To the bolded part... he’s never going to be a FOP swimmer. He’s about 20 years late for that party. He needs to focus on swimming to the best that Lionel can be, which is nowhere near FOP at somewhere like Kona, and not concern himself with being the best swimmer. Fixating on being a FOP swimmer is unproductive.

He has an amazing bike/run combo but it’s not like he’s going to ride and run away from the likes of Brownlee or Frodeno. They’re every bit his equal on land but far better swimmers. He needs to learn race tactics. That’s by far the most important thing. He really needs to study how Kienle has been so successful. Tim O’Donnell would be a perfect race partner for Lionel except Tim is going to be 5 minutes ahead of him out of T1. Lionel needs to train and choose races more wisely, and probably needs to reevaluate bike choice and fit. I’m not sure the LG is the best bike for him.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I thought he was on the verge of saying he might need to change bikes, then backed off. Maybe I got that wrong, was watching the video during a sweet spot trainer ride, so I wasn't quite 100% focused.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

THIS

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AV8 | Team Wattie Ink Elite 2019

First chase pack of contenders not the very first pack. He mentioned names such as Patrick and Cameron where does were 3 minutes back for the FOP. That's feasible to get into the low 50's even if you don't have the 20+ years of swimming background... pace it's around 1:17-18/100m. We aren't speaking of the guys able to swim at a pace of 1:07-1:10 in the likes of Gomez, Frodeno or Amberger.

That type of deficit will give him a better chance of fighting for top place with the current unfolding of these championship races WC 70.3 and WC IM.

I would disagree in regards to one thing.....Sebi K showed up in Kona and swam within 3 mins of 1st swimmer. 3ish mins ahead of LS. If LS comes out of the water 3 mins back out of T1, he's now suddenly likely going to be able to ride through the Lange group with other uber bikers.

And we can say the swim doesnt matter and point to this years 2nd place or LS's 2nd place last year but it does.....if we are talking winning. Lange was never in trouble with coming out of T2 w Bart Aernouts. Like you can't be an ok runner and come into T2 with Lange if you want to win. Podium/top 5 sure because there will be ones to fall off trying to run well, that happens every year.

But you cant beat Lange coming out of the water in the 54 swim time group. You just can't UNLESS it's one of the worst weather/wind days in the history of the sport. But if that's your only saving grace, your in trouble.


So if Sebi who LS has towed to the finish at Kona what the previous 2 years can improve his swim, LS has the ability to. Again, I'm not even suggesting front pack swim ability. I'm suggesting swimming with a guy for 2-3 years in the sport he's swam with in every year until this years Kona.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II