I agree with the thesis of these articles.

Too many swim-related decisions are being made based on what the worst 1% of swimmers in the crowd can handle. I think that in those situations where the conditions are tough, IM should offer a non-swim bike start after the swim cut-off expires. Put the onus back on the athlete to be responsible for him/herself, but give them an option to still make a day of it.

Yes, and lower the temperature of what is wetsuit legal. 74 degrees should not be a wetsuit legal swim.

I love those anti-wetsuit articles. Technology advances are fine for cycling and running, but swim in a Speedo. If that's your perspective, go back to Merckx rules on the bike with a hairnet for a helmet and run barefoot.

For this line of thought, the current bike equipment and positions is so that people can roll 23 1/2 mph for Kona on 200w (local guy's #'s who just did Kona). Maybe less if skinnier.

To me, that just seems nuts. Especially with the non linear drag with speed. Meaning, most any joe blow can roll a fast bike split and lose minimal time.

I feel they should allow whatever swimwear people want if they allow P5X bikes and TT helmets and supersuits and the whole lot.

Same for shoes that make you X% faster.

Why's swimming get singled out on the equipment front?

Ive done 3 IM sanctioned events. Here are my results from all the money paid:

1 Swim
2 Bike
2 Runs

Out of 9 possible disciplines, I was only able to do 5 of them. One race was cancelled the morning of, the other full - the swim was cancelled. 1 out of 3 events had a swim.

But why were they cancelled? and list the names of the races so they can be peer confirmed. IMMD 2016 my swim was cancelled because the currents were so strong that water safety crew couldn't even move effectively over the water. I wasn't thrilled but that made sense and I would have made the same call, just because some people could handle swimming in it doesn't mean that it makes sense, water safety crew NEEDS to be able to move quickly so they can respond to emergencies. Most people there that day just looked at the water, saw normal conditions and went off crying (excluding the handful that cheered). I ask because it seems you bring up this stat as if to say they are being soft but a full on event cancellation doesn't sound to me like it was a decision made to cater to the participants.

The distance was meassured a bit of, being 900m and not 750m.

I really hope for more races like this, and suddenly the swim ability has impact on the results.

But why were they cancelled? and list the names of the races so they can be peer confirmed. IMMD 2016 my swim was cancelled because the currents were so strong that water safety crew couldn't even move effectively over the water. I wasn't thrilled but that made sense and I would have made the same call, just because some people could handle swimming in it doesn't mean that it makes sense, water safety crew NEEDS to be able to move quickly so they can respond to emergencies. Most people there that day just looked at the water, saw normal conditions and went off crying (excluding the handful that cheered). I ask because it seems you bring up this stat as if to say they are being soft but a full on event cancellation doesn't sound to me like it was a decision made to cater to the participants.

2. The lack of swim training at the AG level that is being reported. I cannot believe this many people would ignore such a good aerobic training source. I used to think it was a waste of time for me since at my age and level, I'm not picking up more than 10 minutes AT BEST in an IM swim, but I still swam twice a week. Then someone said something that clicked, you can add aerobic endurance/efficiency in the water. And you can do it without impacting the bike or run workouts appreciably. It's now a priority, and if I need to skip a run workout, I'll try and squeeze in an extra swim somewhere else in the week.

I’ve always said for me and what I push is progression. Do sprints, do Olympics then move to LC (70s and IM’s).


I followed my own advice. I did sprints and pool sprints before an Olympic. I never thought the IM was the end all be all that our sport pushes. And I’ve not had the ability to do an IM because of an hip injury from a crash. I’m going to do one eventually because of the respect I have for the race. I think the race is a beautiful thing, but must be respected. But I never got caught up in the IM bug nor has my coaching biz evolved around it either.

I also coach to that theory. If you come to me wanting to do an IM and I don’t think your ready, I’ll tell you that. I fired 4 athletes this year that imo had no biz signing up for them. I gladly pushed them to other coaches, and took a huge financial hit in the process. But I stood by what I thought was best for both them and myself.

And the whole reason a swim test is being pushed is because it’s 1 small step to having athletes “understand” what is required. IE improving their “Ill preparedness”. It’s one small step to removing ill prepared athletes. It doesn’t have to be the end all be all, but it can be a step in the right direction if so desired. I’d rather push proper racing progression myself.

I agree with the thesis of these articles.

Too many swim-related decisions are being made based on what the worst 1% of swimmers in the crowd can handle. I think that in those situations where the conditions are tough, IM should offer a non-swim bike start after the swim cut-off expires. Put the onus back on the athlete to be responsible for him/herself, but give them an option to still make a day of it.

Yes, and lower the temperature of what is wetsuit legal. 74 degrees should not be a wetsuit legal swim.

But obviously some people can prepare for and complete an IM as their first triathlon. I’d be curious to see numbers on the success rate for those athletes.

One of the biggest hurdles for me, and other folks i know, with swimming is lack of resources. When it’s a 45 minute drive one way to the nearest pool, it makes swimming a challenge. And good luck finding a pool that the pool hours actually jive with your work/family schedule. You can run anytime and anywhere. Indoor bike trainers have made cycling much more convenient. Not everyone can afford a $10k infinity pool or afford to spend 3 hours of their day to get in a swim workout.

Now, that’s something the athlete should recognize and perhaps say triathlon isn’t for me and do duathlons, but those aren’t as cool as M-dot races. I have a friend that has a small pond, that’s where I do my swim training. Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone to critic my swim so I’m basically just ingraining poor habits and form. Similar to the weekend duffer playing golf and just learning to adjust for their slice.

Right you are! In the words of Ulysses Everett McGill:
“ Well ain't this place a geographical oddity....two weeks from everywhere”
I’ve learned to do most of the bike maintenance myself. I really hate that I don’t live closer to a pool. It may be what keeps me from attempting a full distance triathlon.

I agree with the thesis of these articles.

Too many swim-related decisions are being made based on what the worst 1% of swimmers in the crowd can handle. I think that in those situations where the conditions are tough, IM should offer a non-swim bike start after the swim cut-off expires. Put the onus back on the athlete to be responsible for him/herself, but give them an option to still make a day of it.

Yes, and lower the temperature of what is wetsuit legal. 74 degrees should not be a wetsuit legal swim.

My only addition to those comments -

The swim aerobic training as a helpful tool, really works only if you are a pretty capable swimmer, like at least MOP, if not FOMOP.

I say this having myself gone from the full range from near dead-last swim finisher for a year, to as high as top 18% in a big HIM. As a true BOP swimmer, I was simply unable to pull hard enough in the water to really work my cardio. Sure, I could max out my cardio for short sprints, but anything over 200 yards, and my arms wouldn't be able to keep pace, and I'd get very little cardio training even if my arms were totally rocked after the workout.

As a BOMOP slighty better swimmer, I could hold harder paces longer, but I didn't have the swim base/ability to do those hard-cardio workouts without really fatiguing myself and compromising any upcoming hard bike/run workouts. I had to choose - toast myself on the swim, or go easier and save to get in a decent quality bike/run.

Now that I'm definitely MOP and even up to MOP+, I'm finally at the point where I definitely feel that I can get some excellent cardio and endurance training on the swim that I can x-over to bike/run. My arms are now strong enough that they don't get so blasted that they limit me anymore.

I'd bet that the bulk of AGers who are slower than MOP were like me - they simply cannot use swimming as a enhancing cardio/endurance tool, because they are still so bad at swimming.

I went from not being able to swim a 25 yard length, never ridden a road bike and had only ran a half marathon in 2:08 to a 10:10 Ironman in 12 months. (1:02 Swim, 4:55 bike, 4:00 run).

Completely and doing a decent Ironman is not hard. Learning to be a decent swimmer is not hard. The large magority of people just want to call themselves an Ironman whilst doing the minimal amount of work possible.

Yes, and lower the temperature of what is wetsuit legal. 74 degrees should not be a wetsuit legal swim.