I remember the USTS Oceanside race (in 1999?) waiting for my wave to start and seeing the 8 foot sets rolling in. Having grown up playing in the surf at Huntington, Bolsa Chica and Seal (about 60 miles north), I thought, "This will make it interesting".....The guy standing next to me had traveled from Wisconsin and had never seen the ocean before. About a minute before we were going to go he said, "Screw it", walked back to the transition area and left. Getting out was a little rough. but it was fun coming back in

The variability and what the day may bring are part of the fun of triathlon, but I understand that safety of participants has to be considered.

I was at IM Utah in 2002, when the cancelled the swim in the middle of the swim. The wind swell made it feel like you were trying to get out past the break the entire time you were in the water. Sighting was terrible because of the swell, buoys were blown out of position and you couldn't tell where to go. I was in the water for almost an hour because I didn't want to get in a rescue boat for fear I'd be DQ'ed, and I ended up swimming back to shore. There was a fatality that day, and resulting changes to swim safety protocols.

Given today's safety environment, I would expect that if it's over about 3 feet that day, the swim would be canceled or moved back to the harbor.

The thing is, everyone is coming from a different set of experiences and situations. For those of us living near the ocean, an ocean swim is no big deal. If you haven't ever been to the ocean, I could understand how it could be intimidating.


If it came down to it, I would not be interested in a 2100 (or 4200) yard pool swim, 56 (or 112) mile trainer ride, and 13.1 (or 26.2) mile treadmill run. It would be really safe though....;)