My 2 cents is that this is less about safety and more about being able to squeeze an extra few people on the course which means more $$ for the WTC. I can't say I blame them, they are a for profit company and nobody is making us sign up for their races...
It didn't occur to me until I read this - changing from mass swim starts to something else is the WTC equivalent of the TSA when flying - its 'security theater' that is designed to change perception without really doing much to actually change the reality of the inherent danger.
IF most deaths during the swim of an IM happen during a TT start as opposed to a mass swim start - yet the mass swim start is the most publicized/recognized/feared part of an IM - then WTC changing mass swim starts to a TT start is completely backwards from a death-safety point of view, but completely in line with the appearance that WTC is taking swim deaths seriously.
Personally, I've done one IM - Lake Placid last year - so I too have a small sample size. It's famously a narrow channel, but I swum wide the entire time and actually found that there was less overall contact than some HIM's I've been in (Patriot Half in 2011 and 2012).
Just read this from a CdA resident who posts on ST and BT...
IMCDA will be more of a TT start (they have been calling it a "flow" start) than a wave start. You pick when you want to start based on your anticipated swim time - the fastest line up first, the slowest line up last.
They will launch groups of about 100 every fifteen seconds starting at 6:35 (the pros go at 6:00). The last group leaves at 7:00 and the cutoff is 9:20 for everyone. The timing mat is at the edge of the water, and once you cross it you have 17 hours. Everyone that crosses the finish before midnight gets a medal, shirt and hat - but the official results will show DNF if you didn't make it in 17 hours.
I too like the mass start, but also never been punched or hurt. Dunked, bumped, pulled on and ankle grabed once or twice each but nothing major. Even though I swim 1:30's I start close to the back and not at the front so out of the main scrum. There are still plenty of bodies crammed in at Lake Placid.
All this says to me is that there will be those really weak swimmers who say I've got 20-25 extra minutes to complete my swim if I start in the first waves. This solution does solve the congestion at the start but there will still be those swimming over and punching people but hopefully less of it.
It's a race its not combat , if it can be avoided I don't see any reason why it cant be.
I don't mind one way or the other , the swim is one of the few places a little guy like me can line up in the front with the Giant's and feel like an equal. The water equalizes size!
If you wanna get kicked or punched , go see Coach Rich and ask him to kick you in the nuts!
Some type of TT based on seeded times would flow the best.
AG Waves would be the fairest , So you are at least racing your AG.
I dont think your gonna see WTC use the word Safety as a reason for changing though, that would admit that its dangerous. They will use another reason or explanation.
I have onle done wave starts but have had pretty massive anxiety attacks a few times. IF I were confident that a TT start would help with that, I would be all for it. But that is a big IF. For me the panic/lack of panic has a 100% correlation to having swam a bit at the race site day before or day of the race, or not having done so.
I am set for my first IM in Nov in florida. I had just planned to wait an extra 5 minutes before starting out into the water if I felt at all nervous. Is that a crazy idea? And getting practice sime time in at the race site.
I am a slow and not the best swimmer but enjoy the open water. I think the best part of the IM is the mass swim start. Anyone who has seen this it is a sight not forgotten. Proper seeding and pacing is important, once established its just steady going. Good coaches and a "stay in your box attitude" make for a good time (IMlp 3 times now). People pass away in everthing from 5k's to ironman swimming to running cycling etc. from genetics or improper prep and research. A gamble every athlete takes. So if you are concerened about the swim start let the yahoos go, watch the show and slowy blend into the crowd.
Whatever they decide is fine with me, I look fwd to the "show" every year with front row seats!!! Pat and Rich definately prepared me for this in my first year and thereafter, w/o them it would have been a little iffy at best!
I get the whole thing behind safety. Although I would like to have at least one mass start under my belt to say I've done it before the garage door closes. Of course I'm sure I'll also say they completely suck.
My most fun and favorite start to date was an out of water start where you run into the water. It's kind of how I always thought the start of a race should be. I loved it!
My favorite way to describe starts is "It's like being in one big giant arm and leg kicking competition!"
Hey Jimmy - I usually don't get full blown anxiety attacks, but if I do start getting a little anxious I just concentrate on counting my strokes. This seems to banish all those bad thoughts and short circuits the anxiety. Give it a shot next time you start getting a little nervous in the water!
If this happens, I think it is a positive move regardless of whether it's a TT or wave start. I've done 5 IMs - all mass starts - and I would be the last to tell someone who did IMLOU or IMNY that it didn't count because they weren't mass starts. That's just silly. I had a panic attack in my 2nd IM at CDA and have been ultra careful in my subsequent race selections. It has to be an in-water start and/or a reasonable number of entrants. IM Sweden is on the list this summer because it is an in-water start and limited to 1800. If you are going to put 2500 to 3000 people in the water - something that Ironman never had in its first 25 years, then a staggered start is the right thing to do.
I also don't think this has anything to do with selecting Challenge versus WTC races. There isn't a single Challenge race in the United States anyway. Most folks are doing WTC races because they are closest to them. You would select a Challenge race for a different experience and travel to different venues that WTC doesn't have access to. I definitely want to do Challenge Roth some day.
IMO, AG based waves are OK, TT starts not. I want to be able to directly engage with my competition. Anything else is not a race, but an event. Alternative is three starts...First is for those who expect to finish in over 15 hours. Second is those competing for AG awards and WC slots. Third is everyone else in TT format. Give that last group different bib and bike stickers, allow them to draft.
Al- could I ask you to clarify your proposal? For the 3rd group, are you saying you'd allow them to draft on the bike? I ask because I'm not sure if that was your intention or not. If it was, I would have to object. I don't personally fall in either of the first two slots (I intend on finishing in less than 15 hours, but that still leaves me way out of AG awards or Kona slots). With your system that defaults me to group 3 and I don't want to race under drafting rules on the bike or with an asterisk next to my finishing time.
I do agree the biggest downside to TT starts is not being able to race your competition. AG Wave starts could work as they do at many 70.3 races (of course I'm usually in the group they send off just before the Clydesdales who come pounding through). The trick is the dreaded 17 hour cut off and making sure it doesn't take 1.5 hours to send off all the waves (Eagleman, ugh)!
I'm a slow swimmer, but I swim faster than my 1000TT times would predict when swimming in a mass swim start. I've learned the value of surfing the wave created by the large crowd. I'd miss that :-)
@Nemo ... Two important points. First, I neither work for nor influence in any way WTC. Second, I prefer the mass start, or at least AG waves. I just figured, as long as we are bastardizing the IM model to meet perceived needs, why not dispense with the issues people have about poor referring leading to draft packs. So maybe I was being snarky?
Stuff like this comes up now and then, like "should we move the site of the World Championship?" or should there be a two step qualification process for the WC, so you'd be doing three IMs in a year? Or what about the points system for AGers ... where is that going? At some point, for someone like me who is always chasing the gold ring, the hoops to go through are not worth the prize. Not knowing where I am in the race relative to my AG competition is one of those hoops too far.
Posted By Al Truscott on 21 Feb 2013 02:42 PM @Nemo ... Two important points. First, I neither work for nor influence in any way WTC. Second, I prefer the mass start, or at least AG waves. I just figured, as long as we are bastardizing the IM model to meet perceived needs, why not dispense with the issues people have about poor referring leading to draft packs. So maybe I was being snarky?
Stuff like this comes up now and then, like "should we move the site of the World Championship?" or should there be a two step qualification process for the WC, so you'd be doing three IMs in a year? Or what about the points system for AGers ... where is that going? At some point, for someone like me who is always chasing the gold ring, the hoops to go through are not worth the prize. Not knowing where I am in the race relative to my AG competition is one of those hoops too far.
But how is that different from a mass start? It's not like you know during a race exactly where you are and where your competition is. And if you race according to the 4 keys, it really won't change your strategy much because unless you know your competition personally, you won't know if they are being conservative or stupid on the bike, how good or bad their running will be, etc.
Call me a cynic but I tend to agree with Patrick that *IF* WTC went this route it is more to do with getting more people into the races with perhaps a small nod to defending themselves against future litigation.
This thread also highlights how a good cross section of their customers can have different views on what works for them from a swim perspective.
@Nemo ... Two important points. First, I neither work for nor influence in any way WTC. Second, I prefer the mass start, or at least AG waves. I just figured, as long as we are bastardizing the IM model to meet perceived needs, why not dispense with the issues people have about poor referring leading to draft packs. So maybe I was being snarky?
Stuff like this comes up now and then, like "should we move the site of the World Championship?" or should there be a two step qualification process for the WC, so you'd be doing three IMs in a year? Or what about the points system for AGers ... where is that going? At some point, for someone like me who is always chasing the gold ring, the hoops to go through are not worth the prize. Not knowing where I am in the race relative to my AG competition is one of those hoops too far.
But how is that different from a mass start? It's not like you know during a race exactly where you are and where your competition is. And if you race according to the 4 keys, it really won't change your strategy much because unless you know your competition personally, you won't know if they are being conservative or stupid on the bike, how good or bad their running will be, etc.
It makes a big difference when you are racing for Kona or AG slots. Here's a hypothetical example:
Suppose an older gentleman is racing IMAZ, a course at which he has won his AG and set a course record, so he's definitely racing Ironman. He's second in his AG and is about to pass about mile 22 at about the same time that some clown with a shaved head has 2-3 people back in the world texting him with updates on the older doode's placing, and the bib number of #1. The strikingly handsome, athletic, fit, super smart shaved head guy looks up from his phone, see's #1, then looks up the street and sees our hypothetical older doode.
Mr. Cueball gets Old Doode's attention and says, "THAT's your man. Run his ass down." Which he does and goes on to win his AG.
Oh, wait, that actually did happen
With a mass start if you are passed by someone in your age group you KNOW you have been passed. At a TT start like IMLou you honestly have no idea where you are on the day relative to the people around you. Yes, it's true that we want you to race with blinders on for most the day. However, actually racing those in your AG in the last ~4 miles of the run can make for a faster overall time, as you more able to turn yourself inside out.
Then there was the time the handsome bald headed guy was using said texting strategy with me while I raced IMSG in 2010. Only problem was Internet info was incorrect. Bald guy chased me down and told me to GO get that girl as I could podium and maybe get a Kona slot. I hauled ASS and caught every ponytail i could see( 4 more ladies) and broke 4 hours on the run by the slightest of margins only to learn later I was 8th. Wahhhhh. Damn Internet, iron tracker!!! Well atleast bald guy got me to turn myself inside out for the sub 4 run on that beast of a run course.
I would love AG wave starts. I chase from the back anyway and never know where I am in a race until the end.
I've done 2 IMs, both with mass start. This first one - IMCDA - was worse than anything I could have expected but the mayhem really only lasted to the first buoy. I did take one breaststroke "break" to compose myself and calm myself down. The cold water (56*F) was more humbling than the contact was scary. The 2nd one..IMWI...seemed tame in comparison (only got hit good once). But by then I was a much more experienced triathlete and open water swimmer so I simply was expecting the contact, and the water temp was perfect. I swam 1:13 @ IMWI vs. 1:19 @ IMCDA.
I'm a traditionalist so I like the mass start. Just makes an IM special. However, if they change it, my vote would be for the AG waves like a 70.3. I want to see how many bikes are gone (or not) from my AG rack when I get to T1. I want to be able to race my AG.
I have never done an IM or a mass start. But I have done a handful of HIMs and when I show up I want to RACE. I don't mind AG wave starts but when as soon as you break up the AG into multiple waves or go to a TT format you just made RACING a lot harder. Based on understaidng the bib numbering convention the WTC uses it is generally possible for me to know who I'm racing vs. who I'm trying to beat by 3 minutes or 6 minutes, but late entrants make this imperfect and even on a course with multiple out-and-backs boy it's tough to figure out if you're ahead by X minutes. A pure race where you need to beat someone to the line is the way to go. My most painful HIM was last spring in KS where I had to run down a couple of guys in my AG (A-K of course) in the last mile and a half. That was FUN.
OK OK, and I'm one of the bone heads doing the texting and trusting the stupid internet!
Thanks for the clarification Al- I should have guessed you were intentionally being a little snarky there. Even as someone who doesn't race for the podium, I agree completely that one of the important parts of the race is knowing where I am against the competition (sure, I might be battling it out for 56th vs 57th place with that ponytail in front of me, but when I see that AG number on her calf, I want to chase her down if I can). I realize with compression socks and such the AG number on the back of the calf isn't exactly perfect, but the bib number (or color) and texts to the bald clown on the course do a pretty good job.
FWIW- having done 3 IM Mass wave starts, the scariest race swim start I ever did was actually a wave start at a small local sprint race. So many noobs who were totally freaked out- many of them walking for over 500 yards until the water was actually over their head- all made for just bat shit crazy. I'd take an IM start over that any day.
Article in today's CDA paper: RD confirms no mass start. No decision yet on TT vs waves. WTC official quoted as saying IM moving to non mass starts around the globe
I saw that article. I wonder why they haven't just said what they plan to do, surely they must have some idea. Maybe they are waiting until as close to the event as possible so they can minimize the time they have to listen to people bitch about it.
I hope they consider each venue individually when thinking about the swim, and consider the event as a whole when they decide whether or not to allow more entrants. You may be able to get more people safely through a swim if you TT or wave the start, but put more people on a multi loop bike course, and suddenly your race sucks again.
That being said, I would actually consider IMTX if they changed the swim start.
I have a huge bias against TT starts when results matter. At much shorter distances, I've lost out on winning my AG (and a qualifying spot to Nationals) by 2 seconds in a TT start race. I may not have had those 2 seconds in me had we been head-to-head, but I sure would like to find out.
For many of us, racing for "x'th" place in IM is a foreign concept. For folks seeking out a KQ, it's reality. Imagine looking at the results board, and finding out you missed out on a KQ by 1 second, to some dude who finished 20 minutes after you.
I realize this is already reality at LOU and was at NYC, but I think it's ridiculous. That said, Nemo is absolutely right, wave starts would take friggin forever, like they do at all of the 70.3's I've been to. Wish there was a smart way to compress the wave starts. Maybe line people up in corrals like large marathon starts, and then run the wave starts every 90 seconds. Talk about mass hysteria!
For those of you that don't know this, IMKY was never intended to be a TT start. Due to extreme rain and flooding (and the refusal of the local utility to decrease the river flow) the night before the race, the TT start was the contingency plan - but it stuck as "unique", so they kept it.
I like the TT start but its not fair. AG waves is the only way to race.
In theory you could have 1 AG competitor first in the water and another AG competitor last in the water 30 minutes behind the 1stAG , not only do they never know where each other stand so they may actually race , But the last guy in could theoretically have 30 minutes of stronger headwinds on the bike, and 30 minutes of hotter temps on the run! Not a fair race in the same conditions.
I think that it's unfortunate that there will be no more mass starts. Sure it is chaotic at the start of the swim but after a few 100 yards it opens up, then you are swimming with those that are going your same pace. You are also able to get into your rhythm and not have to keep maneuvering around slower swimmers like you do with age group wave or TT starts. Thats one of the things i dont like about 70.3 races. Also, it will make it harder to know where you are during the race. It will be interesting to see what the WTC decides.
Article in today's CDA paper: RD confirms no mass start. No decision yet on TT vs waves. WTC official quoted as saying IM moving to non mass starts around the globe
This is total bummer. I do not approve.
My Google-fu is strong. Here's the article I think is being referred to http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_...6a864.html . Sorry I can't seem to make the link work in the forum, but it's showing up in the WYSIWYG editor.
Just one more way to F the strong swimmers IMHO. It's already the shortest leg. They let people wear floaties (I believe some people call them wetsuits...) It's the only strength I have in this stupid sport and they water it down, if you will pardon my pun.
Just one more way to F the strong swimmers IMHO. It's already the shortest leg. They let people wear floaties (I believe some people call them wetsuits...) It's the only strength I have in this stupid sport and they water it down, if you will pardon my pun.
It certainly changes the dynamic for the faster, older swimmers (me). I'm sorry to admit it but even the biggest Ironman is like a local sprint for me until the second half of the run: out of the water in the top 30, ride my way up to top 20-25 on the bike, and a very empty 1st lap of the run. Now, if it were AG waves, it would be like an HIM: open water for about 8' until I start swimming through earlier waves, then 112mi of legal drafting as I pass people on the bike, etc.
So I guess the bottomline is that IM's will now be much more like HIM's, assuming they do wave vs TT starts, how big those waves are, are they a function of AG, swim self-seed, etc. I guess we'll find out at IMTX or IMCDA
Comments
It didn't occur to me until I read this - changing from mass swim starts to something else is the WTC equivalent of the TSA when flying - its 'security theater' that is designed to change perception without really doing much to actually change the reality of the inherent danger.
IF most deaths during the swim of an IM happen during a TT start as opposed to a mass swim start - yet the mass swim start is the most publicized/recognized/feared part of an IM - then WTC changing mass swim starts to a TT start is completely backwards from a death-safety point of view, but completely in line with the appearance that WTC is taking swim deaths seriously.
Personally, I've done one IM - Lake Placid last year - so I too have a small sample size. It's famously a narrow channel, but I swum wide the entire time and actually found that there was less overall contact than some HIM's I've been in (Patriot Half in 2011 and 2012).
I too like the mass start, but also never been punched or hurt. Dunked, bumped, pulled on and ankle grabed once or twice each but nothing major. Even though I swim 1:30's I start close to the back and not at the front so out of the main scrum. There are still plenty of bodies crammed in at Lake Placid.
All this says to me is that there will be those really weak swimmers who say I've got 20-25 extra minutes to complete my swim if I start in the first waves. This solution does solve the congestion at the start but there will still be those swimming over and punching people but hopefully less of it.
Gordon
I don't mind one way or the other , the swim is one of the few places a little guy like me can line up in the front with the Giant's and feel like an equal. The water equalizes size!
If you wanna get kicked or punched , go see Coach Rich and ask him to kick you in the nuts!
Some type of TT based on seeded times would flow the best.
AG Waves would be the fairest , So you are at least racing your AG.
I dont think your gonna see WTC use the word Safety as a reason for changing though, that would admit that its dangerous. They will use another reason or explanation.
I have onle done wave starts but have had pretty massive anxiety attacks a few times. IF I were confident that a TT start would help with that, I would be all for it. But that is a big IF. For me the panic/lack of panic has a 100% correlation to having swam a bit at the race site day before or day of the race, or not having done so.
I am set for my first IM in Nov in florida. I had just planned to wait an extra 5 minutes before starting out into the water if I felt at all nervous. Is that a crazy idea?
And getting practice sime time in at the race site.
Whatever they decide is fine with me, I look fwd to the "show" every year with front row seats!!! Pat and Rich definately prepared me for this in my first year and thereafter, w/o them it would have been a little iffy at best!
I get the whole thing behind safety. Although I would like to have at least one mass start under my belt to say I've done it before the garage door closes. Of course I'm sure I'll also say they completely suck.
My most fun and favorite start to date was an out of water start where you run into the water. It's kind of how I always thought the start of a race should be. I loved it!
My favorite way to describe starts is "It's like being in one big giant arm and leg kicking competition!"
I also don't think this has anything to do with selecting Challenge versus WTC races. There isn't a single Challenge race in the United States anyway. Most folks are doing WTC races because they are closest to them. You would select a Challenge race for a different experience and travel to different venues that WTC doesn't have access to. I definitely want to do Challenge Roth some day.
Al- could I ask you to clarify your proposal? For the 3rd group, are you saying you'd allow them to draft on the bike? I ask because I'm not sure if that was your intention or not. If it was, I would have to object. I don't personally fall in either of the first two slots (I intend on finishing in less than 15 hours, but that still leaves me way out of AG awards or Kona slots). With your system that defaults me to group 3 and I don't want to race under drafting rules on the bike or with an asterisk next to my finishing time.
I do agree the biggest downside to TT starts is not being able to race your competition. AG Wave starts could work as they do at many 70.3 races (of course I'm usually in the group they send off just before the Clydesdales who come pounding through). The trick is the dreaded 17 hour cut off and making sure it doesn't take 1.5 hours to send off all the waves (Eagleman, ugh)!
I'm a slow swimmer, but I swim faster than my 1000TT times would predict when swimming in a mass swim start. I've learned the value of surfing the wave created by the large crowd. I'd miss that :-)
Stuff like this comes up now and then, like "should we move the site of the World Championship?" or should there be a two step qualification process for the WC, so you'd be doing three IMs in a year? Or what about the points system for AGers ... where is that going? At some point, for someone like me who is always chasing the gold ring, the hoops to go through are not worth the prize. Not knowing where I am in the race relative to my AG competition is one of those hoops too far.
This thread also highlights how a good cross section of their customers can have different views on what works for them from a swim perspective.
It makes a big difference when you are racing for Kona or AG slots. Here's a hypothetical example:
Suppose an older gentleman is racing IMAZ, a course at which he has won his AG and set a course record, so he's definitely racing Ironman. He's second in his AG and is about to pass about mile 22 at about the same time that some clown with a shaved head has 2-3 people back in the world texting him with updates on the older doode's placing, and the bib number of #1. The strikingly handsome, athletic, fit, super smart shaved head guy looks up from his phone, see's #1, then looks up the street and sees our hypothetical older doode.
Mr. Cueball gets Old Doode's attention and says, "THAT's your man. Run his ass down." Which he does and goes on to win his AG.
Oh, wait, that actually did happen
With a mass start if you are passed by someone in your age group you KNOW you have been passed. At a TT start like IMLou you honestly have no idea where you are on the day relative to the people around you. Yes, it's true that we want you to race with blinders on for most the day. However, actually racing those in your AG in the last ~4 miles of the run can make for a faster overall time, as you more able to turn yourself inside out.
Then there was the time the handsome bald headed guy was using said texting strategy with me while I raced IMSG in 2010. Only problem was Internet info was incorrect. Bald guy chased me down and told me to GO get that girl as I could podium and maybe get a Kona slot. I hauled ASS and caught every ponytail i could see( 4 more ladies) and broke 4 hours on the run by the slightest of margins only to learn later I was 8th. Wahhhhh. Damn Internet, iron tracker!!! Well atleast bald guy got me to turn myself inside out for the sub 4 run on that beast of a run course
I would love AG wave starts. I chase from the back anyway and never know where I am in a race until the end.
I've done 2 IMs, both with mass start. This first one - IMCDA - was worse than anything I could have expected but the mayhem really only lasted to the first buoy. I did take one breaststroke "break" to compose myself and calm myself down. The cold water (56*F) was more humbling than the contact was scary. The 2nd one..IMWI...seemed tame in comparison (only got hit good once). But by then I was a much more experienced triathlete and open water swimmer so I simply was expecting the contact, and the water temp was perfect. I swam 1:13 @ IMWI vs. 1:19 @ IMCDA.
I'm a traditionalist so I like the mass start. Just makes an IM special. However, if they change it, my vote would be for the AG waves like a 70.3. I want to see how many bikes are gone (or not) from my AG rack when I get to T1. I want to be able to race my AG.
Thanks for the clarification Al- I should have guessed you were intentionally being a little snarky there. Even as someone who doesn't race for the podium, I agree completely that one of the important parts of the race is knowing where I am against the competition (sure, I might be battling it out for 56th vs 57th place with that ponytail in front of me, but when I see that AG number on her calf, I want to chase her down if I can). I realize with compression socks and such the AG number on the back of the calf isn't exactly perfect, but the bib number (or color) and texts to the bald clown on the course do a pretty good job.
FWIW- having done 3 IM Mass wave starts, the scariest race swim start I ever did was actually a wave start at a small local sprint race. So many noobs who were totally freaked out- many of them walking for over 500 yards until the water was actually over their head- all made for just bat shit crazy. I'd take an IM start over that any day.
I hope they consider each venue individually when thinking about the swim, and consider the event as a whole when they decide whether or not to allow more entrants. You may be able to get more people safely through a swim if you TT or wave the start, but put more people on a multi loop bike course, and suddenly your race sucks again.
That being said, I would actually consider IMTX if they changed the swim start.
For many of us, racing for "x'th" place in IM is a foreign concept. For folks seeking out a KQ, it's reality. Imagine looking at the results board, and finding out you missed out on a KQ by 1 second, to some dude who finished 20 minutes after you.
I realize this is already reality at LOU and was at NYC, but I think it's ridiculous. That said, Nemo is absolutely right, wave starts would take friggin forever, like they do at all of the 70.3's I've been to. Wish there was a smart way to compress the wave starts. Maybe line people up in corrals like large marathon starts, and then run the wave starts every 90 seconds. Talk about mass hysteria!
In theory you could have 1 AG competitor first in the water and another AG competitor last in the water 30 minutes behind the 1stAG , not only do they never know where each other stand so they may actually race , But the last guy in could theoretically have 30 minutes of stronger headwinds on the bike, and 30 minutes of hotter temps on the run! Not a fair race in the same conditions.
This is total bummer. I do not approve.
My Google-fu is strong. Here's the article I think is being referred to http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_...6a864.html . Sorry I can't seem to make the link work in the forum, but it's showing up in the WYSIWYG editor.
Did I say
yet?!
Just one more way to F the strong swimmers IMHO. It's already the shortest leg. They let people wear floaties (I believe some people call them wetsuits...) It's the only strength I have in this stupid sport and they water it down, if you will pardon my pun.
It certainly changes the dynamic for the faster, older swimmers (me). I'm sorry to admit it but even the biggest Ironman is like a local sprint for me until the second half of the run: out of the water in the top 30, ride my way up to top 20-25 on the bike, and a very empty 1st lap of the run. Now, if it were AG waves, it would be like an HIM: open water for about 8' until I start swimming through earlier waves, then 112mi of legal drafting as I pass people on the bike, etc.
So I guess the bottomline is that IM's will now be much more like HIM's, assuming they do wave vs TT starts, how big those waves are, are they a function of AG, swim self-seed, etc. I guess we'll find out at IMTX or IMCDA