Harder, an extra 6.2k of swimming and 20k less biking, and 6.2k swimming is a lot harder harder than 20k biking.

Ultraman has your 10K swim but rather more biking and running!

Actually, the Isoman has a 7 mile swim and a 61 mile bike, such that an athlete equally trained in all three disciplines should have roughly equal splits in the three segments. It is a bummer, IMO, that the original ironman race did not have similar distances. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

7 mile swim would be very difficult to safely manage on a large scale.

It would be hard to have say 4000 but I think around 600-700 would be manageable. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge swim is 4.4 miles and is capped at 650. Personally, I think races with more than 400 are too big and no, I've never done an IM branded race. I know it is a very unpopular viewpoint but I just think triathlons should be more evenly balanced betw the three disciplines.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

7 mile swim would be very difficult to safely manage on a large scale. //

Just make it a 3 1/2 to 4 hour cutoff and it would be a breeze to manage. And the start would be a lot less hectic, more drawn out and eased into, so probably a ton less heart attacks in the swim too. Of course you are looking at the really big races only having 400 to 600 folks, but that is fine. Just what we had in the mid 80s' very manageable and fun...

But the triathlon gods had another idea early on, so we got what we got now, no going back(as a sport in general)

If the cut-off is 4 hours for 7 miles I won't be able to meet the cut-off. I expect to swim 10 km in around 4 hours and 15 minutes.

Or you'd just need to train a little bit more at swimming 😁

7 miles, 4 hrs... I'd be OK 😎
Pity my running isn't much different 😖

Setting the cut-off at 4 hours for a 7 miles swim is similar to setting the cut-off at 4 hours for a marathon run - which would cut off a significant portion of participants, and make the sport elitist.

harder race for sure
I would actually like to try this format. I think it would be a fun change but would definitely not work to my strengths (top 5% biker/runner and top 40% swimmer)

safety would be an issue on a 10km swim. I think you might want to make sure wetsuit legal and how would you work aid stations? I think some of the long distance tri's with a 10km swim you need to have a support crew in a kayak - this would not be feasible with 100's of athletes.

safety would be an issue on a 10km swim. I think you might want to make sure wetsuit legal and how would you work aid stations? I think some of the long distance tri's with a 10km swim you need to have a support crew in a kayak - this would not be feasible with 100's of athletes. //

I do a 2 mile swim race every year with 1300 folks in it, and everyone is allowed a paddler. Now not everyone has one, but there are no real issues with space, so a 10k with a lot less people, that is a slam dunk. Everyone gets their own escort, and thus has the feeding issue taken care of..IT spreads out pretty quickly, and no one needs to feed in the first 30 minutes anyway..

There are some beginner friendly 10 km swimming events in South East Asia. Wetsuit is never used there due to climate (29°C water temperature all year round). The course is 10 x 1 km loop, with a feeding station on the loop.

There would be a hell of a lot less ironmen with this format perhaps

That is for sure!!! Triathlon would really be a niche sport. This would not bother me but I suspect the bike makers might take umbrage. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

IMHO 3.8 km is such a short swim which can't be compared to the bike and run afterwards. The ironman is won on the bike and in the run.

If the swim is changed to 10 km while keeping the bike and run the same, the competition will be much balanced. (isoman has a much shorter bike phase designed to be cycled in the same time as the swim and run)

I would Love that format. I am guessing that by the midway point it would get confusing as to what lap everybody is on? How do they keep track?

I would Love that format. I am guessing that by the midway point it would get confusing as to what lap everybody is on? How do they keep track?


The race I'm doing this weekend is set up exactly like that, only 10x 1 mile loops. And after each loop you have to exit the water, then run through a Shute where they record your number, so that is how they keep track. I will only be doing two of them, but some folks do 5 all the way up to all 10!!!