https://caitalexander.wordpress.com/2018/05/13/swim-draft-run/

So shocking.... with the entry fee being that high you’d assume they’d have marshals/officials along the course

Alan's data was great, but the pictures that keep coming out have also been quite damning for some. A buddy of mine was one who made the decision to ride with the packs, basically took the view of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", and blames Ironman for the situation he was put in. Took a Kona slot. He looks bad in Alan's data, but even worse in the 6-7 photos that have been found of him in the packs. He might have gotten away with it with Ironman, but not with his some of his training partners, who shared the photos and called him out, and it has ruined some relationships.

And Ironman hasn't made a single statement about this, other than explaining why the marshals were pulled (although I still find it odd that they told the pros in advance that the 2nd loop wouldn't be marshaled, and I've seen no explanation for that). No apologies, no talks of what they'll change going forward, just silence. It seems they'll just wait out the storm, like they've done before. And they'll get away with it.

A well written personal account, calling out the dangers of drafting and calling out a bunch of the blatant women cheaters. Thanks for sharing. I hope the girl that crashed has no lasting effect and IM insures safety in future races.

And, sadly I have heard of anyone fessing up that they didn't really earn their time.

I'm a bit late, but it is not as simple as that.

The fact you ask means you've never been in the situation, which means never a pack, which is cool :)

Here's what happens, and happened to me in IM Switzerland in 2009, and it ruined the experience somewhat. The problem is the 'pack' does not ride at a constant speed.

Say you are cycling at your power and 30km/h.

• You catch a pack doing 28km/h.
• You pass them, having to put out more power than you need to make the pass, say at 32km/h
• They latch on to you as you pass
• Now they start to pass you one by one due to the draft effect.
• Now you are mid pack, and a cheating drafter.
• The pack starts to slow, as the people who passed you don't want to keep up the effort.
• So - do you now put on a spurt, burn matches, and get to the front? If so, the same happens again as above. Or, you lift off and find yourself following a pack at 28kmh, slower than you could ride.

It's very annoying - in Switzerland there is 30km flat along the lake. After that the hills start and things break up.

On lap two I caught a pack just as described above and ended up in the middle for a few km, unable to put the effort in to drop it and watching it get slower and slower as I tried to slow.

It's really tough, and not as easy as you'd think. It's like a crit race pack - it ebbs and flows.
.

This is sad and is something I'm struggling with. If the only reason to follow the rules is a fear of getting caught what does that say about our sport?

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That we are no different than almost every other sport except I would say golf. Golf for whatever reason, and for however they did it...integrity and calling your own foul is hugely important in golf (competitive golf that is). I'm sure there are other sports that are like that but I cant think of them. We as a sport have never pushed personal integrity/calling your own foul and then owning up to it. Neither does it happen basketball or baseball, or football or soccer.

We may not like that that's how our sport is, but we are a "officiated" sport much more than an individual integrity sport. We talk about following the rules, but we never hear of people actually turning themselves in for rules infraction, it's only if an official dings you. Not saying that's right, not saying that's wrong, that's just how our sport is. We may have wanted to be high integrity and call your own fouls, but it's never really materialized into that say golf does even today where the onus is on each individual to do the right thing and if they dont to penalize yourself (and yes you can probaly name a few time pro golfers "cheated" and got away with it).


ETA: And yes our rules say you have to follow the rules regardless of officiating there or not, I'm just replying that in general triathlon races turn into "you only broke the rules if you get caught", personal accountability isn't much actual deterrent in OUR sport, like it is in golf. And I'm not judging that, I'm just saying I think that's simply how it is.

I guess maybe golf isn't that different than triathlon.//

Except that Phil knew he would 100% be getting a penalty. The triathletes are rolling the dice, most races proabably 90% not getting a penalty, in Texas it was 100% not getting one. So I would say not only are they different, but virtually opposites in that regard..

100% Mickelson has more honor in sport, he did his crime knowing he would get his punishment. People can argue if it is enough or not, but the triathletes are cheating and thinking they will 100% get away with it, and most do...

it's a little much for me to say phil cheated. he was out of the tournament long ago prior to this happening. it was definitely a fuck it moment. to relate it to ironman, it's like the 15 hour finisher saying fuck it and riding in one of those groups. very different than people going for KQ and taking a free ride to a 4:25 bike split. if phil would have been in contention, no way he would have done this.

So how you want to compare it to IM just make sure you add the drafty serves the penalty. That’s the reality. Golf serves penalty’s 99.99% of their fuck ups. Tri? 10%?

I compared 17' to 18' for several AGs and many of the bike splits were 20-30 min faster. When you ride a 5:15 in 17' and all of a sudden you are down to 4:45, it makes you wonder. 30 min is a big improvement.