It appears that the government of the Canaries forbid all swim contests because of expected heavy winds.
In practice in Lanzarote there were winds I heard making the bike difficult, but they seem to not have caused a lot of waves.

I agree IM seem to be too quick cancelling the swim leg at times and find it very frustrating.

But I'll throw in an observation from the race I was at 8 days ago:- 4.30am (and overnight) 30 mph winds and a spring tide and a route past a rocky headland. It was clear the swim was a 'no'. Once out on the bike leg, I could see white caps on waves half a mile out from shore.

But later in the day, at another part of the bike course and also out on the run the sea looked pretty calm and inviting - a combination of the storm having died down over the following hours + a bay 20 miles further along the coast facing a different direction. If you see the photos from the latter areas you'd never have known how it was in the morning.

They're all nonsense...

Are those photos from the location that the swim would have taken place from?

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Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

Yeah, looks hardcore...

https://twitter.com/.../1180170893802315776

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What's your CdA?

And I love the comments, one Einstein commenting that you can still have rip tides even though there is no surf!! A lot of folks really reaching hard to justify cancelling the swim, no doubt the ones who cheer when it is announced...)-;

was this IM's decision? it's described as "Canary Islands Government cancelled the swim section"

This!