During my swim this morning, I was thinking about Andy’s win last weekend.
If I remember the splits correctly, he had like a 2 minute lead out of the swim.
The bike times were about equal. And he had about a 2 minute slower run.
But, it seems chasing takes a lot more energy than leading.
So, since most everyone seems to say you cannot win a race from the swim,
seems like Andy may have proved this wrong?
Dave
Good observation…and he did it all without a single flip turn. 
Looks like a fair assumption. I think Sheila T has also done that a bit.
So, since everyone seems to say you cannot win a race from the swim,
seems like Andy may have proved this wrong?
Dave
Not everyone says that. In fact, there was a race in 2006 in which one STer had the fastest T1, bike, T2, and run (he may have had only the 2nd fastest in one of the transitions), and a very good swim yet took 2nd to another STer.
That strategy works a lot better in “non-drafting” races. Expect Andy to have a very bright long course career starting in about 5 months. Okay, so his long course career started well last year, but I think we’ll see a lot more him on IM/70.3 circuit after Bejing.
I can tell you that in Wisconsin last year, Scott Bowe (Sentania) came out of the water first at Lake Mills Triathlon (a very competitive race) and Rockman HIM and ended up with good finishes. He didn’t win either race, but it was certainly his race to lose. It seems like Potts played to his strength last weekend and it worked out. Congrats on his effort and tactics.
no, he won in the SWIM/BIKE/RUN + transitions competition
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i don’t believe triathlon is “won” in any of the 3 events… i think you have to excell in all 3. i might be mistaken, but i thought those people that are capable of bringing home the top slot are those that perform the best in the combination of all the events? one may “begin” the road to victory on the swim and maintain a certain lead through out the event, but that person would fall short if they failed to produce in the remainder of the events.
just my take on the topic… love me or hate me
Contrary to popular triathlon retoric - no race is ever “won” on the swim. the race is always won or lost on the run. no matter how fast an athlete swims or rides they still have to run fast enough to keep the chasers away. In the case of the Germans at Kona it’s now worked 3 times but how many big leads off the bike were lost over the years… many.
Onto Potts. He certainly set himself up for a great race with a great swim, but it’s actually much harder to lead then it is chase. In a chase pack (where Crowie was) he would have had a number of other cyclists to pace (not draft) off of moving forward to try and catch Potts. There were also faster cyclists with him that he could have chosen to ride with if he wanted a bit of inspiration to get back up to Potts.
Potts set himself up for a great race by leading out of the swim, but he certainly could have run faster if he needed to. He’s got ITU winning speed and probably could have come off the bike with the leading guys and won the race. Luckily with a strong bike he held them off and didn’t need to.
another thing to think about…
How good do you think Andy is as a runner that he can “lose” 1:10 in about two and half miles and then run for a mile and a half with Crowie and then outsprint him?
if i heard the story correctly, I thought Crowie caught Potts and they ran together for about a mile before Potts out sprinted him. Seems to me the swim lead was cancelled out and THEN Potts won on the run…
But what if Crowie came out of the water with Potts. And they both biked together?
Who has the stronger run?
I understand Tri’s are not won on any single part of the race, but, it just seemed to show
me that folks spending time on improving their swim sure cannot hurt them, unless you
are over 50.
Dave
I don’t know if he won the race on the swim (although his lead was considerable) but I do believe such lead give him the advanatge to manage the race and have a little extra left in the tank saved for the final kick. Crowie had to chase all day pushing harder on the bike and later on the run posting a fast run (as usual) but even when he caught Potts towards the end, again Potts had that extra energy left to kick for the win.
My first race this season had me down by 2 minutes after the swim. I had the faster T1/bike and T2/run and lost by 1 minute. The former pro beat me due to the swim!!
So, since most everyone seems to say you cannot win a race from the swim,
seems like Andy may have proved this wrong?
Dave
I thought the saying was “you can’t win a tri in the swim, but you can lose it on thw swim”
I would agree with the saying. You can’t win by getting out of the h20 1st if you suck in the bike/run. Likewise, if you suck in the swim, its harder than hell to catch up
agree with sergio… he didnt win in the swim, he won on the run out sprinting alexander after a killer swim and bike… he got pass so became the chaser… so he won that race on the run!!!
But what if Crowie came out of the water with Potts. And they both biked together?
Who has the stronger run?
Dave
Its irrelevant because it didn’t happen. If they would have came out of the water together maybe potts would have biked harder and built up the same lead. Or maybe he would have just ran harder. Its not just who is the fastest its about tactics too. Potts didn’t beat him in the swim bike or run he beat him by out thinking him and where he should actually race him.
Grant
“…it just seemed to show me that folks spending time on improving their swim sure cannot hurt them, unless you are over 50.”
Huh? Are you saying that folks over 50 hurt themselves by spending time improving on their swim? Hope not, because that’s me.
Or was this another attempt at being funny through sarcasm?
Not sure about that statement he made either. See my post above…we’re over 50 and he beat me due to the swim! I chased him on the bike and run, and ran out of real estate.