Indeed; it was a terrible analogy

When circle swimming, a lap is 2 lengths of the pool. When splitting a lane, a lap is just one length. Unless you are in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case the laps go in the opposite direction.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Well using your scaling system I podiumed at Boston and NYC marathons. Lol. Podium is top 3 over all. Nothing else

Riiiiiiiiiiight.

hey, don't shoot the messenger. That's just how it is....

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Ohhh, I’m shooting!!! ;)

Top 3 O/A.

Winner,
1'st loser
2'nd loser
The rest....

The podium at USAT Nationals is 10 for the Oly and 5 for the Sprint. I've seen bike race podiums with 4-5 spots... sometimes people standing on the ground off to the side but an award nonetheless in had. Awards ceremonies for these fringe sports can be so odd with a crowd of people with trophies post race. An ex-pro cyclist friend did a race I won and I'll never forget at awards he leaned over and asked if everyone got an award. He didn't for one... but I didn't mention that to him... he may have had one of the worst swims of the day. I digress...

Technically the podium is whatever it is for that event, which sometimes can be quite extensive. In general I think of podium as top 3 overall or in my case since I'm over 40, Masters as well. So at my age all I have to do is finish roughly in the top 6 for a podium.

It means if you won your age group, but there's only one in it, you also came last.

Or ask Red Sanders.

If you ain’t first


You’re last.

Shake ‘n bake

Top 3
Overall
No AG horsesh1t

Podium is top 3. And be sure to mention "in my age group" if that's indeed the case. I've never made the podium, even in my age group, hence my demand for others who achieve this to be 100% accurate about it :)

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

I'd say top three is podium. Then there's the long podium for 4th and 5th. I've been on both for Ironman branded races. And I'll admit it's nice to be on the long podium. I certainly appreciate that extra recognition given out.

So last August I was the 5th women in my AG for Ironman Copenhagen. I was expecting to be on the "long podium" like North American Ironmans. But in Europe most races only recognize the top 3. I was so sad and disappointed at the awards ceremony. I know it's childish. I just wasn't good enough that day for the "real" podium. And that's life. It was still a great race and experience I'll never forget.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Calling lengths laps seems to be easier for non-swimmers to understand (and impossible for athletes to wrap their heads around)

When I first started off in triathlon I craved a podium finish and was very envious of all people who podiumed. Got close a few times, but no cigar. So when a friend mentioned she was doing a small community triathlon and offered me a ride, I jumped at the chance, an easy podium! I ended up finishing 3rd and was beaming inside, despite there only being 15 in my AG, 10 of whom were on either old road bikes or MTB. Anyway I hung around for a few hours for prize giving to get my long awaited medal only to find out they were giving medals and prizes to first and second... I didn't like those apples very much.

This would be a "Gentleman's 1st" which indicates that one or in this case 2 people above you were pulled from the age group rankings because they finished in the top 3 overall. If you finished 4th and the winner of your age group won the race overall and they bumped you into the 3rd place spot on the "podium" you would have a Gentleman's 3rd. Make sense?

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

except everyone and their mother gets a medal in triathlon....

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

only if their mother finishes

I agree with the people that say "podium" is defined by what the race awards. So, if there are 10 different steps for the top-10 finishers in each age group (like they had at the recent USMS Masters National Championship), then the top 10 in the AG is "podium" (literally and figuratively). If USAT Oly Age Group Championships give out 10 awards for the top ten finishers in each AG, then a top 10 AG finish is "podium". If Ironman gives out a trophy for the top 5 in an AG, then for that race, top 5 in the AG is "podium". If a race pulls out the top 3 overall finishers from the age group ranks, then the top 3 are "overall podium" and the people who move up into the top 3 AG spots (due to the removal/upgrade of the top 3 overall finishers) make the "age group podium". And if a race only gives out an award to the top male and female finisher, then only the top male and female finisher made the "podium". It all depends upon what the race, itself, decides it wants to award as far as notable finishers.
The fact that the Olympics gives out gold, silver and bronze in events does not IMO establish for all other races that the "podium" is only the top 3 overall in an event. Of course, if you are actually racing in the Olympics, than top 3 is the "podium", but the Olympic standard doe not dictate what other races can or should consider "podium-worthy".