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Nautica Malibu swim
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Did anyone else think the swim at this weekend's Nautica Malibu triathlon was longer than the 1/2mi it was supposed to be?
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [cstetson] [ In reply to ]
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had to be...myself and three others found our time about 10min more than usual...

-Trisha
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [lajollaseal] [ In reply to ]
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Glad I wasn't the only one - my time was about 10min slower too.

-
It is said that if you want to know what you were doing in the past, look at your body now; if you want to know what will happen to you in the future, look at what your mind is doing now. - H.H. Dalai Lama
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [cstetson] [ In reply to ]
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Agreed-

My swim time this year was 9 to 10 min slower than last year, but I couldn't tell if it was the course being long, or the currents. At times, it felt like I was swimming in place. I've done this race each of the last 5 years, and have had swim times as fast as 14 minutes (2001) but typically do the swim in 18 to 19 minutes. This year I swam 27.

Also, it seemed like they finally made the "4 mile Run", actually closer to 4 miles this year by moving the turnaround out farther from the run start/finish.

Anyone else notice the difference?

Jeff
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [cstetson] [ In reply to ]
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when I looked at the course I knew it was going to be long, a lot longer than 800 meters. Then when I watched the pro wave go and saw that they hadn't even made the first turn after 4 minutes that just confirmed it. I normally swim an 800 in about 11 minutes and was 21 minutes yesterday. I think it was closer to about 1400 meters. That kind of mistake is really a huge blunder on what was otherwise a very good race I thought.

Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [Mike Plumb] [ In reply to ]
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Yep, definitely lasted about 8 minutes too long...relative to expectations. But not by preference, because one I'm a swimmer and two the water's been sooo cold lately. It felt positively balmy and I didn't want to get out.

My experience also matches Jeff's: my fastest swim was in 2001, probably some helpful current. Personally, I think that last weekend's swim distance (or duration if it was just the current but I agree that eyeballing it suggested it was long) was well balanced with the bike and run...but let's not open up that can o' worms!

I also did suspect that the run was lengthened...didn't it used to turn around right before that short narrow stretch, by the restaurant? This would explain why I was slower on the run this year. That was bugging me.
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [Andrew from SB] [ In reply to ]
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Picking up from a previous thread, I still don't understand how swim courses are measured. Assuming the buoy anchors are placed using GPS or some other precise method such as surveying, there is still a large margin for error. For example, the ropes anchoring the bouys must be somewhat longer than the water depth, or the anchors won't hold. If the course is as most I have seen, a rectangle of which three sides are swum, and the fourth side is the shoreline, then some course length error will be caused by the drift of the buoys due to wind. E.g., if the wind is blowing inshore, the course will be short, and long if the wind is blowing out. You could reduce this error by shortening the anchor rope at the risk of the anchor slipping, which would create a larger error. Also, where does the "swim" officially start? At the water line or at the point where you must actually swim? I assume it is the waterline in most cases, because that is where you stand when the horn blows and the clock starts. But, I have seen races where people wade, run, dolphin, etc., through the water for up to 50-75 yards going out and coming in. I guess no open water swim can truly be measured totally accurately and actual race distance will vary from year to year depending on conditions.
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Re: Nautica Malibu swim [tri_bri2] [ In reply to ]
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I have wondered about swim course measuring also. Obviously, you can't put a timing mat out in the water where you stop 'swimming' and start running/wading/dolphining, so your swim time will always include some running. So, do you make the course the distance from where you start, either on shore or in the water, to where you stop actually swimming and just accept that part of your T1 time is included in your swim time, or do you include the running in the swim distance, and make the times short? I think most people wouldn't agree to shortening the run by the distance you run in transition, so why would you do it in the swim?
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