Thomas Gerlach wrote:
jkhayc wrote:
Thomas Gerlach wrote:
Don't get me wrong, Sam shouldn't have done what he did, but my point is that it is poor form if they target him. Ironman has known about banditing IMHO, in 2018 there was a world-class pro (much bigger than Sam) who banditted the swim and then bragged about it on Insta. How would that look to just target Sam. If Sam was a little slower we wouldn't even be talking about it now and no doubt there were other pros who bandditted the race.
Would the same fine and penalty apply to all of them? Yes it obviously should.
Why is it "poor form" if they target him? The guy (/kid) is making himself, through this and other venues, look like a total douche-hole. I'm also amazed he's even doing Kona, as his chances for a top finish are close to zero.
It is poor form because they have never cared about it before. As an analogy, it is like a law on the books in Wisconsin that one shall have ice cream with their apple pie. Obviously it is never enforced, but I guess it could be. You don't just target someone who doesn't have ice cream with their apple pie because you don't like them. You apply the law consistently.
I'm fine if they want to start a new precedent of enforcing sanctions with this, but again like bolded above, apply it to everyone, not just Sam.
OK I was not aware. The times I have gone to Kona (3x to race, 2x to just volunteer etc), I arrived after this swim event. I just assumed it was like a formal race, like your local 10km or local tri or local open water swim race. When the local race is going on, ideally don't mix it up with the race field, but dammit if you do, just have enough brains to not come thru the finish chute.
But if its just been that anyone is invited and only people who want a formal time pay for a timing chip, that is another story. If that is the process then Laidlaw did nothing wrong, but from the outside world it looks like a swim race that he is injecting himself into. If the history of this thing is that anyone can come and only those who pay get a chip that is another story, but then all the talk about lifeguards etc is meaningless. How do lifeguards know who is in the race and who is not.