Are there any advantages of being a Clydesdale in reference to qualifying for Kona or anything else? I realize that there are Clydesdale/Athena divisions at most races and the times are generally slower, but is there any real advantage? Thanks in advance.
There are no Clydesdale slots for Kona.
If you wish to compete Clydesdale v. Clydesdale the only World stage to do so it the Olympic distance in the annual “World Games” that are organized by Team Clydesdale International (www.teamclydesdale.com)
I’m lucky - I live in the Province of Ontario, Canada and our Provincial Triathlon Association has created a Clydesdale Championship - it is best 3/5 in Sprint and Olympic races across the province. (www.triathlonontario.com or www.canclydes.ca)
Tri Hard !
Having competed at 165lbs and now at 220. My natural weight is around 190 @21years old varsity swimming. It is no fun being big. Your knees and hips hurt more and life sucks when you go vertical.
During racing season I get down to 90 kg, but let me tell you you might win a trophy or two with the big boys but you sure earn it. G
I’ve raced as a Clydesdale for the past four seasons. Typically I weight between 210 to 215 lbs which isn’t too bad when your 6’4". I could race in my age group, but usually would be spotting my competitors 30 to 40lbs. I place in the top 1/3 to 1/2 of my age group, but the leaders are so far ahead I doubt I’d be motivated to catch them even if it was possible. In the Clydesdale division I can compete against other guys around my weight. Some of us have raced for a couple years together and have developed friendly rivalries. I know these rivalries motivates us all to keep at it and improve.
BTW - USAT doesn’t recognize the Clydesdale division so you end up being ranked in your age group at the end of the year.
I appreciate all of your responses. I am 6’3" and around 230 lbs. and I know that training for my first Ironman that I will probably get down to about 205lbs. I put some extra weight on in the fall here (AZ) because our fall weather was so hot for so long that I got a little burned out by the heat and really ran into some hip problems. I was hoping there was an advantage but figured there wasn’t. I too would finish middle to lower part of my age group so having a Clydesdale category in a race is definitely ‘uplifting.’ Thanks to all that have responded. Maybe if we get enough of us ‘big guys’ we can threaten all of the ‘little guys’ of the USAT into including us in a different points race. A thought but probably not a good one. Thanks to all who have responded!! Happy training.
Advantages to being a Clydesdale:
Sometimes you can get cool schwag at races (medals, plaques, watches…) for slower times than the skinny folk.
The division is full of a bunch of guys who don’t take themselves too seriously and thus are there to have fun.
You can drink as much beer as you like.
Pooks,
I think you missed a little on the advantages. There are people that are there taking it seriously but seriousness does not always equal being under 200 lbs. There are as many people not taking it seriously in the age group categories. I am training for Ironman CDA and I am taking it very seriously. The schwag is definitely an advantage to get us to compete hard but the beer tastes good no matter if you are 140 lbs. or 240 lbs.!!! Ride on big fellas!
cycling descents, better abilty to maintain momentum in headwinds (provided you overcome the increased surface area), more intimidating in mass swim starts. All in all, not a whole lot to recommend it. I am considering breaking my own rule for the first time and racing as a “Heavyweight Male” at CIM. I figure that if I can get anything for dragging my fat ass over 26.2, I’m gonna take it.
I think the weight rule for Clydesdale SUCKS.
I get fed up with tall guys just squeeking over the weight limit and thinking they’re at some disadvantage. If you’re tall and lean, you will race age group (or pro). If you’re tall and normal (whatever that is) then you will race age group or clydesdale. If you’re tall and beefy, you’ll race clydesdale.
Tall guys (and girls) have several advantages as I see it.
1, you’re longer in the water. Regardless of skill level, this means you swim faster. (see Froude, the naval architect from about 1840. He figured out why long skinny boats go faster than short fat boats or even long fat boats).
2, You have longer levers (legs) for the bike that in my opinion make you faster. While hunched over the aero bars, your arms on the bars and your back is longer, again, making you faster.(see above) Simply by being taller, your ass is higher off theground relative to the top of the head tube, making it easier to get your front end low on a 700C bike, again making you faster.
3, longer legs don’t make you run slower.
At only 170cm (5’7") and 82kg (181lb) I nearly qualify for Clydesdale (just about made it last time after a big feed at the carbo dinner and a full glass of coke and keeping my shoes on 
but get none of the advantages of the taller (and skinnier) buggers in the Clydesdale division. I believe it would be fairer to change the Clydesdale entry requirements from weight only, to Body Mass Index (which basically divides your weight by your height).
Racing in BMI classes rather than weight classes would be fairer and holdless stigma. Short chunky people like me would race against tall chunky people rather than tall skinny bastards :-). It would alsostop the stigma for tall skinny guys thinking of themselves as fat, simply becasue they race clydesdale.
TriDork
Man I feel like a burger and a beer…
At a small local du I got clydesdale hardware for a time that was in the bottom third of AG.
But at bigger events the clydesdale class is pretty fast.
Bottom third AG( 35-39)=bottom third Clyde at IMC for example. I’ll be racing AG at IMCDA–lighter, faster and ready to put the hurt on the middle third of the pack.
Yes, yes. I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I take things a bit too seriously too. I must admit though, I have yet to start a race in a Clydes-only wave where I didn’t have a huge grin on my face when the gun went off. There’s usually a handful of guys that come up with some funny stuff poking fun at their girth.
Hey td, I’m 6’4" 200 pounds. How 'you like them apples???
Now if I were just fast…
If you search on the forum, you’ll find a bunch of threads on this topic. I have issues with the Clyde division too, but it’s more of a consistency thing. If weight/age/height/gender/religion/favorite food/hair color is going to be a factor in determining race categories, then it (they) must be applied to ALL racers such that every racer fits into EXACTLY ONE category. None of this I’m-gonna-choose-which-category-I-want-to-race-in-today crap.
Descents. I’m too short to be a clyde (well… 5’6 and ~ 176 - you get the point), but I can coast downhill sitting up on the hoods faster than my skinny buddies in their full aero tuck - AND my front bearings are hella jacked up. Aside from that, no not really.
Now if we made the run portion of the race contact (like the swim is 
) I’d have a chance at some hardware!
6’-4"…200lbs?
You must be able to see all of your own feet! What a concept!
Personally I think weight divisions are a bit stupid, but then again I think gender discrimination is BS as well.
Now for my equal rights story and how it has molded me into the bitter and twisted, angry little man that I am.
When I was 11, there was a girl who sat next to me in class. I would stare out the windows at the mountains and wish I was there instead.This future lawyer? would jab me with a compass in the back of my hand to piss me off/ bring my attention back to class. I told her repeatedly to stop or I’d hit her. At the end of the year (of her not stopping of course) I asked to try on her glasses. I tried them on, then put them down and then punched her as hard as I could, right in the middle of her face. I broke her nose (she couldn’t take a punch!) and blood went EVERYWHERE.
It was right then that I reaslised I was FOR equal rights! She deserved a punch just as much as anyone I’ve ever hit (stopped that now that I’m allegedly grown up!) Even if I do ever manage to qualify for Clydesdale division, I don’t think I’ll sign up. The division I race in doesn’t make me finish any faster does it?
TriDork
I’m 6’ and run the range from 208-218. I’d give the clyde hardware back in a second for the health benefits of getting out of the division. I enjoy the comraderie and the opportunity to duel with some of my big brothers but I see no advantage when taking the long view. I’ve stopped racing clyde and look forward to the day of achieving the anonymity of a MOP ag’r.
Fantastic story. You were one crafty 11 year old. That’s a scene I’d pay to see.
“I live in the Province of Ontario, Canada and our Provincial Triathlon Association has created a Clydesdale Championship -”
Every Ontario tri I’ve ever entered has a clydesdale division. It’s a great thing IMO. We’ve got a 6’5" 240 lb friend who wants to do his first sprint tri this summer. He’s actually slimmed down due to his tri training. He used to go over 300 lbs.
I generally agree with you, except for when it comes to running. Being over 200 pounds certainly doesn’t help you run faster over long distances, regardless of whether you’re lean or fat. I consider myself a pretty fast Clydesdale, even though I race age group, but I can say with some certainty that I will never be a “fast” runner. How many fast 200+ pound distance runners do you know of? Obviously that will depends on your definition of fast.
im 6’3" 240lbs. I have had body fat testing (currently 17.5%) done and figure if I dropped to 215lbs I would be at ~8% body fat, assuming I didnt lose muscle in the process. In order to drop out of the clydesdale division I would have to drop muscle and fat, the fat is fine with me but losing muscle im not ready to do yet. Some of us are just big. I actually have never raced in a clydesdale division but you have to realize that some of us just arent built like the average triathlete.
While I do not consider myself an expert I am a Clydesdale but I prefer “Athena”
USAT does recogninze clydesdales for points it is the way the RDs set up their race waves that may make the category ineligible for points for that race. The same rule applies to the elite categories in most races I do. Basicly the rule states that any category that has their own wave different than an age group wave may have an advantage therefore will not qualify for points. For example, the elite wave that takes off first does not have to deal with passing a bunch of people therefore having an advantage. Now, I don’t know if anyone went to St. Anthony’s and I suppose this may have happened as well in Chicago, but I would NOT consider a wave of 200 clydesdales and advantage!!! If the RD lets the individual clydesdales race in their age groups then they can qualify for points AND for clydesdale awards. This was done at Nationals this year. While there was no way I could have come close to qualifying for Worlds it was a relief for those who could have come close and not have to make the decision of trying to qualify vs. placing in a category at Nationals. They were still ranked in their age group AND qualified for clydesdale awards. (which, by the way, were different than the age group medals…)
Which brings me to my next point. To the Clydesdales in Canada- Did you know that Clydesdale was a category at Worlds the past 2 years (maybe 3)? Do you know what country decided they did not think Clydesdale was a viable category and therefore did not vote for it to be continued? Canada. (I heard that a member of the board said if they want to compete they should just lose weight.) This is a huge surprise to me since there IS a large clydesdale group up there. As a matter of fact the guy who won clydes in Cancun last year was a Canadian! Now, we can argue all day long about if it truly is a viable category and I do see both sides, but if you want to see Clydes at worlds in the future, go talk to your ITU people. From what I understand, USAT says they support clydes at worlds as do Great Britain. There are a couple others but I understand we need one more country to say yes. Canada, get to it! Research what I have said here and make a difference.
I do agree with the BMI index being a better measurement than weight-either way I am built like a brick house so I am in
The reason why I am a clyde is mainly the comraderie. The hardware really does not mean a lot to me but the support and friendly rivalries are cool. We keep tabs on each other on the course and are constantly yelling and motivating. My age group (35-39) is very competitive and I could probably place if I keep it up this off season and learn to “like” running but still not sold on crossing over. I am having too much fun