devashish_paul wrote:
Hey Dave, I don't think there is a culture of race directors not allowing it, there is simply less logistics if you don't have it. If you have a warmup area, you have lifguard it and figure out flow so it does not get in the way of the race and also have a means of athletes to leave warmup and go back in line.
I suspect one of the reasons MAY be because there is no way to keeping athletes Covid19 distanced in a warmup zone, whereas in the rest of the race, athletes can be distanced enough and have a deterministic flow that keeps are "permit givers happy". So in essence in the zeal to keep athletes distanced, permit givers may be creating more hazards/risk for athletes.
I personally do the jogging warmup when the swim warmup is not available, but if you are doing a full IM and actually even a half IM, you really don't want to jog more distance than you have to all day.
The warm-up area could have the same rules as the start area. Stay distanced when entering the water. It would require additional signage, a couple more lifeguards and a couple more volunteers to remind people.
USAT nationals in Cleveland and Milwaukee (I think) didn't have a swim warm-up area and that was pre Covid. They did allow a warm-up swim of several minutes at the start line for those in the next wave before their wave began. That's an advantage of wave starts.
I don't think permit givers have any idea that they could be creating more hazards/risk for athletes when they require distancing at an outdoor event. That's on the RD to explain to the permit giver and seek a solution to avoid that hazard.
Last edited by:
Mark Lemmon: May 3, 21 6:59