When it comes to internationally competitive paratriathlon people with classifiable vision loss ARE people with like abilities. That's just the nature of the Paralympic beast.

What better solution do you propose?

These rules only apply to the people at the pointy end of the sport and should not inhibit new people from getting into triathlon in any way. I'm sure most local tri RDs will be more than happy to allow a B/VI to start with or without the goggles. If you are at a local tri odds are there will only be one B/VI entrant so "winning" isn't really possible.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/25/sport/us-athlete-blind-lawsuit/index.html

Thoughts?

I can't read the big letter on a chart out of one of my eyes but the other is 20/20. I am planning to get really fit again. Am thinking I could put a patch over my good eye and give you some competition as I could still get around ok like that. But I work fulltime and do other jobs outside of my work so I will have to be pretty well organised and motivated to match the amount of free time the visually impaired have. So that should even things out?

G.
www.TriathlonShots.com

A few reasons I can think of. Training should be enjoyable. Aarons sight is very limited and its a progressive disease. What sight he has he should be able to enjoy for as long as possibe. 2nd what sightg he has does help him avoid obstacles, even with guides, and he trains on some open roads so why make it less safe? Serious if you think thats a reasonable suggestion, run on a treadmill for a while with your vision disabled. My guess is if hge loses the suit he'll do just that, though. I don't see suing to keep a rule from changing as unreasonable.

NO blind athlete that I know of is in favour of this rule...
ITU/USAT/TriCAN have not moved on eliminating this rule...
NO blind athletes were consulted in this ruling...

I can't tell if you feel like you are defending the helpless cripples by using hyperbole or maybe you think I'm visually impaired. Reading your last sentence makes me think you are really ignorant.
I know a lot of visually impaired people having been involved in organized disabled sports for 4 years, and they ALL have jobs. Seriously, what are you talking about!? Attitudes like yours (the disabled can't work) are the sort that inhibit social progress.

If I was organizing a race it sure wouldn't include a PC division. Races already have way too many categories.

It is very interesting to me the comments on this post by indididuals who have all the answers for a topic they have little to virtually NO knowledge of. Meeting one "blind" person in your life does not equate to knowing how the "blind" live. Frankly it appears that many wish to be right-fighters and choose not to be educated on the topic. Thank you to a few who have some comman sense and logic in their discussion of this topic.
I am considerably Aaron's top competitor in North America in the blind/VI category. I've raced him in Clearwater twice, NYC twice, a 1/2 IM in Canada and have known him for four years. My vision is substantially worse then his and will continue to be so.
On every single occasion I have been destroyed by Aaron, as has every other blind athlete on the planet. There is no way that I or any other blind/VI athlete on the planet (that we know of) can/will beat Aaron at thhis stage. He would pretty much have to be blindfolded and have an arm tied behind his back to be beaten.....even then there would be no garuntee.
He is not wishing for the blackout rule to be thrown out in order to maintain his advantage......Aaron could race with the goggles and every other blind athlete, without ....and we'd still get beaten, hands down. In my opinion any blind athlete that I know whould agree with this statement.
Aaron is an amazingly great athlete who cannot race age group, MUST race w/ a duide and has the best intentions for all blind/vi athletes to race and enjoy the little vision they may have.
He caught an orange after a race? Good for him, perhaps he used THE VISION HE HAD to do so!!! This does not make him a faker.
Blindness is a spectrum, it is a broad range of visual disorders and acuities....a blind athlete from birth will have accomodated and developed physical literacy around the level of vision they posess.
As my sight deteriorates yearly, i must continue to re-learn little things. Acclimation to blackout goggles is not instant and is not easy.
NO blind athlete that I know of is in favour of this rule...
ITU/USAT/TriCAN have not moved on eliminating this rule...
NO blind athletes were consulted in this ruling...
Blind/VI people are not out to cheat, we are educated, productive members of sociiety, we are athletes and we are surprisingly used to the ignorant deciding what is best for us.
Calling into questino the character of Aaron of any other disabled athlete is classless and bitter.
Aaron is fast, get over it!! This doesn't have anything to do with how fast he is....this has to do with him having the guts to stand up to the powers that be, stand alongside his fellow athletes and say...NO THANKS to somebody further discriminating against him.
The rest of of blind/vi athletes are not going to feel "equal" to aaron if he has blackout glasses on.....we will simply not see how much he destroys us by! ....and we are ok with that...we will just train harder to catch im, we won't ask to further disable him.

cheers:)

But why shouldn't Oscar be able to run in the Olympics? If he is the fastest over 400m under human power, why exclude him?

NO blind athlete that I know of is in favour of this rule...

Here's at least one. Two-time ITU World Champion Ivonne Mosquera-Schmidt (who is totally blind) sent this e-mail out in 2010 five months before Paratriathlon Nationals to race director, organizers, ITU and USAT staff and at least 30 visually Impaired triathletes.


-----Original Message-----
From: Ivonne Mosquera [mailto:xxxxxx@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 1:51 PM


All-
The issue of required blackout glasses during participation in triathlon
events is important to all of us, Visually Impaired/Blind or not. Before
you get wrapped up in the panic, and anger, expressed by others, the
following points should be thought through.


Plenty of advanced notice has been given about this new requirement. Thus,
you do have time to start practicing with blackout glasses, starting out
with just walking around your home, or neighborhood, and with training
partners/guides. The only way to get used to the blackout glasses, is to
start using them. You have to start wearing them to also get used to what
it feels like to have something on your face, as I've had to learn.
Remember the only way you became comfortable with learning to read and
write, to run, to ride a bike, and to swim was by trying it out, and by
practicing.


Sure, the blackout glasses may be unsafe for you if you attempt to just put
them on race day, but that would be the case if you had never gone for a
swim in your life, and just jumped into the water on race day as well.
Whether you wearing blackout glasses is unsafe for others should be analyzed
similarly. If you haven't trained with the blackout glasses, and your guide
hasn't trained with you wearing them, then neither your guide nor you will
know how to work together appropriately given that you will require more
and/or different information since you are no longer relying on your sight.
Therefore, you do have some control and responsibility as to whether you may
cause others harm or not- you have the choice as to whether you train with
the blackout glasses. Remember that the point of you having a guide is so
you can compete, and you can only do that if there is team work between you
and your guide. Just as in any other instance or race,
remember that other participants also have a responsibility to look out for
fellow competitors, and that is part of sportsmanship; which brings us back
to how you choose to exhibit sportsmanship- if you have the choice to
practice with blackout glasses, but you don't, and no one else can practice
with them for you, then what are you saying by your actions?


As far as the ruling being degrading, I disagree. The rule has been put in
place to level the playing field within the T6 category. There is no
question that if you have some vision, you react to other competitors, and
the race corse, faster than someone with no vision at all. If we all wear
the blackout glasses, then we're all relying on the same thing, our guide to
guide us. Remember, the "guide" has always been in the picture when you're
competing, through the swim, on the bike, and on the running portion of the
race. Has having a guide been degrading before? Is it degrading while
you're in the water, or on the bike? Has it been degrading when you've been
on a run before? The only thing that changes with the ruling is that the
guide now has to provide more information to you. You're still running on
your two legs, using your two arms, and having to think and process
information.


If anything, it is more likely that having to compete on a tandem is
degrading. You are the stoker, and are not controlling the breaks, or the
gearing yourself, other than if you tell your guide what to do. Even if you
are one of the few who tells your guide what to do, nobody knows that you
are doing that because they're not riding along side you and listening to
your commands or your conversation as you race. Think about how many times
someone has said to you and your guide, "Hey, is your rider pedaling?" or
"Are you sure the stoker is awake" or "Hey can I go along for the ride too?"
Though sometimes people may be joking, the truth is that the perception is
typically that the stoker doesn't work as hard as the captain. So that
being the case, are you going to stop riding if that is the perception out
there, but in order to cycle you have to ride a tandem? Hopefully not.


As far as the swim portion of the triathlon goes, you are required to use a
tether as well. I have often heard sited competitors ask about whether or
not your guide is allowed to swim in front of you. They ask the question
because they believe that if your guide is in front of you, it actually
allows you to draft off your guide, or that your guide can be pulling you
through the water. Again, your effort as a visually impaired/blind person
is being questioned. Given that this may be the perception of you, are you
going to stop swimming because you need a guide and a tether in the water?
Hopefully not!


In general, the fact that we are out there as a visually impaired/blind
athlete is regarded as highly courageous, inspiring, and admirable. The
guides that race with us are also highly regarded and admired for their
volunteerism, their willingness to train to be able to compete with you, and
their selflessness as guiding you means they're giving up their own chance
to compete. As such, society isn't questioning what you can and cannot do-
they see you out there competing whether or not you're wearing glasses. How
you perceive yourself is also important here as that affects how you portray
yourself and thereby how others see you, your own self-confidence, and your
own ability to challenge yourself to perform at your best given that you
have put in the training required to do well. If you race with pride and
with unwavering effort, then what you wear doesn't matter and isn't the
focus, you and your effort become the focus.


The heart of the matter is that in order to race, in a triathlon, T6
athletes need a guide. The rules set forth are aiming to equalize the
playing field for all of us in the T6 category; you can't choose to accept
the rules you like, and reject those you don't. Otherwise you should
compete as any other participant does, just as some of us do in regular road
races that don't have VI categories. In the sport of triathlon we're
required/allowed a tether in the water, a tandem bike, and a tether on the
run, and now blackout glasses to make it fare for the entire T6 category.


It's in no way fair to compete against a totally blind athlete, and
using/benefiting from what has been put in place to help us race when you in
fact have some vision. Until there are enough athletes to create
subcategories depending on levels of vision, the blackout glasses are the
only way to put us all on a level playing field.


Ideally, I wish there was a way that the gears could be set up and required
to be on the stoker's handlebars, and that blackout glasses be required on
the bike portion of the race, and blackout goggles on the swim portion of
the race. Then we'd all be on an equal playing field throughout the entire
race. The guide would be there to "guide" you, as is the purpose of having
a guide. By you being responsible for the gearing you would actually have
to become more self-reliant on your knowledge of cycling and of your bike,
and you'd be in much more control of how you want to ride as you would
determine what gears you would need in order for you to ride comfortably and
competitively! For now, competing fairly is becoming possible by blackout
glasses on the run portion of the race, and it's up to you to decide if you
are up for a fair competition.
Thanks,
Ivonne

Getting 'really' hung up on winning against other people with disabilities seems the wrong way to go for me[]

Here's at least one. Two-time ITU World Champion Ivonne Mosquera-Schmidt (who is totally blind) sent this e-mail out in 2010 five months before Paratriathlon Nationals to race director, organizers, ITU and USAT staff and at least 30 visually Impaired triathletes.