I just noticed the swim & bike courses are posted for Waco and the swim is about 1/4 upriver, it seems. That seems odd! Has anyone who has been swimming in this portion comment on what the current is often like this in this area? I’m guessing there must be very little current in the river at this portion but I would have thought currents are highly variable and this could be a tough swim now!
Thanks.
I raced 70.3 Waco in 2019 and there was barely a current. Swim times were fairly fast but about what you’d expect for a dead straight, wetsuit legal swim. Not sure how variable the flow is but I don’t think there would have been any issue with a bit of upstream swimming that day at least.
Totally depends on the day. TriWaco this summer was a different story. Early summer rains made for a pretty hefty current.
My guess is it will be a game time decision. No current and it will be like the map. Heavy current and they’ll have to cut it to just half the swim.
Normally the current is pretty light, but it depends on the weather upstream. I did the first Waco 70.3, where they cancelled the swim because heavy rains to the north earlier in the week caused a huge influx of water and debris.
On the run, I remember seeing a large white cooler floating down the river faster than I could run. You could have floated to a swim PR that day.
I’ll second the TriWaco this summer. If the current is anything like what we experienced in that race, people are going to be in for a rough time!