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70.3 rolling start....where to start
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Never having done a rolling start (but having done these things for a while); what is the best place to start if you typically finish the swim around 30? If you line up early, you will get out early with little traffic, but may not have feet to tag; but if you start later, you may have to dodge people in the swim, but have bikers to slingshot for a while. What has experience taught those that have played this game before? Thanks for the input!

Stephen J

I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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I'm going to assume they'll have people in line with projected finishing times.......getting people to stage, accordingly. They did at Choo.

If so, get in line with the folks you think you can swim with.
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [nc452010] [ In reply to ]
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nc452010 wrote:
I'm going to assume they'll have people in line with projected finishing times.......getting people to stage, accordingly. They did at Choo.

If so, get in line with the folks you think you can swim with.

In the athlete information, they just say 'first come, first served'; but projected finish times would be preferential if people actually follow the guidelines. Was that this year at Choo that they did it?

I believe my local reality has been violated.
____________________________________________
Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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yes
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [nc452010] [ In reply to ]
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Choo 70.3 was a mess this year at the swim start. Initially it was first come first serve, then they tried to bring in volunteers with projected swim times which then pushed a bunch of people past people who had been sitting in line already...just a cluster (IMO).

Madison 70.3 was done by projected finish times. I thought it went pretty well. What I did was find the legit group I could swim with based on finish time, and then started in the front of that group. Ideally your then able to catch the feet of a faster swimmer and draft off of them for as long as you can.

If you do choose to start in a group that you know is faster than you, please stay a little off the the buoy line unless you want some contact. :-)
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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At Santa Rosa 70.3 there was signage up that showed projected time buckets for you to line up in. Just corral yourself near the 30 min section and you'll be good - I thought the swim went off pretty well from what everyone was saying after the race.
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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I have done a few and thought about it. Start exactly where you think you would finish. Don't overthink it. It is easy to start where you want, very much unlike a crit. If you think 30min would be 20th, line up 20th. There are tiny potential advantages of trying to game it one way or the other, but impossible to predict. If you start late you could get some slingshots, but miss out on legal drafting, if you start early, you might get less feet but cleaner water and better people to ride with.

My swim is lame, and with the exception of Kona, slinghshotting is more trouble than it is worth in my experience. I swam a 1:13 in Texas and rode 4:48 and could slingshot almost none. Similar in other races.
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [sharkd] [ In reply to ]
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sharkd wrote:
Choo 70.3 was a mess this year at the swim start. Initially it was first come first serve, then they tried to bring in volunteers with projected swim times which then pushed a bunch of people past people who had been sitting in line already...just a cluster (IMO).

Madison 70.3 was done by projected finish times. I thought it went pretty well. What I did was find the legit group I could swim with based on finish time, and then started in the front of that group. Ideally your then able to catch the feet of a faster swimmer and draft off of them for as long as you can.

If you do choose to start in a group that you know is faster than you, please stay a little off the the buoy line unless you want some contact. :-)

As to the bolded......if they were slower swimmers, why were they in the front?
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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If the race start is done in order of projected swim time, seed yourself accurately according to those time ranges.
First come first served is just bloody stupid from a race management perspective. If that was the case I'd probably aim to position myself approximately where I thought I'd rank in the field. i.e. If I thought 30% of swimmers would be faster than me I'd locate myself around 30% back from the front - simply because a good proportion of others are likely to do similar so it should provide some sort of seeding.


As for a projected time based start: There have been discussions on this before, often with people suggesting advantages of placing yourself ahead or behind your actual projected time in order to gain proposed advantages in swim drafting, crowd avoidance, bike groups, etc.... Please don't do that! It's just selfish and I can't believe lots of guys think it's a perfectly acceptable thing to suggest or do.
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Re: 70.3 rolling start....where to start [stephenj] [ In reply to ]
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Get under the 30 min sign and then start asking people around you how fast they swam in their last 70.3. What you will hear is, "I swam 32, I swam 33, I swam 31 but I am in better shape and will go sub 30". Then tell all these idiots to get behind you because they are not going to swim 30 min or lower. But every rolling start has people seeding themselves 2-5 min faster. Then ask the people just in front how fast they swam in their last race, and keep moving up asking people until you actually come up with a bunch of people WHO ACTUALLY HAVE SWAM 30 MINUTES. Now you are in the correct start location for you.

This has always worked for me in all the rolling starts. But you have to be a bit assertive and a bit of an asshole in the corral and really sway your peers to be honest openly with each other. It eventually works and barely takes 5 minutes to get everyone around you sorted out in the proper order. Just take some leadership in there to get the vicinity organized. If everyone did that and did not act like sheep in a corral it would be better, but since you are "kind of fast" you have some built in credibility to essentially order people to get organized. Don't be shy, to be assertive, as you will be helping everyone around you. Most people listen to someone who is actually helping to make the neighbourhood better.
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