we've
talked about this before, and i have always adhered to the slowman doctrine: "assistance" is not within the rules if it is rendered by an athlete who has abandoned or subordinated his own race ambition, and whose ambition is now to aid another. to me, that would be the case if matt is actually, obviously, pacing lionel. it should be clear based on past performance what matt is capable of.
the difference between potts and frodeno on one hand, and chrabot and sanders on the other, is that neither potts nor frodeno have abandoned their own race ambition.
is it always easy to tell when somebody has abandoned his race ambition? no. but it's not always easy to tell when somebody's doping either. because we can't know every instance of a failure to race by the rules that doesn't mean we should shy from enforcing a rule when it is broken.
the above is my view when it's ironman racing, which is a very clearly individual sport. in ITU racing, if you want to say that it's okay for that style of racing to incorporate team elements, fine. that's up to the ITU. but in ironman racing, this is a different format, a different history, a different culture. it has always been a fiercely individual sport. every man or woman on his own. the slowman doctrine holds say for ironman racing.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman