So,off we go for our bus trip around the bike course and as we rolled back into town I told the athletes of the time change to 17hrs and they all cheered.

One thread was whether or not people are actually cheating in the swim at the Hawaii Ironman by using swim diapers under their swimskins as posted by someone who participated in the event this year and observed by a volunteer in 2017 with a picture he posted.

The other thread is how people who participate in 70.3s and Ironmans and are not competent swimmers because they either do not put the effort in to improve their swim or are reliant on a wetsuit are affecting the event because race directors are quick to cancel the swim due to the fact they are dealing with the lowest common denominator.

Two separate issues and I would argue both are diminishing the sport.

How about people who do what they can to complete an IM because it’s a meaningful challenge in their life. You seem to imply that those who aren’t good swimmers are simply lazy, and have not even cared to consider other situations. Would you deny them the opportunity to be called an Ironman because they don’t meet your standards. With the doping, cheating, and priggish views of many triathletes, we should be saluting and encouraging those who still maintain the original spirit of Ironman, and that is to challenge yourself. Or are you saying Julie Moss should never have competed because she had difficulty finishing the race.

For those athletes looking to qualify for 70.3 World Championships, Hawaii Ironman World Championships and Age Group Nationals they should qualify under the rules the pros go by and be in separate waves. For those athletes that have no interest they are more than welcome to participate but are not eligible to qualify for Championship events or podium. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

There is a paradox here, though. Ironman is billed as the hardest one-day event on the planet, yet its owners preside over a finance-driven model which demands as many bodies on the start-line as possible, regardless of athletic competence.
The aspirational marketing that claims ‘Anything Is Possible’ for anyone has a flipside – it downplays the challenge. Not in the surface level hype or in the small print of the disclaimers, but in decisions on race day, where the novice who might rarely leave the pool, now encounters the swell of a sea swim, and the race director isn’t confident to proceed.
Ironman is a very different beast to parkrun, for example, that happily celebrates its average times getting slower because it encourages mass participation. A 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run puts a severe load on anyone’s body, but the achievement of completing it has been normalised in recent years. It’s no longer the preserve of the quirky few with years of endurance sport experience and the resilience to cope with inclement conditions. Too many of us now turn up wide-eyed and underprepared. Even if organisers don’t encourage it, they have to cater for it, so when there’s a large show of hands at the start of an iron-distance race from those admitting it’s their first triathlon, there should be concern not applause.

Well written article, thanks for sharing it.

Yes, IRONMAN is a Chinese corporation whose primary goal is making money. They will cater to the masses as you said below. That's why you see cars driving out on the bike course to pick up these novices who can't even complete the bike ride.

It's not even a big deal to do a 1/2 iron. Just look at all of the obese people that are crossing the finish line. The full IM is considerably more demanding though, but still pretty attainable for someone in decent shape.

Yeah they are never going to make people qualify for the swim, b/c that would prevent to many people from competing AND it would increase IRONMAN's costs. Remember that this is a greedy Chinese corporation that wants to maximize profits by: keeping its costs low, minimizing paid labor, providing cheap products, and charging a high race entry fee.

Seems to me that the race brand has lost its prestige over the past 5 years or so. I wouldn't buy it again.


As opposed to the greedy American company that owned it before....

Cheap Chinese product, no matter how you slice it. :)



WTC is based in Florida and staffed by Americans ,in fact the same Americans who ran it before the Wanda Group bought it.How about you go have chat to them because I can guarantee you that there is a long line of people that you would need to speak to before you knock on any doors at the Wanda Sports offices .Then again that wouldn't fit in with you growing list of conspiracy theories related to all things Ironman.

It only takes a quick look at facebook Ironman forums to see the issue

"I've just entered Ironman XXXX, but I'm a week swimmer and never swam more than 500m"
"I've just DNF'd at my first IM70.3, so I have entered 2 IM 70.3's and 2 full IMs next year" (one of the 70.3s was 2 weeks after a full IM)

Our society is all about instant gratification, however, people don't want to put in the work or take time to build up to a full IM. I actually think that it is terrible for our sport, doing an Full IM, underprepared, is hardly going to be a great experience, many people breath a sigh of relief that it is over, tick the box, and move on

I think that the answer maybe a 2 tier structure, with nice "easy" events, wetsuit legal lake swim, flat bike and flat run for the people who want the badge, and tougher events, with tight cut-offs, or possibly requiring a qualifying time for people who are looking for more of a challenge

Some of you guys need to relax. An Ironman is difficult for anyone. Just because they don’t do it the way you ubertri’s want it done, does not mean they should not be able to compete.

Basically, under the logic in this thread, no one below the top 25 in each AG + pro’s should be able to enter. Ridiculous.

People have been doing things unprepared since the beginning of time. Get over it and worry about yourself.