At IM 70.3 Switzerland this was introduced this year. Previously it was AG wave start each wave starting as a mass start.
This year rolling within each AG with self seeding, 4 at the time with approximately 5s intervals.
As FOP swimmer I thought it is going to be a total cluster f**k, since basically the entire course was filled with swimmers (we were the last AG). I was surprised it didnt actually feel that bad during the swim, even though I did catch up with the previous wave some 300m into the swim instead of closer to 1k. Maybe it was more nicely spread out.
However, my time was more than 2 minutes slower than last year and by more than a minute my slowest ever. Based on pool times, this should not be the case, so somehow this constant passing made me settle for a slower pace or something....
Any similar experiences? Does such start make the swim more comfy if you are MOP or BOP ?
This year rolling within each AG with self seeding, 4 at the time with approximately 5s intervals.
As FOP swimmer I thought it is going to be a total cluster f**k, since basically the entire course was filled with swimmers (we were the last AG). I was surprised it didnt actually feel that bad during the swim, even though I did catch up with the previous wave some 300m into the swim instead of closer to 1k. Maybe it was more nicely spread out.
However, my time was more than 2 minutes slower than last year and by more than a minute my slowest ever. Based on pool times, this should not be the case, so somehow this constant passing made me settle for a slower pace or something....
Any similar experiences? Does such start make the swim more comfy if you are MOP or BOP ?