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Time Trial Swim Start Planning

With the Swim Safe Initiative, more and more US Ironman events are moving towards Wave and/or Time Trial swim starts. 

A wave start is just like your local race; everyone in M35-39 starts together. Usually the men are divided up and the women are in one, maybe two groups given the demographic split. 

But the Time Trial start, first used at Ironman Louisville, is self seeded. First come, first served. 

Question One...So my strategy question first...I assume that cleanest water is the best, and so my plan is to be there on the early side to get into line (which brings me to Question Two below). But I am curious to hear what you would do. I expect to do a non-wetsuit swim of about 1:04, and contact in a non-wetsuit swim really messes things up (no floating!). So...what would you do?

Question Two...Transition opens at 5:30am according to the Athlete Guide (seems about 30 minutes later than normal!) and the AG race starts at 6:40. So assuming you are at Transition at 5:30 to get in, check your bike / food / computers / bags (call it 20'), you then need to walk a mile (25') to the start, change into your swim kit (5'), drop your Special Needs Bags (5'), at best you are "ready" to get in line by 6:25. But the race starts in 15 minutes.  That won't work. 

I can hope the AG has an error and transition opens at 5, but my guess is there is some ordinance / permit that won't let them open the area until 5:30 due to the residences nearby. So...my plan is as follows:

  • Be at transition by 5:15a (drop off), pump in hand. 
  • Doors open and go straight to bike, drop fluid, computer, pump tires, set crank / gearing, add "crack pipe" inflator to tool kit, done.
  • Go to T2 bag to add a banana (or do that day before...hope it lasts?) 
  • Head back out, text sherpa wife for pick up (5:45a)
  • Drive to swim start and get dropped (5:55a, assuming traffic).
  • Drop off SN bags, get dressed and in line.

Best case I could see a 6:05 arrival...maybe 6:15 at the latest. But I assume the line will start building around 5:45...I guess I can rely on the "late" transition opening to keep that list down. 

Any thoughts?

 

Comments

  • I've never done one of these, so I'm just adding to the query. Why is "the cleanest water the best" I would think a lot of people in front of me would act as a better draft than fewer. I always swim faster in A large group start than in very small races or waves. Doesn't more people in front=more pull?
  • I was thinking of the same questions for IMCHOO later this year, what is the best strategy as far as where to be in the line. Closer to the front means less slow people to have to swim through. Having been in The Woodlands before on race morning, my one concern is driving to the swim start with traffic and all the people walking crossing streets. I would definitely spend some time planning out the best place to get picked up by sherpa wife and then the best driving route to the swim start. It can get pretty busy all around that area.
  • Time Trial starts like IMLOU or IMCHOO are first come first serve... So its best to be early in line for the swim, benefits are less traffice in T1 and initially on the bike, but you wont have a clue to how fast everyone around you swims.... But IMO its not worth going out of your way to make that happen by getting up early , standing in line longer etc.... I've done IMLOU twice and IMCHOO once and had no problems just getting to the start and getting in line when I get there! In fact in both races , I actually used the porto-potties after the lines started moving and gave up a few places...

    Rolling Starts (like the one described for IMTX encouraging self-seeding) should be different... They will most likely have corrals with expected times (similar to Marathon starts).... This should put you swimming with people your own speed and it would also eliminate the need to get to the start extra early etc... Of course in the swim for IMTX it said encouraged but not enforced so there will be plenty of people in the wrong place, mostly out of paranoia about finishing on time!

    I like the idea of a seeded rolling start the best, it seems to make sense just like the Marathon corrals ...

    Maybe when you get to IMTX you can find out a bit more how they are going to "encourage" that self-seeding proces.... Personally I'd hit transition in time to allow for the walk to the swim (not far and nice easy warm up) , Hope IMTX swim start goes nice and smooth...
  • I like the 5:15am idea. I got there around 5:30 last year, and there was the line and bottleneck one should expect at a 3k+ race. With a sherpa ride, you'll easily be at the start before 6. If they have it set up with corrals or otherwise such that you can come and go, great. If it's a free-for-all, then get in line. As long as you're not one of the first ones out there, you should be able to get a good draft and benefit from the human current. The current from 500 swimmers may be bigger, but you'd have to do a lot more navigating through many of those swimmers.
  • Have a fellow Soldier here who went pro this year...swims around 55 or so; his solution as an AG was just to walk to the front of the line and seed himself where he thought appropriate ~ imagine that required a bit of swagger to "cut" to the front, but maybe it's not that big of deal ~ on the other hand, it could lead to some unneeded anxiety and elevated HR prior to the swim ~ maybe a polite swagger works best. If I was in line, I would not have an issue with someone clearly faster than me "cutting" ahead. At first rolling start at CDA two years ago; i completed warm up about 5 minutes prior to race, moved up to back of 1:10 corral, and was off and in the water in under two minutes.

  • Haven't worked out all the details of my plan yet but agree, the timing looks tight. I plan to be at transition around 5:15 also. Get in get out and have Katy ddrive over near park for drop off. Concerning the line, I believe they are going to half signs for self seeding. I'm planning sub 1:05 swim so I plan to politely position myself in that group regardless of how many people are in line already. I think the advantage of being near the front will be fewer people to swim around but the bigger advantage
    Will be less crowding in t1 and early on the bike course. Getting out of T1 ahead of the masses that swim 1:13:1:15 pays dividends. Need to work on my race plan and post it. Plan to do that on my 4 hr flight back from Seattle.
  • My 2 cents from a someone who has never done a time trial start but is doing Louisville this fall. Today I did a 2.4 mile open water swim. There was a 2nd wave of swimmers doing 1.2 and they started 8-10 minutes behind us. All 2.4 swimmers were doing 2 laps of a 1.2 mile course. I started catching a lot of 1.2 swimmers about half way through the second loop. The problem with swimming amongst them is many of the slower swimmers do not swim straight and are more likely to pull up in the middle of the swim and do breaststroke. They also float around buoys.

    Coach P - a 1:04 makes you a better swimmer than most and if you start behind many of the others you will spend a lot of time dodging the wayward bunch. I woud prefer to start ahead of most of them and avoid having to swim around them. As mentioned above it will also give you a less crowded T1. I think you should get there as early as possible. Good luck.
  • @Al, I don't know. I generally "don't swim well with others" even when in a group race, but maybe there's a benefit I am not aware of!

    @Tom, agreed...I got the route! image

    @Tim, interesting...hadn't thought of the walk as a warm up...I think my HR will be high enough just thinking about the race. And thanks for actually parsing the AG to catch the self seeded wave dealio.

    @everyoneelse, thanks! I agree an early start is best. And will work on the logistics...if it's truly a corral system, then I can do whatever I need and just hope in there before 6:40 by any means possible.
  • Here's a thought/question on the time trial swim start.... If you're a slower athlete in general, and concerned about cut-offs (not just for the swim), wouldn't that encourage you to get in the water as early as possible? (FYI: I'm one of these peeps)

    So for example, if I am reading it right, in IMChoo for instance, you get 2:20 for the swim regardless of when you start, but you still only have until 12:15 to finish so if you don't get in the water until 8:00 for example, you lose that hour somewhere. (Actually, everyone loses a 1/2 hour @ IMChoo because of a 7:30 start)

    My point being, does a time trial start "force" slower swimmers to try to gain some much needed time by getting in the water earlier, and thereby causing a potential "swimming roadblock" for the faster swimmers?
  • Getting in water earlier does not really help. You only get 2:20 or so and with s 6:40 start, most will be in water by 7 anyway. If you start before 7, you have to finish before midnight to be official. I hope people realize this and self see accurately. Good luck!
  • Mark- For IMChoo (Based on 2014 athlete guide), athletes start getting in the water at 7:40. They expect most athletes to be in the water by 8:20. If I get in at 8:20, I have 2:20 for the swim, but still have to finish the race by 12:15 (IMChoo is a little different) so I have less time for the bike and run vs. if I was the first one in the water....

    Or is my "Ironmath" off?
  • Can't speak to question (2), but on question (1) it's a balancing act between the swim and the bike. On the one hand, I have always swum best getting in the water earlier because it means you have fewer slower swimmers in front of you. It's much easier to catch a draft and swim the straightest line when you don't have to go through/around/over a bunch of earlier waves. So, I think that starting near or at the front is definitely an advantage in the swim.
    On the other hand, you may lose that advantage on the bike because you lose the benefit of a legal draft by getting onto the bike early. So long as the road is wide enough to permit passing (that may be a big "if"), the more cyclists on the road ahead of you, the better: you catch a small draft on each of them during your pass. I don't have numbers, but my guess is that since the bike is 5x as long as the swim, you more than make up for the swim deficit by passing hundreds of people on the bike (but in a two-loop or three-loop course the advantage is less).

    If it were me, I would prefer to have a nice calm, fast swim and not waste energy dodging slower swimmers. So I would start as early as I could.
  • FWIW, a 2:20 swim is approximately swimming 100 yards in 3:30. Or it takes you just under a minute to get form one end of your 25yd pool to the other. A minute. In a wetsuit. IF you are in danger of the 2:20 cut off, please stop cycling and running TODAY and get someone to analyze your stroke...anyone swimming slower than 2:00 per 100 yds is leaving something technique on the table..the bigger the number, the easier the fix (on paper). Coach Rich has created some great swim resources as well on this.

    That said, IMCHOO has a current and folks appeared to be 15' faster across the board.

    I think Kim is right in that folks will "want" to game the system to be earlier, but honestly, I don't think it's required...Everyone gets 2:20 after the last swimmer, so the slowest folks still get 2:20, like they would in a regular Ironman.

    If you need MORE THAN 2:20 do to the swim, such that you want to be in the water 20' earlier to get say 2:40 to do the swim, then I am not sure you are safe to be competing? Or that you'll be able to complete the day after surviving the water as that's a hella long time to be in the water.

    Hoping I haven't offended anyone...
  • Coach P- Luckily, my swim isn't in question. (IMFL was ~1:40) But the combination of the late start of IMChoo and possibly 40' less for the entire race as the result of the late swim start is a bit concerning. So folks won't get less than 2:20 for the swim, but that time has to come from somewhere else in the day. Now I probably won't attempt to be first in the water, but I am def going to try to not be last.... I don't want to cut it so close that I only have ~16 hrs. for the race in the event of unforeseen bad things happening....
  • Kim, I checked the guide. 40' late start but finish is 12:15 so you "lose" 25 minutes all day. If you went 1:40 at IMFL you "should" go 1:25 in CHOO, according to history (not always accurate). IF that's the case, you are "only" 15 behind, so you are free to do the bike and run in 15:20...my point is this, don't let the swim logistics mess up your mental game on race day, your transition / nutrition review, etc. I am confident you'll have time to get it all done...but at the end of the day you have to do what's best for you, but I think you are in a good place (and continue to improve!).
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