I heard a story about someone slipping over a swim timing mat (not in water) a few months ago. I wonder if has more to do with that than what you suggest.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

This has been in the works for some time now. I've heard race officials talk about it before. Maybe it was at IM Florida when I did that in 2013. That is also a 2 lap swim but the difference is they force the athletes to get out of the water and get back in between laps. You do not do that at IM Maryland.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

That's a good point. There are a number of IMs with two lap swims and beach runs between laps. CdA, Placid, FL all come to mind. I should have said that this is a 2 loop all inwater swim with no beach part in between.

---

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

In Europe a lot of the races have an "aussie exit" at some point of the swim now, usually in between laps of a multi-lap swim, but sometimes at other points that might otherwise be cuttable. I'd always assumed this was to make sure everyone completed the required course and not just so that your loved ones could see you properly at some point of the swim!

Having said that, I've also done plenty of non-WTC tris where your chip time starts as you pass through the start buoys in the water, so it's certainly not a new technology.

No inflatable turtle? Bah.

Well it's funny you say that. They did say there will be "floating lily pads" you can rest on in the swim. I haven't done a full IM in 2 years but I've never heard of that either.

---

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

These have been around for a few years. Part of the "Swim Smart" initiative.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Since I knew at least one person 1st hand that cheated and did not do 2 laps at IMLT, or another at a local race in my AG stated one way too early, etc. yep, they need to get better control that folks are starting the swim correctly, and swimming the course the RD did correctly. So if it is 2 loops either make folks get out and over a timing mat or if it can work in the water, have a water map so folks do not cut the course.

---

Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

It’s just a hobby, why get worked up if someone is cheating themselves??

I don't know what frequency timing chips operate in (I suppose it might be possible to look up...but, I'm being lazy). Frequencies above 30 KHz will only travel a very short distance underwater (inches). So, unless the timing chips are operating below 100KHz (being generous), it is unlikely that actually "works". As such it may be more alternative-facts to act as a deterrent.

wait for it..... :)

well played, sir :)

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Yep. My first thoughts too. Most of the newer timing chips probably use UHF band: 300 MHz - 3 GHz. For reference a 2.4GHz signal travels about ~10cm in fresh water before you start losing all the data (salt water is worse). It's probably just a scare tactic.

At IM Korea last month, we had something similar - at the end of the the first half (wasn't a lap as we didn't exit the water) we had to swim under a giant yellow inflatable (funnel type thing) which recorded our split. It was mentioned in race briefing as a way to make sure there was no course cutting.

At the time, I thought it was more of a control and wouldn't actually be a timing device, but we did get a split time for the swim.

---

My race site: https://racesandplaces.wixsite.com/racesandplaces

Yep. I actually got less lazy and did go look. So, it appears that the original timing chips from the 80's used 134 KHz....VLF (<30 KHz) works up to about 20m...so, 134 KHz "miiight" still be good for a few meters and therefore work depending on how close to the surface you were willing to run the timing loop.

But, as you note newer systems are built on RFID, and operate in the UHF band....no way that works reliably under water.

That's how they time marathon swimming events in open water. Except they wear the chips on their wrists and I believe the wire may be above water. Pretty cool that they are bringing it to Ironman though!

That could work more effectively since the timing mat would be in the inflatable and not underwater. Cool idea!

They can use that technology on the run course when the roads flood.

FINA does this... nothing new. Each swimmer has 2 chips 1 per wrist.

---

___________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

Hey Bud, sounds like you are at IM Maryland today, I am planning on signing up for next years race and I was hoping I could get whatever discount they give to people that sign up today/tomorrow. If you hear anything please PM thank you and good luck!

I spoke with them a couple months ago about how best to do it. It doesn't go underwater; it went over the water between two sausage buoys about 40 feet apart. During the race, it seemed to work well.

---

http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

Same chips and wires we use for IRONMAN. We don't use RFID stuff there. IMMD had the wires on a bracket a couple of feet above the water. Could use PVC too.

---

Sylvan Smyth | http://www.sportstats.asia | sylvan@sportstats.asia | Starvas

I'm sorry I didn't hear anything. I am going to roll down tomorrow so if they mention something I'll post it.

---

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

Correct. It was in a floating thing that reminded me of the inflable "swim exit" gates at races. They funneled us through it as we finished loop 1 and just before loop 2. Originally when they described it at the race briefing it seemed like it might be in-water. As you said, it was hanging in the floating thing a few feet above the water.

---

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

Looking at the results, only 17 out of 1343 athletes broke an hour on the swim with the fastest time 53:14. Was it a mass start, wave start, or??? Wetsuit legal??? Water rough??? And how was the rest of the day: wind on the bike, heat on the run??? Looks like the top two AGers broke 9 hrs so it would *appear* to have been a pretty fast day overall.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Eric it's a good question. I was about 5 min slower than I would expect for this type of swim. It was wetsuit legal and very mild chop. I think a couple of factors contributed to the slow times on the swim. The 6:45 start was a little early - I had tinted goggles and the low light made it hard to see. The setup of the exit was also confusing for many. Many people were yelling at the kayakers saying "where is the finish!?" Ned, there was a ton of chop + current for the last 300 yards or so. It was a rolling, self-seeded start.

The bike has an out and back and two 45 mile lollipops. Those lollipops are in the wildlife refuge and are very exposed and windy.

The run was great -lots of house parties, downtown bars, etc. but, I have never seen so many people walking an IM marathon. Seriously. I think the wind plus unseasonably warm temps (82 and bright sun) drained people on the bike and left their legs empty for the run.

The pointy end was fast for sure but on average it was slower than I expected.

Cambridge wa a great little town that fully embraces the race. The did a great job.

-Doug

---

It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

I did the race. The wind on the first loop was about as ideal as you can get in that neck of the woods (i.e., no factor for me). It picked up a bit on the second loop, but was a lot more tamed than what I've normally experience out there (I've done Eagleman a few times and rode the Eagleman a few practice more times). People talked about how this can be a fast bike course if the conditions were right. I think that yesterday was about as "right" as it could get for that course. Definitely a fast day on the bike.

Nothing special about the swim conditions that I could tell. The reason for the lack of sub-1 swimmers may be due to the fact that not many people signed up for this race when compared to others, slightly over 1,000 starters ... though with the top 6 overall males all going over 1 hour, you have to wonder if the course was long or the current was stronger than people expect.

The run was a little bit warm, but no humidity. I was more bothered by the headwind in some sections of the run than I was with the heat.

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Look at the times from 2014 for an idea of what an ideal day looks like for this course.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I wouldn't call yesterday ideal on the bike course. I'd give it a slightly above average. The wind direction either had a slight headwind or a slight crosswind for the majority of the course on lap 2 (lap 1 was very "right" as you put it). I've ridden there when it was mostly a helping wind and it was even faster than the first loop.

And I'm guessing you have some hot races under your belt, because when the sun was high it felt pretty hot to me. Not debilitating, but I bet it slowed The average run times down by a good amount and mine by 5 minutes or so. The forecast had pretty high humidity on the books and I believe it. My sweat was sticking to me like glue.

And I agree with the general sentiment about the swim. It was slower but not crazy slow. Maybe 3-5 minutes off of expected times for most generally 55-1:05 swimmers I talked to. I think the cross currents were tougher to deal with than the short stretches into the current.

Overall it was still a really fast course once you were out of the water.

---

Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
http://instagram.com/tgarvey4

I meant ideal for that area, not general ideal. Cambridge can be very windy. What we experienced yesterday was very tamed for that area. I've never been on that course when it was faster than the first loop yesterday, but glad to know that it can be :)

I looked at the weather underground history for Cambridge yesterday. It looks like, depending on when you were out there for loop 1 vs loop 2, that the wind speed difference was up to 10 mph .. felt like it too :)

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Bike was also about 2 miles short so makes bike times look a little better!

It was hot though humidity really high, one of those days that doesn't really feel hot until you start running! It ended my day early.

Swim maybe a little long I expected about a 57 for a wetsuit swim and was a little over an hour. But most likely it was current chop and dodging all that traffic on the second loop.

MC

A few people have mentioned high humidity I didn't think it was that bad. I just looked at Weather Underground and their history function. It showed, starting at 2:00 PM, the humidity was ~65% and ended ~61% at sunset.. I guess it's a matter of perspective. I'm on the smaller/slender side. I probably can handle it better than most so I didn't notice it as much as you and a few others did.

My Garmin 305 had the bike as having the correct distance. Yes, I know there is a % error factor. It would be interesting to hear what others had.

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Sure would be curious to know what others had as well, started mine pretty quick and didn't stop until it auto paused at my rack which as at the far end of transition almost at the changing tent. Here's my file.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2063796938#.Wdq-1dYcH0E.email


MC

I see, thanks for that info. Another poster referred me to the 2014 results to see what an "ideal day" looks like on the IM MD course, and the fastest swim was 50:05, with the OA times faster too. The 20th fastest time in '14 was 9:26 vs 9:40 in '17.

Regarding Cambridge, ya, I've always thought it was a great little town. Dated a girl when I was in college who lived down there so fond memories of times on "The Shore".

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I had 111.2, my wife had 110.3, my brother had 110.7, and my dad accidentally paused his watch at 16.5.

---

Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
http://instagram.com/tgarvey4

Ah, thanks for your referral to the '14 results. The course was indeed faster with the 20th fastest time was 9:26 in '14 vs 9:40 in '17, a significant diff.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Did they have pros in 2014? ... that would throw off those numbers a bit.

Also, was it the same swim course? I thought they switched direction of the swim since then.

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

No pros in '14 but upon closer examination of the swim results it appears that the one guy going 50:05 in 2014 was a real outlier as the 4th fastest swim was 56:23 and only 12 broke an hour in '14 vs 17 under an hour in '17. No idea about the switching of direction; however, i will say based on my experience that very, very, very few swim courses are consistent year to year. Monty says Kona was consistent for many years until they decided to revise it last year but, assuming this is true, Kona would be the only race i've ever heard of that was consistent year to year. In most races, it seems like the swim layout is a bit diff every year.

---

"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I mentioned 2014 as a baseline for overall times, not specifically about the swim. in 2014, The wind was minimal, and what wind was present was a favorable wind. Also, there were mild temps for the run.

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I did the race this year. My splits are in my Strava link below.

One thing you can say about Ironman Maryland is that the town of Cambridge really embraces the race. The volunteers were also awesome. While I was eating my postrace dinner, the waitress said that she wished every weekend was Ironman weekend for the money she was earning. Good job Iron spenders.

As for the swim, it was a self seeded start. I think it took them about 15 minutes to get everyone in the water. For me it was a non eventful swim. No stings, minimal bumping and fairly decent sighting. About ten stokes after each buoy I would look for the dark outline of the next one and aim for it. Rinse and repeat.

As for the bike, both my Garmin 500 and my 910 registered 110.3 miles. I started slow due to the headwind and because I'm a feeble biker, but felt better once we hit the first tailwind at mile 35. My second loop was faster than my first even with a 1 minute pee break. Each loop had a mixture of headwind and tailwind. I understand the the later cyclists had much more of a head wind, and for much longer, on the second lap.

One additional bike note, the leader on the course by 15 minutes at mile 102 (the 53:00 swimmer) was a guy from my area. He said that his front tire rolled off from under him as he was leaving the lollipop and took a race ending spill. He's ok, but he cracked his helmet in 4 places.

The mid afternoon run was definitely taxing due to the bright sun and exposed course. That vacant land at the far end was pure misery. My grand plans were dashed by the halfway mark on the run.

All in all, it was a fun experience.

---

What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

This worked extremely well in Maryland on the weekend, over 99% detection rate with only 1 chip on ankle.

Yes when we time open water swims they have the chips on the wrist (usually 1 on each arm), we used this for Pan Am Games and other events with touch pad at the finish. In Maryland we set-up the wire about 24 inches above water between 2 bouys at the turn. See our video of the team setting it up the day before: results.sportstats.ca/live/swimsplit.3gp

They use the same timing system at all Ironman events (Mylaps Pro Chip) so its an active transponder. We measured and got detections 12-18 inches under water as well.

Congrats on successfully deploying the technology and thanks for helping keep our races fair and working so hard to keep the results accurate. Based on what I observed on Saturday, I'm betting your actual data capture was 100% on the swimmers who swam through the ROKA sausage buoys as directed.

Yes that is what we think, we had 5 miss total at the split but did get reports that about the same amount went to far around the wire. Our team then verified those 5 participants and compared pass swim results to make sure it was legit. We are looking at a more permanent solution we could deploy at events where they don't come out of the water, even a 1 loop course like Arizona so we could provide a split out there. Stay tuned!

Congrats on pulling off in-water timing.

---

What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699