I would say that the USA does very well in the ITU, just look at the results of U23 and the womens. It is only the men where the USA is not doing well.

I haven't been paying attention to the U23 but your news in encouraging.

In the women's series Sarah Groff is our best hope (and my favorite US Women) until Gwen learns how to swim and stay on the bike. Sarah just needs that little bit extra for the run and she'll be the complete package.

jaretj

Seriously, that is not a well thought out premise...
1) The danger of 1000 people willfully trying to draft is insane...most at cat 5 level, this will do NOTHING to help bike handling skills, but it will make races bloodbaths and less people to race and higher insurance premiums, thus higher race entry fees.
So you can replace race marshals with medics to tend to all of the accidents.
2) it would decimate the TT bike market, which, by the way is rolling very well, so the suppliers would object (and they are the one who sponsor races and USAT).
3) It will do NOTHING to increase USA's olympic profile. This is being done in the appropriate manner by developing youth, junior and collegiate athletes. Adding this to AG races will not increase anything as 99.9% of athletes have NO chance at that level anyway, so developing those skills is moot.
4) RIO 2016 for the USA has about 20 males and 10 females that are actual threats to qualify for the 2-3 spots available. They are all already racing draft legal with others who have experience. If you don't understand this just look at the results from the draft legal USAT collegiate race. The top swimmers are all D1 or D3 all-americans or Olympic trials qualifiers, the top runners are sub 14-minute 5k runners, so the general triathlon population isn't even close to that in any way shape of form.
5) Draft legal racing usually has a max of 75 in a race for reason #1, so it would be a long an arduous process.
6) Draft legal racing came about because of the depth of pro fields and lack of differentiation on the swim and bike, therefore athletes were getting dq'ed from World Championships for drafting after seemingly winning, DL was a response that was the only option at that point.
7) While drafting is rampant in AG races, and most triathletes are weekend warriors with poor handling skills, it is a participation sport, like running not an elite only sport, this is forgotten and as Triathlon had gotten more popular, many of the faster people get the attitude that it is there to serve them, which it is not. This is why cycling is not a popular sport even though almost everyone knows how to ride a bike. The elitist attitude chases many away, less members in USAC means less money for other programs. USAT does not want to go down that road.
8) An NGB's job is not to only focus on the top 1%, but to administrate the sport in a way that serves many for a greater good. The more people you have the more money the whole industry makes.

There is also Katie Hursey.

Also, Gwen can swim now. Gwen has won three WTS races and no other American has won a single WTS race.

I certainly hope she is doing better. She is one of the best runners in the field, much better than Sarah G. That bike ride in Auckland was horrible, caught up in that mishap and missing the break put here out of touch of Jodie.

Still watching Katie H, lets see how she does.

Despite not winning a single race there are 3 American Women that have World Titles and one with an Olympic medal

If this was a forum by inactive people, we would reading about how everything that we are doing now is bad for our health.

Again there are too few draft legal races in this country to say if this is a good idea or not. Why not have some more and let the market place decide. I don't think there will be mass carnage or I would not have proposed it.

The people who consider themselves the best athletes can start in the first wave and will probably never be seen again by the rest of us. Unless they overestimated their ability.

The rest of us can choose how close to draft, pace off each other, or not draft. People who aren't comfortable drafting probably won't. Those who are comfortable drafting probably will. While there will always be a learning curve going on, and that's precisely what is needed, most people back off riding on someone's wheel that does not look promising.

Perhaps this could encourage triathletes to go on some group rides with experienced cyclists to learn the ropes before embarrassing themselves. IMHO anyone who buys a tri-bike before a road bike is asking for trouble.

I don't think this will hurt the bike industry. In fact, it would probably create demand to maintain two bikes. Most people who have a tri-bike probably have their road bike too.

Given what I see in these posts and the forums about what poor swimmers, cyclists, and runners we are, perhaps there is not more interest in skill development. Much of the comments have me thinking that there would be more support for fins and training wheels to accommodate the poor swimmers and cyclists amongst us. I thought the allure of racing was the challenge that develops during the race and not just how much suffering you can put yourself through. Or maybe the challenge is gizmo racing through purchases of equipment to make up for what we lack.

I think if we tried a few of these, then we would like them more than the time trial set up that we currently have. Time trials can become boring and too predictable.

---

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

It comes down to this: neither USAT nor ITU rules allow age group draft-legal racing at any length race. I've heard of a few races here and there that do have official draft-legal age group racing, typically limited in field size and on a closed course. If this is what you're looking for, you'll probably have to travel to find one. There is always the option to put one together yourself, either getting it sanctioned through USAT or go the non-sanctioned route.

Is it a good or bad idea to not allow age-group draft-legal racing? That's the big debate, and at least historically sanctioning groups have decided not to allow it. If you think it's a bad idea to not allow it, either work to change the system or introduce alternatives yourself.

What problem are you trying to solve in this thread?

Your final post has nothing to do with the initial post about building American Olympic champions. What is the point of all this???

Triathletes who love to ride (like myself) DO own a road bike and DO go on group rides. Still, I've only been riding for a few years and consider myself an average bike handler. The idea of doing a crit does not sound fun to me. There are a lot of triathletes like myself out there who do this for fun and recreation. In fact probably 95% or more of triathletes do this for fun and recreation without any aspirations of Olympic-level performance. That doesn't mean we don't challenge ourselves. And while I bought my road bike first there are plenty of triathletes that only have a tri bike and will only ever use it to ride lone or in a non-draft legal triathlon. Nothing wrong with that, and they certainly aren't embarrassing themselves. Many of them are really strong riders. There aren't a lot of people out there that can afford to go out and get a second competition level bike. If you suddenly change the rules and people find themselves with really expensive non-legal bikes, you can bet they'll become disenfranchised from the sport really fast.

I'm still not sure what making shorter races draft-legal would do and what the idea is trying to solve. There are plenty of draft-legal events out there.

---

Pete Githens
Reading, PA

Ummm, not really. I'm an okay cyclist but with draft-legal it's easy for me to leech onto a better cyclist and save my legs. Since running is my strength, I'll leave Mr froggy-leg cyclist in the dust on the run. My specialty is hunting and taking out all the cyclists on the run course of any distance (sprint thru IM). This would make it oh so much easier. And MORE FUN :)

DL is a great idea but only in moderation. You cant have 1500 people on a DL course and it not end up super dangerous. Plus you really dont want to pay for 20-50k worth of road closures so you need smaller lapped courses to offset cost. So then your talking about having likely 65-70% of the field being told their race is over before they even run.

So no you cant just say let people draft or not draft, because cost and then permits would need to be detailed.

So yes i think there is a huge need for more dl racing, but it has to be done with specific purpose of athletes knowing its a closed course, and small fields. So far not many RD's are biting on the idea, *yet.


So either get a better understanding of what you are asking or learn what it takes to put on an DL event.

---

------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

If you are neither, they (the old fat boomers) would be nowhere near you, for you to be worried about someone drafting off of you.
Plus, the fast guys (and girls) start at the front.
(unless it's because you can't swim)

I agree,
I wonder if you could add a DL wave to some races or some type of Cat system. To me, I really don't care if an athlete is fifteen or fifty, if they want to race Draft legal put them in a heat with others of similar speed and skill. Are they going to open up those Fearless races to age-groupers? Those look awesome. Qualifying heats, Finals, beers...

No you cant really add a DL wave during an otherwise non-draft event. The 2 events are essentially RD'd completely different, from the closed traffic, to the type of equipment allowed. So this idea that you just turn your local po dunk sprint now into a drafting legal event cant work. You cant do a DL event without closing traffic, no way in hell insurance would allow that. You then would have to limit the fields to likely 100 per race and then have 4-5 races, but that takes up likely 2x more time/energy for the RD and roads, etc.

---

------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Again there are too few draft legal races in this country to say if this is a good idea or not. Why not have some more and let the market place decide. I don't think there will be mass carnage or I would not have proposed it.

The people who consider themselves the best athletes can start in the first wave and will probably never be seen again by the rest of us. Unless they overestimated their ability.

____________

I 100% agree with you that there are far too few DL events. I've also said on record that by 2020, there will be 100 DL AG events in the US *IF* the NCAA triathlon takes off.

So it seems like your idea is to just turn the triathlons that go on every weekend into an "draft" legal option. It's not that simple.

So with that being understood, you have to limit fields and you have to have these events on closed roads or else you really risk putting racers in dangerous situations. Currently in an non-draft when you race, you must follow all traffic laws (yes wink wink), but in an DL event, that stop sign or riding to the right is not an requirement/rule.

DL events can be fantastic, I coach predominantly ITU athletes or ITU developing athletes, and it's just a whole different type of environment/training. There is a more sense of professionalism/respect at these events (talking just an EDR for example), than your normal triathlon because you cant fake it in a DL event. You have to bust your ass in the swim and bike (run if you want to win, or just hope to make the run and chill in), or else it's lights out for you. There are no "good try", it's either your good enough to stay in the race, or your out.

Now what will be interesting is that Rev3 Rush, seems to be a hybrid of DL and sorta what you are pushing for. There will be drafting if you want to, but if you don't, you just ride your own race, and with the caveat that there is no lap out rules. However, that's going to be a pain in the ass for the timers and athletes to make sure they all know who's on what lap, etc etc. It is however on a closed course.

---

------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com