I assume its during the year. So, the later you are bone in the year, the better I guess. Since I was burn the end of March, and races are after this, guess it has no impact for me. Darn.

Makes much more sense!!

Dave

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Ugh! with a december birthday, that means i will have to compete in the 30-34 ag for an entire season when I am 29? how depressing!

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You had it correct in your first example. Age on Dec 31 is the age you have to use for the entire current year.

The new rule doesn't concern me. Competition is competition. But, I do think the USAT is moving in the wrong direction and should of convinced ITU to change to "actual race day age". I mean. come on. There will now be people racing in an age group that they have not reached yet. I think its a mistake in principal. Other age based sports are changing rules to make actual age groups more competitive, like Little League baseball age range changes this year, etc. Not the USAT. They are making it more generic. Another fumble by USAT. Good to know that $9 per person, per event is going to some good decision making.

I think it makes more sense if you look at it from a rankings standpoint. People will not be changing age groups in the middle of the season. Doesn't matter for most people, and neither does the policy no matter what it is, but it's much easier for record keeping and for those who care about rankings.

Also, your Little League analogy is faulty. They eseentially have the same policy that USAT and ITU now have, but their effective date is in April for baseball and the ened of the previous year for softball.

This is the same policy used in cycling by the UCI and USA Cycling. You have your age and your "racing age" which is how old you are on Dec. 31.

There are pros and cons of each scenario.

-Darrell

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-Darrell

you and me! My b-day is December 30th!!

lol, December 31 here. Just glad I turn 31 this year so it won't matter till 35-39 ag which isn't any worse than 30-34.

kevin

I see that USAT is getting just as spineless and the USCF in aligning itself with the international governing bodies, abandonning everything they set up themselves in favor of a "me too" attitude. Too bad.

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THe rule will become very confusing when you consider body marking your age on your calf. The person will say he is 34 when asked to have his age on his calf but will actually be racing in the 35-39 age group. So now you have to pass anyone withing one year less than the next age group.

What the Crap! I hope that my local (non-USAT) events do not go to this kind of AG ranking. I was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that I just turned 29, now your telling me that I have to turn 30 in a month and lose a whole season in the 25-29 AG next year! That sucks. I know that it does not sound like alot to some of you but there are some studs in the 30-35 AG that I did not feel like having to race next year.

This sucks. Yes I am a big baby, yes I know that it is about the race and not just AG wins, no I have not had my coffee yet.

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The change matters to people because it creates confusion. Think about volunteers doing body marking in races. For the most part they are going to ask if you are an age grouper or clyde or relay. They then ask your age. If you are 29 w/ a latter half of the year birthday, they might not know to ask you if you should be in the 30-34 age group.
Also, some youth sports, like all 5 Little League baseball programs in the US changed their age groups more closely align the athletes with the league they should play in based on their age, not by a general year end or mid year date as it was last year. The change is good and the leagues will improve as less kids will have to "age up" to play ball. Just like some athletes will now have to do in USAT triathlons.

Trust me, this new policy creates some confusion. The Powerman series has been using ITU age grouping for years and for those that fall between age groups, they often get mismarked or are confused when they review results.

totally agree! with an October birthday I lose one whole season!

and age up in a pretty competitive age group a year early...don't like it AT ALL!!

Good point. Even more confusion for the independent (non-USAT) events. I imagine some athletes will not even know their policy until the results are posted.

It was pretty simple before: Age on race day.

D'oh! Getting the bump out of 20-24 straight into 25-29 with a December birthday. Just what I needed--stiffer competition.

Crap...just when I had it perfectly planned out that all the fast chicks were either five years older or five years younger than I am. Now I have to share. And really, do I want to be 30? God no, I'm not old enough.

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Look at the positive side - when you are 39, you will be able to compete for a whole season against the 40-44 group. There isn't really a perfect system...that's why you just have to race hard all the time against whoever shows up, and let the chips fall where they may...

I'm really surprised by some of the responses on here. No offense meant to anyone, but they seem rather selfish. All I read is, "Do you know what this means to ME?", "POOR ME!", "Now I'M SCREWED!" And then some of you are continuing to degrade USAT when they begin to show flexibility.

First off, for every one of you who are now mad about moving up into a new, possibly tougher age group, guess what? THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE NOW MOVING OUT OF THAT AGE GROUP INTO THE NEXT ONE TOO! It all evens out. If I were to stay an age-grouper, I'm sure there are plenty of people who will be happy I've officially left the 25-29 age group for good now.

Second, the whole "volunteers will get confused" argument is weak. They don't seem to have problems with it anywhere else in the world! Unless Americans are just too stupid to figure out what number to put on their calf, then this shouldn't be a problem. Let's also not forget that when a volunteer asks you, they should say, "What division are you racing in?" If you can't tell that the number on your calf does not correspond to race category, then maybe a triathlon race is not your biggest problem.

Lastly, USAT finally shows some flexibility and is trying to eliminate the confusion when racing internationally or at the Worlds, and some of you want to blast them for it. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. How about recognizing the effort on their part, and hope this is the beginning of a series of positive changes?

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I don't think this is spineless. It is making the competition fairer, as least when it comes to competing for worlds slots. With the old age-up rule, some atheletes would be starting in one wave (say M40-44) but competing for a worlds slot with another wave (M45-49) because they would age-up under ITU rules. So the competition was not head-to-head for everyone.

The replies show an interesting trend. Those who are younger hate the idea of racing in an older (more competitive) age group. Those who are older know that its a huge advantage to be one of the youngest in the age group.

I turn 49 in September. It means I have to race against women who are nearly five years younger than me for the entire summer, which makes for very tough competition. It cost me an IMH qualifying slot the year I went to IMC, since I "aged up" a few days after IMC. In the younger AG, no chance for a slot. In the older age group, I would have gotten it easily.

With the new rule, I'd be racing against the 50-54 year olds all summer; they are going to hate that I'm the youngest in the age group.

I think when you're older, the rule works in your favor; whereas if you're younger, the rule works against you, but maybe will motivate you to stick with the sport for another 20 years at which time the rule works to your advantage.

BrokenSpoke

This is good for me. My birthday is Dec 28th. Now I get to race the older slower guys in the 35-39 AG. Looks like it is gonna be a good 2006 season for me.

I think a majority of those responses (the "oh no!" ones) are meant tongue in cheek. At least I HOPE they are anyway. I couldn't care less what AG I'm in. Doesn't matter to my results anyway.

It IS, however, kind of funny that I will be considered "30" though. I'm totally not old enough to be 30...

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35-39 AG here I come. At 34 I can't believe they are making me race with the dinosaurs :-)!

Actually I can and think that it is a good rule to reduce confusion.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
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unfortunately, since IMNA evetns are currently GTG sanctioned, the age groups rules for them are staying the same for those races.

its just usat -not, like wtc right?