I believe it is dangerous to require them to wear blackout glasses. //
I guess we will have to disagree about adaptations to training dark. Since I'm fully sighted, I should have a 10 time harder time than your friend adapting to full darkness, but I know it would not be that bad. I have swam in the pool eyes closed for over a 1000 yards at a time, hardly slowing down, and once did about a mile in OW with no paddler on my own, just using wind and swell to keep me on line. I was only about 50 yards off my finish line when I opened up my eyes, and didn't slow down my stroke one bit. If I had a paddler next to me, I would swim just about as fast as I do now, wouldn't lose a stroke..
Cycling is just a different sport than triathlon cycling, and requires no adaption. I have ridden on many tandems, doing so with my eyes closed has no affect. Getting a world class partner is 99% of that game. In my AG I would just put Thurlow Rogers on the front, close my eyes, and ride a 45 minute 40k, really..
Running was the hardest for me, when I run in the forest sometimes, I will close my eyes and try and run for several minutes when the trail is straight, and it is more difficult. For me this would be the only adptation. You have to soft step on the trails, on the road it would be a ton easier. But with a good guide, I know I could figure it out pretty well, and probably run80% to 85% of my sighted run. Certainly I would not lose enough time to even come close to how much I gained on a tandem bike ride..
Which brings me to your point above, what is this danger you speak of? I suppose it is inherent in all blind folks that running blind is more difficult, but once again, anyone with any amount of sight will have a huge advantage there over the completely dark folks. Since I only consider running the challenge of going dark, being able to see shapes would be a big advantage. Other than that, the guide you pick is the most important thing, someone that is a quick study of the enviorment, and can communicate it quickly and timley to you..I think you overblow the danger card here, in fact having someone escort you the entire way probably makes you safer than a lot of the sighted folks going it alone out there..
And lastly, I fully understand what Aaron is trying to do, but he needs to chang things from the top down, not from his center out. IF he has the support of "ALL" the blind athletes, and they are in agreement that the rules need to be changed, he should approach it from that angle. My guess is that he does not have that support, and there is a definate split in the community between the fully dark folks, and the partially sighted ones. Change the way the international community approaches the divisions, and my guess is that USAT would flip in an instant. They have no grudge against him, i see it as just doing what is right for most and working within the given international guidlines.. And as you said, if he is as good as you say, he should just get with the program and kick some ass on the road, and let his legs do the talking instead of his lawyer..
I guess we will have to disagree about adaptations to training dark. Since I'm fully sighted, I should have a 10 time harder time than your friend adapting to full darkness, but I know it would not be that bad. I have swam in the pool eyes closed for over a 1000 yards at a time, hardly slowing down, and once did about a mile in OW with no paddler on my own, just using wind and swell to keep me on line. I was only about 50 yards off my finish line when I opened up my eyes, and didn't slow down my stroke one bit. If I had a paddler next to me, I would swim just about as fast as I do now, wouldn't lose a stroke..
Cycling is just a different sport than triathlon cycling, and requires no adaption. I have ridden on many tandems, doing so with my eyes closed has no affect. Getting a world class partner is 99% of that game. In my AG I would just put Thurlow Rogers on the front, close my eyes, and ride a 45 minute 40k, really..
Running was the hardest for me, when I run in the forest sometimes, I will close my eyes and try and run for several minutes when the trail is straight, and it is more difficult. For me this would be the only adptation. You have to soft step on the trails, on the road it would be a ton easier. But with a good guide, I know I could figure it out pretty well, and probably run80% to 85% of my sighted run. Certainly I would not lose enough time to even come close to how much I gained on a tandem bike ride..
Which brings me to your point above, what is this danger you speak of? I suppose it is inherent in all blind folks that running blind is more difficult, but once again, anyone with any amount of sight will have a huge advantage there over the completely dark folks. Since I only consider running the challenge of going dark, being able to see shapes would be a big advantage. Other than that, the guide you pick is the most important thing, someone that is a quick study of the enviorment, and can communicate it quickly and timley to you..I think you overblow the danger card here, in fact having someone escort you the entire way probably makes you safer than a lot of the sighted folks going it alone out there..
And lastly, I fully understand what Aaron is trying to do, but he needs to chang things from the top down, not from his center out. IF he has the support of "ALL" the blind athletes, and they are in agreement that the rules need to be changed, he should approach it from that angle. My guess is that he does not have that support, and there is a definate split in the community between the fully dark folks, and the partially sighted ones. Change the way the international community approaches the divisions, and my guess is that USAT would flip in an instant. They have no grudge against him, i see it as just doing what is right for most and working within the given international guidlines.. And as you said, if he is as good as you say, he should just get with the program and kick some ass on the road, and let his legs do the talking instead of his lawyer..