Swimming is by far my weakest event. I ran in college and currently race USCF but I just don’t have the time (or money) to get to a pool consistently. What is the easiest Ironman to compete in for a weak swimmer?
Thanks for the help,
Pat
Lake Placid is not a bad swim.
I would not do any of the Ironman North America events. 2000 person mass starts are insane for a weak swimmer in general. Better do Esprit. It is in the Montreal Olympics rowing basin and you can just look at the bottom and navigate by staying 10 ft from the shore line at all times. This race rarely gets over 200 people.
One that’s downhill… 
More serious, I’d say one where the swim is in salty water. The salt makes you float better, your wetsuit will work more like a buoy, so you’ll swim faster than in a lake or a river.
Zofingen
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Austria has a long 1500 metre first leg before you have to turn at a buoy. Thismeans that the field is spread out by then. This has to be tempered by the fact it is always a sell out, but if you wait seconds for the mass to throw themselves in you could have a comfortable swim. Also, as it is a lake there is no tide to worry about and it is in the valley so surface wind is minimal.
The rest of the race is great too.
The down side of salty water is that you need to be confident swimming in rough ocean conditions if need be. The last couple of years, the Gulf has been relatively calm for IM Florida, but all it takes is one moderately strong low system somewhere by Cancun, Mexico and the waters can get pretty rough pretty quickly.
Lake Placid for sure. There are cables on the bottom of the lake that you can sight. It makes navigating much easier. Fresh water, no currents. Go and enjoy it!
The full Vineman. 2 loops in a shallow slow moving river. There isn’t a place in the river you couldn’t stand up and walk if you needed to. Also a smaller race without the mass start floating bar fight.
Dave
Having previously missed the swim cutoff at an IM, don’t even think about it until you are SURE you can do the distance in any kind of conditions within the time limit. It is painful to spend 9 months training and be done in 2 1/2 hrs.
I would recommend going over to Germany and doing the Quelle Challenge in Roth. As long as you don’t mind the lack of an M-dot logo it is an awesome event and every bit an “ironman”. The swim is in waves instead of a mass start so you’ll only have a few hundred to deal with and the canal that you swim in is not very wide so you’ll sight easily and be reassured by the closeness of the shore. Once you get out of the water and onto the bike the course is fabulous to the finish.
i agree with sweeney. lake placid for sure. not only the cable, but a lot of people in a very little area to draft off of (without even trying).
the esprit in montreal that dev mentioned is also good but the small field means you have to sight for yourself and few drafting opportunities.
A 1/2 Ironman swim is easier than an Ironman swim, I hear it is only half the distance 
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IMFL. But I only have one other to compare it to. Salty Gulf waters for bouancy. Usually pretty flat, but can kick up if the winds is from the south, but quiets right back down when the winds stops. And the bike course is one loop flat, so unless you have wind or rain, it is easy, and the run course is flat. And the crowds are wonderful all along the run course. The local people have been trained over the years, and the whole town comes out to party.
Ok so I don’t have alot to compare to being IM-WIS being onl race at that distance. But… i’m really poor swimmer and i had virtually no troulbe in the water, course easy to follow (2 loop), no rough water and big area to spread teh 2000 out.
I swam the course in 1:45 (ya i stopped for breakfast along the way), but never got kicked punched and wasn’t even last one out. The second loop was easier because fewer people around and was able to draft off 2 others that were same pace.
the gulf can get pretty nasty, monk. i would never say an ocean swim is easier than a lake swim. imho.
Definitely. 85% of the time, that part of the Gulf is going to be pancake flat, but when it kicks up, you can get some very bad conditions. You really do need to be well prepared for those bad conditions and confident in your abilities.
And there’s a lot of area between rough enough so it’s dangerous enough to cancel the swim, and just plain rough where you’re expected to be competent enough to deal with it. There have been times at Gulf Coast 1/2 where the surf kicked up, the swim went on, and maybe 5 people out of 1600 managed to break 30:00.
IM New Zealand is a good choice. It’s ina lake, but it’s still very good.
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The first leg is long (1600m from memory) so little congestion at the first turn.
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It’s close to shore (and parallel) so it’s easy mentally.
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The water is so clear you can see the bottom clearly, virtually the whole way. The variety of types of bottom will amaze you and keep you interested. You won’t worry at all.
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It’s in New Zealand and all the people are so friendly you’ll have a blast here.
You could sign up for Great Floridian, and take your chances it will be a quarter mile short again.
Since you’re in NY, Lake Placid would seem to fit the bill and make the most sense. I can’t personally vouch for it.
Speaking as a non-swimmer triathlete of many years though, I too can tell you that success can be yours at Vineman. It is THE iron distance race for the flotation-challenged swimmer.