’s goal is to maintain a good attitude and finish the full course in 2 hours, 15 minutes.

And if he doesn’t make it?

“There’s always next year.”