I'll be in that same line.

To compound things, the forecast is for +/- 90 F. There'll be a lot of people trying to get in the water early.....to combat running in the hotter temps. I'm returning from an injury.....and I'm not trying to kill it. I'll start in the rear and take my chances of not getting caught up in the antics.

Good luck.

Good luck to you as well! Yesterday I finally caved and looked at the extended forecast and saw those 90 degree temps. Hopefully the weatherman is wrong.

I lined up right where I thought I should be last time (Muskoka full) and it worked out okay but it was only about 900 athletes. If you have a fair number of people to pass and they are not too much slower than you can draft them for a bit pass one and then draft another. I think the only drawback is you might not be able to get on the feet of someone slightly faster than you and ride that for the whole swim but that seldom seems to work out for me anyway.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

get there as early as possible and as close to the start as possible.

I know what the guide says but I'm not sure anyone actually ever cedes themselves the way they swim pool races included.

Well, if you decide no-one else will seed themselves correctly so you ignore the seeding yourself, that makes YOU the problem.
Seriously. Trying to second guess everyone else just guarantees the system won't work. Make your best guess at your swim time and seed accordingly. Don't be a selfish jerk.

I've done 2 rolling starts. I positioned myself according to my honest best guess and both swims went very smoothly. Don't screw it up for everyone else by causing the problem you're predicting.

Every single race that I've ceded myself correctly no one else did. I did Choo last year and in front of me were 60 year old women and ahead of them were people that I knew that I was faster than. Guess how that turned out.

So, go ahead and cede yourself correctly because no one else ever does.

Let me know if you ever do a pool start triathlon. I'd love to hear how that one goes.

Did this race a few years ago and I am in the middle of the pack for my time. I would just get there as early as you can and just try and stick to the sides.

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2020 Team Zoot MTN

3 ironman rolling starts, and seeding myself exactly where I ended up swimming all 3 times. By far some of the smoothest open water swims I've had. The system works when use it. Assuming no one uses it properly screws it up for all of us.

4 pool swim starts, and I have never been passed by anyone or even had anyone on my feet, and have only had to pass people at one the 4 races.

Starting to think your issues with seeding are 100% self inflicted.

That said...I've heard that Chatt 70.3 doesn't have the seeding signs like they do at Ironman, so it's not as clear cut as to where you should line up for the 70.3. Regardless, I will be lining up as close to the front as possible, but that's because I have every expectation that I would go sub-30 on this swim without a current, with a current might be under 25.

Yeah definitely all me.

As someone who has done Choo and know a lot of people, I will stick with my original suggestion. Get there early and in the water as quickly as possible.

I don't have experience with Chatt specifically, but both WTC events I did in 2016 that had rolling starts went very smoothly (1 x 70.3 and 1 x140.6). They had signs up so people could stage themselves around their expected swim time in 5 minute intervals. Seemed like most people were being pretty frank with themselves, at least I experienced very little passing or being passed.

As others have said, you can't push your way to the front and then complain no one else seeded themselves correctly. Be the change, and so on...

Pool swims, yeah, the ones I've done had some racers with very optimistic ideas about their swim time :)

I've found my best bet is to start a handful of places above my best estimate.

Generally I'll end up not being over taken, but if I am I'll give em some space.

Starting further back is generally a mess.

Honest+a small bit.