I can deal with chaos, but I am much less confident jumping into cold water with at most 3 minutes to properly warm up before the gun goes off. Wave starts, Doctors notes, pre quals will make no difference unless the RD can provide some type of swim warm up area.

You don't need to be in the water to warm up for the swim.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

So get to the race earlier and finish setting up your transition quickly and go for a grassy jog in your wetsuit. Jumping jacks work well too.

If the water is cold, getting your head and face in the water is pretty important, and is indicated by science.

How does WTC get around this for mass starts?

“USA Triathlon-sanctioned events must meet the requirement of a minimum of three minutes between start waves and no more than 150 athletes per wave,” said Kathy Matejka, the event services director of USA Triathlon. “Time-trial starts, which include fewer than 20 athletes starting at shorter intervals, also are permitted.”

In the case of the NYC Tri the current is so strong and that a person can't just get in and out of the water anywhere due to the big sea wall. Also events like Escape from Alcatraz and that crazy thing over in Norway, both which start by jumping off a ferry into deep water don't allow for any kind of warm up in the water. Its sink or swim. Tim

What they don't talk about in the article is the role of the wetsuit in triathlon. the wetsuit is both a crutch and a curse for novice swimmers. the wetsuit provides the bouancy to get you in a good position, but the constriction on your chest gets some getting used to. I feel that the feeling of the wetsuit on your chest contributes to the number of panic attacks in the water.

I feel that the USAT needs to lower the wetsuit allowable temperature by 5-6 degrees. That will get us back making swimming skills a true part of the sport again.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

I would imagine they are granted a variance.

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Steve Perkins

There seems to be some confusion in some of the 'facts' posted in the article. It cites that 14 people died in triathlon between the years of 2006-2008. It goes on to say... "The risk of sudden death in a triathlon is 1.5 deaths per 100,000 participants compared with 0.8 deaths per 100,000 participants in a marathon."

I did a quick google search for the number of people participating in triathlon. According to one link, SGMA (Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association) tells us that 921,000 Americans participated in at least one triathlon in 2006 and 1.1 million in 2007. If all 14 people died in 2006 alone (ignoring 07 and 08), then the death rate is 1.5 per 100,000 (14/921000 times 100,000). If you calculate for all 14 deaths occurring in 2006-7, the death rate is 0.7 deaths per 100,000 (14/2 milllion time 100k).

Where do they get their numbers?

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Don't you know that 80% of all statistics are made up???? It is just like anything, they manipulate their numbers to make a point and call it news. If they said Triathlons are .7 and Marathons are .8 it wouldn't make a good story and correspond to the current hysteria they are stirring up over the tragedy in the NYC Tri.

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Heath Dotson
HD Coaching:Website |Twitter: 140 Characters or Less|Facebook:Follow us on Facebook

I'm with you on this one. In addition to just getting comfortable with the suit and water temp, I think a swim warmup is important to having a fast swim for anything short of an IM.

Victor

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Got a link to "science"?

How bout sticking your in cooler full of ice?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

It's the nytimes. This shouldn't surprise you. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story?

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

mammalian dive reflex

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Judging from the many posts here on ST about OWS, unprepared athletes, mixed wetsuit/non-wetsuit mass starts, and the huge surge of popularity in triathlons, it seems like a relevant issue to ask the USAT and RD's about.

Pterocarya fraxinifolia

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

tree?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I didn't read the article but if your quote is accurate, it says 'participants'. Therefore, it is very likely that of the 2 million 'spots' in tris for 2006 & 2007, many are repeat participants. i.e. they are comparing number of deaths per triathlete rather than number of deaths per entrant spot (can't think of the correct or better description).

There seems to be some confusion here regarding "reporting". The figures in the NYT article appear to be quoted directly from the study published by the Journal of American Medical Association.
Your single source with no attribution to the original numbers from what appears to be an industry interest group are pulled from a content farm(answers.com) that popped up #1 in google for you.

Caucasian Wingnut. FWIW.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Before a triathlon I like to warm up with an easy swim and some very short sprint surges which for me gives me the ability to get in the water and get acclimated to the temperature so that when the gun goes off and the chaos starts, I am able to breath properly without hyperventillating.

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you know my name, look up my number
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IMHO..pre Qualification would be easy enough to sort.

At registration require that the athletes competing in the NYC Tri (or any other 'premiere' event that receives an above average amount of first time triathletes) have completed 1 Olympic distance race (within the year and oh, provide your race number, and splits in the following fields that we can VERIFY..) prior to the NYC Tri.

This cert upon cert seems rather foolish. How reliable and verifiable is it anyway? A race number and name can be verified independently.

cheers
S.

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// qui audet adipiscitur

Is a wet suit a crutch? I agree that it has positive properties like buoyancy, position resulting in less energy expended/better speed.... but I do people train in them? If they don't and do the distance I don't see why it would be considered a crutch more of a performance enhancer. Toss in the restriction of movement, compression of chest (something very real for me since my last wetsuit purchase unfortunately) and the other potential problems....seems to me like the damn things would be more a net negative rather than a crutch, if that makes sense.

Net net I guess what I'm saying is the wetsuit is the problem rather than the solution.