Oh wow, so young! Probably realised it wasn't worth the 35 hour training week
Have to say, its a very hard life if you are not at the very very top to make a living in this sport

Hopefully he won't be offering advice about how to deliberately tow another pro around the swim course at Kona: probably not a good example for the kids to learn.

Literally the only thing I know about him. I'm sure I'm not the only person that only knows his as the guy who once abandoned his race for someone else.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Exactly the same and only reason I recognised the name: you could say his claim to fame is sharing a thread with the ST poster boy but probably not for the reason he would have wanted.

That's all you guys have (and know)? The guy was Pan Am and US champions a few times and chased ITU around the world to get the USA more point for a larger team for the Olympic games. I believe he was beaten out for the final spot in London by Manny Huerta. Matt was second at IM Chattanooga in 2015 and won IM Mar Del Plata in 2017. In 2015 he was in Kona 2 weeks after Chattanooga to basically recce the course for next year as he was going to be a non factor that year given his recent IM. His race was "done" before he even started at least in his mind he was not going for a hammerfest race on fried legs.

The comments you guys made about giving children advice etc from your keyboard jockey are ones you should make to his face. The guy is retiring and done more for and in triathlon than most of us combined. I think we can save the ST venom if you want to revive a 2015 thread on the swim drafting event and stick to, perhaps celebrating his career on a thread about his retirement.

Here is what he has done in tri.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Chrabot

Nope - never heard of him apart from that ST thread and given your "glowing" résumé of his career I can't even be bothered to check out his Wiki page.

IIRC, he actually asked one of the senior officials (Jimmy R, maybe?) if it was OK to do that, but something got misunderstood and he was told it was OK. I'm not going to vilify the guy for it.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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

you do know that says a lot more about you than it does about matt, mmk?

Dev, that’s great and all but his legacy and what he will be known for is the guy that gave up his race, swam 10 minutes slower to help a shitty swimming friend, all likely against the rules and certainly against the spirit of competition.

Bill Buckner had a near Hall of Fame baseball career and a resume far better than Chrabot’s. What’s he known for?

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Sure maybe he is known among the ignorant for that. And that sucks. But he, like Buckner, did a lot more. At this point, maybe we can share information like Dev has and learn some of the good things he did and try to remember him for that. Boston (including me) has forgiven Buckner. I met Matt many years ago at a small event early in his tri career (and mine). I certainly don’t proclaim to know him well but he was very nice, seemed grounded and a solid spokesman for the sport in the US.

I agree with all that. Still doesn’t dismiss the fact the Lionel Kona swim fiasco is how he will be mostly remembered. One doesn’t get to choose their legacy. It’s chosen for them. It’s unfair that one boneheaded decision (or play in Buckner’s case) decides one’s legacy but that’s unfortunately how it works much of the time.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I understand; Unlike you, I remember him based on meeting him. Maybe others can learn more about him and now remember him for his contributions rather than what they currently know. Perceptions can change.

Some of y'all need to learn that you don't have to say everything you're thinking. There's no good reason to publicly trash this guy on his retirement day.

x2. I for one, had no idea of about "swimgate" until this thread. I know him as one of the very few American men who threw himself into the hellfire of international ITU racing year after year, holding his own.

Hey, I GET that in way down in the bowels of the ST internet mob, that's all we remember about Matt. That is the primary thing in my mind as I can't remember every Ironman, National Championship, Pan Games, ITU world cup placement of every pro (although I may memorize that shit and use up memory footprint in my brain on all that useles non revenue generating triviality), but I loosely knew about his actual palmares, which I would think is what we collectively could be talking about at this point.

Matt did a lot of chasing of ITU points to get the USA 3 spots for the Olympics vs 2 but did not actually make the team, being an alternate. The way the ITU qualifying works in terms of national slots, often the guys and girls being the points chasing workhorses, bump the nation up to that third slot and then they are so worn down, that at the selection events, others slide above them.

At the time, I was both joyful for Manny Huerta, taking the last slot on Team USA basically living the American dream of being the kid of an immigrant making it to the National Team for the Olympics....but without Matt chasing points, Manny does not get that immigrant kids dream come true.

Soooo.....I personally think that this contribution by Matt to triathlon in the USA is huge because of that. Noting I am not even American, I am Canadian, but lots of American family, American investors in my company, worked for Silicon Valley companies, so I love you guys.

Here are his career highlights from his own webpage:

Non-drafting
11th – 70.3 World Championships (2017)
3rd – ITU Long Distance World Championships (2016)
1st – Ironman Mel del Plata (2017)
1st – 70.3 Racine (2016)
1st – 70.3 St. Croix (2015)
1st – Raleigh 70.3 (2014)
1st – Kansas 5i50 (2014)
1st – Boulder Peak Triathlon (2014)
1st – 70.3 Austin (2013) – Fastest Run split — 1:11:12
1st – Chicago Triathlon (2011)
1st – Miami International Triathlon (2010, 2011)
2nd – 70.3 Boulder (2017)
2nd – 70.3 Cozumel (2017)
2nd – 70.3 Los Cabos (2017)
2nd – 70.3 Los Cabos (2016)
2nd – IRONMAN Chattanooga (2015)
2nd – 70.3 Racine (2015)
2nd – Challenge Williamsburg (2015)
2nd – 70.3 New Orleans (2015)
2nd – 70.3 Raleigh (2015)
2nd – Ironman Cozumel (2014)
2nd – 70.3 Panama – Latin American Champs (2014)
2nd – Lifetime Fitness Minneapolis (2010)
2nd – Chicago Triathlon (2009)
3rd – Ironman Boulder
3rd – 70.3 Monterrey (2016)
3rd – 70.3 New Orleans (2016)
3rd – 70.3 Cozumel (2013)
3rd – Escape from Alcatraz (2011)

ITU (draft legal)
***Alternate to the 2012 US Olympic Triathlon Team***
Pan American Games Team Member (2011)
2x US National Champion (2009, 2013)
2x USA Triathlon Men’s Athlete of the Year (2010, 2013)
2x ITU World Cup Wins
2x Pan American Champion (2008, 2010)
5x ITU World Cup Podiums
2x Top 5 ITU World Triathlon Series Finishes
3rd – 2010 US National Championships
12th (2010) and 26th (2013) World Triathlon Series year end rankings (World Ranking)
12x ITU Podiums

1st – Raleigh 70.3 (2014)

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Funny story. So I home stayed Matt for this race. He texted me few days prior that he was getting some bike stuff sent to my apartment. 3 days before the race I get a 7am knock on my door. I assume it's UPS dropping off Matt's packages he had ordered and it being 7am I didn't want to get out of bed, so I just yell out "leave it on the doorstep", someone yells back out "It's USADA we are here to test matt"....2 mins later he's getting piss and blood tested. Goes on to win that race fairly easily, we had a good laugh at that.


Back in 2011-2012 in the buildup to London 2012 games, the US was in an intense dogfight for 3 Olympic spots. It basically came down to Pan Am Champs that I believe in 2011 occurred in Guadalajara, MEX. The way the rankings worked, only a certain person could win the race and secure the spot for your federation, so Chrabot couldn't win the race, he had to play domestique duties. So here they go down there, Chrabot and Fretta pulling Huerta along (Huerta said it felt like being escorted by fighter pilots the whole way), and damn it if Huerta didn't lose a sprint finish to Brazil's Colucci which ulimately screwed Chrabot as the US only got 2 spots that year and of course that led to the emotional finish in San Diego where Huerta is seen at the finish line counting guys at the finish and you see him "4, 5, 6,7" and then he points to himself "9th" and starts crying cus he just made the Olympic team. Pretty special moment, but damn if Chrabot wasn't gutted from that performance and all the "work" he did that he didn't get credit for.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Buckner was remembered for that because he did it in front of everyone. World Series is played out in front of the whole world. Kona isn't even watched by 1 million people (go look at the download numbers), let alone read ST or triathlon magazines on the "swimgate" issue. You prove that by not evening know who he was before that.

So nah, he aint being remember for "swimgate", imo he's being remembered for being a true professional in his tri career. Matt was a head down and hard work type of athlete. Didn't get a ton of fanfare, but was also "just under the radar" type of athlete imo. But those in the sport appreciated that type of athlete, the ones that did the work and got results that you guys on ST don't notice. That's his legacy to me. He did the sport of professional triathlon the right way.

So you can think of whatever legacy you want, no one is stopping you. You probaly don't even know all the details behind why swimgate occurred, etc, and that's ok.

But nah this isn't a Buckner type "everyone knows you missed the ball" moment and lost your team the World Series. He wasn't even going to factor into the race, he didn't want to race it that year as he had just done IM Chatt and had zero desire to "race" that intensity so soon after.

ETA: There's something ironic that you'd never heard of him but for only that 1 thing and then proceed to tell us that's his legacy; but to each their own.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Had the chance to hang with Matt a few years while living at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Very cool guy.. Was very dedicated to his craft. All the best Charbot!

this kinda shows ignorance on your part more than anything else, just like that other guy.

Black and white is some people's style. Nuance/grey is really hard.

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36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
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Seems to me that a person’s real legacy is what they are best remembered for by those who actually knew them, or at least a decent amount about them. From what I can gather from this thread, it seems like his legacy with respect to triathlon is that he is a good guy who treated people right and achieved some results that 99% of us can only dream of.

End thread

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/4391866

He was an American hero who sacrificed himself for the good of the team. He deserves our respect.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

This. Plus what MarkyV said: "Black and white is some people's style. Nuance/grey is really hard. "