Are water shoes OK?

This is my second year of doing triathlons. At a race last weekend, as I was coming out of the water after the swim leg, I stepped on some broken glass and cut up two of my toes. I saw the blood on my foot at T1, but it didn’t hurt so I put my socks and bike shoes on and kept going. By T2 my sock was soaked with blood but it still did not hurt so on went the running shoes. I finished with a better time than last year and actually really enjoyed the race. I didn’t enjoy the five stitches later. My question is, can you legally wear water shoes or aqua socks or whatever to protect your feet in the swim leg?

Here is what the rules say:

4.9 Illegal Equipment.

Any swimmer wearing any artificial propulsion device, including but not limited to fins, gloves, paddles, or floating devices of any kind shall be disqualified.

Not sure how each individual race director/official would interpret this IRT water shoes, though. Best to check with them prior to the race.

BUT—I have tried to swim in these things while canoeing with my Boy Scouts. IMHO, they would DRASTICALLY affect your swim times NEGATIVELY. My recommendation would be to scout the bottom and the transition areas and routes to/from the water prior to the race. If you see dangerous obstacles, either bring it to the attention of race officials, or don’t do the race.

BTW, I am a diabetic and do have concerns about my feet while doing triathlons. But, I have decided foot injury is just a risk I will have to face if I want to keep on tri’in. IVO all the other risks (bike crashes, hypoglycemia, etc.) I am dealing with, I think the risk of foot injury is small in comparison.

Bring your injury to the attention of race officials so they can correct the situation for next years race.

They are not specifically ruled illegal by name. Check with the RD or USAT official if sanctioned to verify.

More importantly though, I believe you’ll be hard pressed to find any that will erase the issue without creating greater hardships. And it is just a very low percentage situation.

2 years ago during pre-race, I was at an event where the sandy beach area at the waterfront had a ledge about 2 feet high separating it from the grassy area behind. I see sand below so I just drop down. Oops…Large rock lurking just under the smidgen of sand covering it. Who would have thought? I swear I bruised the heel bone. Half my foot was discolored that night. What do you do?

All you can reasonably prepare for is based on your level of experience with your surroundings. Glass at a waterfront egress is just not the norm. Same with sand monsters.

Just leave some shoes that you can slip on easily by the water exit if it looks like there is a lot of debris
.

Thanks for the replies. The injury occured out in the water in front of the exit area. The water was very murky and I would not have been able to see anything even if I had tried. I did contact the race promoter about it so hopefully something will be done next year.