for a sprint to olympic distance, they're fine.

I've never done a reverse, but I did do a double sprint once. I think it was about a 500m swim, 10k bike, 3k run, twice through. The second swim was really ugly for the folks without a solid swim.

The smart ones ran with their cap and goggles and put them on before they got to T3

Why not take it one step further and let the athlete determine which order they do the 3 events. If' I'm a swimmer perhaps I want the swim last, or a runner who wants the run last, etc. The initial issue I see here is a frantic T1 and T2 zone where everybody has their own objectives. Also making a course where the bike and run don't intersect causing any crashes would be important. Not too many places where you can close down that many roads but I'm sure it's doable.

I think it's a novel idea and would be fun to try once or so but I'd never stick to it because ultimately the standards are this way regardless of where in the world you are. To me this would be gimmicky and thus short lived, but I could be wrong!

Andy and all,

Thank you for more information from your experience. A couple questions though.

1) Won't wearing a wetsuit, help make people "drown" proof? It could take a lot of lubricant to get in a wet suit though, admittedly. Good for the industry.

2) Would a swim platform every 400yds or 800yds help? Like aid stations on the run, it is swim legal to hold onto something during a triathlon that is not helping progress. Having a sag boat rather than a sag wagon would be in order to pull people from the swim platforms or water. There would be a swim cutoff - 2.5 hours?

3) Actually thinking there might be more attrition and more people not even making it to the water this way due to time cutoffs. True?

4) I would hope this would make the swim more viewable. It's hard to see what's happening with swim first. This would make the entire race more viewable. Triathlon's version of Jaws like drama. Will the fast swimmer catch the slow swimmer?

5) Actually more concerned about injury on the bike than the swim. People get tired and go down. How much more so after a marathon, I wonder?

6) How we would have to train our heads for these reverse triathlons. Is a 10-30 minute lead enough???

7) True, we probably could start the marathon earlier, at civil twilight ?, which gives us more light time to work with for the race.

8) Remember that RD who was promoting his race by knocking the others? This type of triathlon might be the unique one that they're looking for to differentiate themselves from others.

Thank you for having some fun with this along the terms of if we were crazy enough to do this, what would we have to cover.

Can't think of a triathlon where the swim has been the defining event of the race. Bike yes. Run yes. Having the swim last would give the swim the potential to be the defining moment of the race and perhaps we would get closer to a race where the swim, and each race segment, is critical to victory.
.

for a sprint to olympic distance, they're fine.

I've never done a reverse, but I did do a double sprint once. I think it was about a 500m swim, 10k bike, 3k run, twice through. The second swim was really ugly for the folks without a solid swim.

The smart ones ran with their cap and goggles and put them on before they got to T3

We have thought of reasons not to have the run first; yet, there could be ways to lessen the swim risk and have a triathlon that isn't the same old same old. Perhaps we can flip them with one year being a swim first triathlon and the next year being a run first triathlon.

Imagine a run spreading out the field while the runners can show off their stuff. No more complaining about those massive swim starts that are a nightmare to patrol while looking for one swimmer in distress amongst a dense group of hundreds. By the time a marathon is done, there will be a nice long line heading into the bike transition and few groups. Maybe a 4 hour cutoff is reasonable. And in this way, maybe the runners can lead for over half the race rather than the swimmers and get more recognition.

The bike might not change that much. Runners might start spending even more money on the bike, given that they are now out ahead. Good for the industry. A longer field more spread out by a marathon, might also mean less drafting making that easier to enforce too.

The swim needs to be wetsuit legal. C'mon, the bike carried the swimmers' double digit body fat so why not have a wetsuit carry the runners' single digit body fat. That swim will be so spread out that the swim patrol will be able to watch a long line instead of a large group, making rescue easier if need be. The wetsuit, of course, lessens the risk too.

It will be a great finish! Will the runner get caught by the swimmer or will the runner prevail. Pass out numbered swim caps as they enter the water so the announcers will know who is who. Maybe even ten different swim cap colors with #1, 11, 21 etc being the same color so triathletes can get an idea of who they are passing in the water. Wow, this could make the swim a highly viewable and meaningful event.

Pretty pumped. How would this work for Mirinda, would they catch her with the swim last? How would this work for ITU, would the Brownlee Brothers still dominate (yeah, probably).

Yes, they will have to patrol the swim longer than we do now as we moved the patrol time from the run to the swim.

If we can't do this for IM due to nightfall, how about HIM? If they are Ironmen, doesn't that imply they could do it either way? Some what serious post here for fun too. Could this be an interesting change to the same old same old?

Imagine having to put a wetsuit on while being dripping in sweat. Because we all know we can't swim without a wetsuit :)

I like that idea. Wear whatever you want, but you gotta wear it for the whole race. Hand paddles, cool, but you have to ride with them :)