IF the swim distance was actually proportionate to the bike and run distances, tries would be won by clydes.

Check this out:

Michael Phelps is 6'5" and weighs 195. Ian Thorpe is 6'5" and weighs 221. Grant Hacket, the 1500 m record holder is 6'6" 212 lbs. Peter Vanderkaay, one of the top distance freestylers in the US is 6'4" and 198.

Thorpe and Hacket are already clydes and Phelps and Vanderkaay will gain at least 6 pounds once they grow up. All 4 of these guys have the the VO2 capacity to get in shape to put in a killer bike split on a flat course.

Give us swimmers a 1 hour swim to start a sprint tri and these big guys could walk the run and still win.

I could usually enter the clydesdale division if I want to, but I made the decision a couple years ago to just enter age group. I just looked at it as more of a challenge...and I still manage to medal in my age group at a lot of olympic distance races...big OD races I'm pretty close...half's I'm a ways off. My run at the 1 IM I've done was a complete disaster. My personal feeling is that a clydesdale can be fast, maybe not world class, but very fast up to the olympic distance and probably even a half. For the full ironman, I think they'd have a hard time putting up a fast time for the run.

If I could put up the kind of swim time that the guys mentioned by stp do, I'd be breaking the 2:00 mark for an olympic distance race in the clydesdale division. Unfortunately, they are a good 8-10 minutes faster than me on the swim, so I've got my work cut out for me. Granted, no triathlete's swim as fast as them...but even if I could break 20 minutes, I'd be a lot closer to my goal...I think my PR is 2:08 or 2:09.

BTW...Phelps is one skinny dude for his height...even at 195. That should clue a lot of smaller guys on to something. I know a lot of guys on the plus side of 6'4", and they'd be hard pressed to get much below 210 pounds. I wouldn't consider them overly muscular...but they aren't weaklings either.

I'm not saying there aren't really tall skinny guys, but if you're that tall with any kind of muscles you're just going to weigh a lot more than the average triathlete. You'll get no arguement from me about the run being unkind to clydesdales, but it's a rare day that I get passed on the bike, and I can usually put up one of the faster times in my age group at the olympic distance on the bike. too bad I suck at swimming (relatively speaking). That said, I have noticed an increase in speed if I'm disciplined enough to get my weight down to the low to mid 190's. But, it's very hard for me to do that...and I look extremely gaunt when I do.

I don't see a problem with the clydesdale division. It's not meant for fatass's to get medals, it's meant for the big fit guys. I also don't see much difference between age group and clydesdale divisions...they are both catering to people who aren't fast enough to compete for the overall win.

In my world, there would be junior, open and masters divisions. Maybe (probably) within the junior and masters ranks, you'd have age groups. It would certainly cut down on the never ending awards ceremony, where at small races virtually every one is a winner. To me, there is no point in having age groups when you are potentially in your physical prime (18 - 40ish??). I know there's a lot of 40+ year olds that can still kick most people's asses.

That's about all I have to say on this subject. it's bound to come up every 3-6 months...Just like the whole "lightweight" division in the rowing community...and they have olympic events for that (which I think is a good thing).

I used to be very cynical about the Clydesdale division, but I finally realized that it's not a big deal. Some of you in this thread have thrown some darts at people for wanting to place in their age group/weight division. To some people, winning a trophy isn't important. To others, it is. Neither of these two groups is more right or more wrong than the other.

The Clyde/Athena division gets people involved, makes the sport more accessible to a wider group of people, and rewards performance for people whose accomplishments would otherwise go unrewarded. Sometimes, these weight divisions may inadvertently encourage people to gain a couple of pounds or to not lose weight in order to stay competitive in the Clyde/Athena division. That's not a big deal, either. It's better to be big and active than it is to be big and inactive.

Some of you may earn quite a bit of hardware in races you enter. I don't. I may occasionally pick up an odd trophy here or there at a local 5K if it's a really small race, but when it comes to triathlon, my chances are basically nil of winning anything. If I could pick up a trophy once in a while, it would be nice. It wouldn't inflate my ego, it wouldn't give me illusions of multisport greatness. But it would be kind of nice. I imagine a lot of Clydes and Athenas are like me, and they enjoy the recognition.

And they are a great bunch of guys. Two guys in my local club are Clydes, and they are pretty funny people. When we do races together, they always hang out with the other Clydes afterwards and cut up and have fun. There seems to be a comraderie among the Clydes/Athenas that isn't there in the AG's. They don't bother anybody, so let them be. And remember, don't make them mad -- they're bigger than you.

I could race Clyde if I wanted to. I hover around 200. In fact, I get mistaken for a Clyde quite a bit. Right now, I'm 200 on the nose. As a former weight lifter who stands 6'2", I'm not fat. I usually don't race Clyde, but I might a time or two this year, especially if I'm still 200 when tri's start and I race with my two buddies. It would be fun to race against them in the same division (we're in different age groups). But if I was an ounce under 200, I wouldn't race Clyde.

The Clyde/Athena division is a good thing. For those of you who don't think it is, relax and take a deep breath. You take this stuff too seriously.

RP

I used to row a bit, and rowing also has weight divisions, up to 185lbs and over 185lbs, IIRC, even in the Olympics. They had to put those in as the light guys weren't winning anything, anywhere, as long limbs have big advantage. So if you're a Clyde looking for an off season sport, rowing could be a good choice.

Someone mentioned dog life spans, Great Dane ~ 8 years, Pekinese 18-20?
I'd rather live five years as a Great Dane than twenty as a little yuppy Pekinese always yapping around on the floor , sweeping dust, trying to prove something. I imagine Pekinese get stepped on a lot as well.

---

http://www.optruth.org/

[quote] I used to row a bit, and rowing also has weight divisions, up to 185lbs and over 185lbs, IIRC, even in the Olympics.[/quote]

Might be a typo on your part, but your numbers are a bit off. The maximum weight for lightweight rowers is 160 for men with a boat average of 155...though they are talking about changing that to max weight of 155, with no boat average.

I rowed for over 10 years as a heavyweight...it was a tough pill to swallow going from an aerobic sport where being bigger is (generally) an advantage, to basically the opposite in triathlons.

No, wasn't a typo, wasn't sure and was too lazy to look it up. I didn't too much rowing, switched to paddling.
Now I'm struggling with the same weight issues the rest of "big boys" seem to be. At less than 10% body fat and 205-210lbs, do I lose muscle to be faster runner?

---

http://www.optruth.org/

I meant normal AGs =)

No one needs to chime in and make fun of you... to our amusement you take care of that yourself ;-)