Good question. I don't think I'm for draft-legal racing, as much as I am for racing by a set of agreed upon rules. Truth be told, if this was a draft legal race, I might have still won, I might not have. I was around a lot of guys who could have reeled in the leader, but the leaders may have conserved more energy in riding in a pack. Of course, I would probably have trained and prepared differently for the race if it was draft legal, not to mention how I would have raced instead. But the frustration is that the agreed upon rules were not being followed, so everyone kind of loses. I was kind of P.O.ed at the guy who was yelling at me, because he had no idea how hard I worked out there trying to race cleanly, but he nonetheless will do what he can to continue to tarnish my win.
If I were to enter an ITU pro race, like the World Cup in Honolulu in April, I would have gotten my ass kicked. I can't swim well enough right now to be with those boys, no matter how good of a biker I am.
Do I like draft legal racing? You bet I do! I love it! I just wish I could swim faster to make it even better for me. I think it's better for the fans, more exciting and more strategic. My whole off-season will be devoted to getting faster in the water, and giving myself a chance to compete at the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Can an average swimmer do well in ITU? I believe so. Look at Susan Williams. A so-so swimmer, POWERHOUSE on the bike. She's done quite well for herself. It's also course dependent.
So it's not that I'm for one way or the other, it's that I love triathlon and enjoy the different versions out there. That's why you'll see me do non-drafting, draft-legal and XTERRA races. I love the different varieties, even the different distances. I think each race offers it's own unique challenges, and I just want to be on a level playing field when I accept those challenges. Luckily, I can hold my head high knowing that I won, and I won fairly, despite many opportunities to cheat, and the amount of cheating that went on around me. I feel sorry for a guy like Chris Martin, who worked his butt off out in the lead on the bike, but probably got caught by guys who were drafting most of the 40K, and couldn't get on the podium.
Jim Vance