Any feedback on the impact of the rolling swim start? How did it affect your time? Did it provide an opportunity to draft you might not have had otherwise? Any insight into how the rolling start might affect your finishing time would be much appreciated.
Thought i was gonna hate it. Thought it would mess up my calf / ag counting later on as i was there to KQ. Ended up loving it. Started in the 50-60 wave, PRd the swim(59:…) and never had to battle swim. Had time to think about it ob the bike that most likely those starting further back 5-10 min or so were likely not going to be up towards the front at the end so i just counted calves and was right on in my estimate. And since i know you are interested, i did KQ but turned it down so i could drink cocktails and cheer someone else on… so in sumation, a onetime skeptic is now a fan
Took 10 minutes to get everyone through. With pro women only 10 minutes ahead caused a complete cluster fuck to their race on lap 2.
If a 2 lap swim ironman should give 30 minute lead to get pros onto lap 2 before the rollout. But, problem with that for IMC is needing lake for 70.3 race. And WTC needs that race to get #s to work a viable race weekend.
So it is what it is.
I did the race in 2015 when it was a mass start, and 2016 and '17 as well.
To be frank I never found the mass start all that different from the rolling start in terms of the physical contact (minimal) or drafting (I have a hard time finding people swimming straight to tail).
The difference I did notice was that with the rolling start I’ve been able to find a seat in the change tent in T-1. I don’t if they’re related, but my swim time has only changed by a minute per year, and with the mass start the tent was jam packed. With the rolling start its been very busy when I’ve hit the tent, but there were still quite a few available seats.
Took 10 minutes to get everyone through. With pro women only 10 minutes ahead caused a complete cluster fuck to their race on lap 2.
If a 2 lap swim ironman should give 30 minute lead to get pros onto lap 2 before the rollout. But, problem with that for IMC is needing lake for 70.3 race. And WTC needs that race to get #s to work a viable race weekend.
So it is what it is.
There was enough daylight they could’ve started the pro women at 6:30 to give them more buffer.
Congratulations on the KQ and PR. Nobody has mentioned the impact the rolling start might have had on swim times - Do you attribute any of the start to your PR or all just your very smart training. I changed my training drastically last year and went from slow 1:44 Mount Tremblant last year to 1:26 IMC (still slow I know) and previous PR 1:35.
Not sure to be honest. I did train the swim a little more this year but not much. In the moment of the race nd even now with 20/20 hindsight, it just felt more relaxed the whole time. Maybe I didn’t go out too hard to try and avoid battle swimming and thus had the stamina to keep up a good pace the whole race, cuz I sure felt relaxed for the entire thing, something I have not had on 4 other mass swim starts at IM’s and 1 last minute thrown together “rolling start” for the first year in Louisville… And you are doing something right if you went from 1:44 to 1:26 in a year, 18min is an S**T ton of time to take off in a swim in 1 year congrats
A friend of mine who did the 70.3 in the 40-50 range said he hated the start, my uneducated assumption is that 70.3 went off after IM and he encountered 2nd loop crowd as well as his own. So I think that’s just the specific situation with IMC/70.3 as I have not yet had issues with a rolling start myself (IMLP w/ 2 loops and 2nd loop was fine)
Placid was similar for the male pros, I saw a video of them getting on their second lap as the last bits of AGers were starting 1st, they simply stayed on the right of the buoys going out towards the far turn as not to be in the crowd. I imagine as long as they made the turn outside of the buoys, it was easy swimming for them. Looking at the course for IMC, I could see a similar outcome but with more turns. Some spectator there would need to comment how FPros handled that.
I love it. This is 5th or so WTC event I’ve done with a self seeded rolling start. It does not give 100% clear water though. There was still plenty of contact all the way to 1st turn buoy, but far less than wave starts.
A friend of mine who did the 70.3 in the 40-50 range said he hated the start, my uneducated assumption is that 70.3 went off after IM and he encountered 2nd loop crowd as well as his own. So I think that’s just the specific situation with IMC/70.3 as I have not yet had issues with a rolling start myself (IMLP w/ 2 loops and 2nd loop was fine)
Placid was similar for the male pros, I saw a video of them getting on their second lap as the last bits of AGers were starting 1st, they simply stayed on the right of the buoys going out towards the far turn as not to be in the crowd. I imagine as long as they made the turn outside of the buoys, it was easy swimming for them. Looking at the course for IMC, I could see a similar outcome but with more turns. Some spectator there would need to comment how FPros handled that.
Doubtful. Full started 6:50 AM. Half started 8:50 AM. If any full athletes were lapped by half there couldn’t have been very many of them as they would have all missed the swim cut-off.
He probably ran into people that seeded themselves too far forward.
I’ve actually never cared if the start was rolling or mass (I’m a usually a 28-30 min half and 57-60 full). Though given the option I would prefer rolling as it stops people who are slower swimmers from accidentally being at the front and getting in the way or hurt. I find it a little frustrating to not really know where you are in the field until the end of the race. That being said, the positions at IMC 70.3 didn’t seem to change much from where people seeded themselves and where they finally ended overall.
I’ve done the mass start at IMC when it was a full and the in the water start never felt like a mass start to me. The start line is so spread out that it never had that washing machine feeling. At least for me.
I’ve done the mass start at IMC when it was a full and the in the water start never felt like a mass start to me. The start line is so spread out that it never had that washing machine feeling. At least for me.
Yeah Whistler wasn’t too bad as far as that goes. I think my 2014 and 2017 swim times were nearly identical.
Back when Coeur d’Alene was a mass start, on the other hand… ug.
8th IM for me and this was the easiest swim I’ve had. Almost no contact whatsoever (I started at the 70 minute marker). The lake was fantastic as well. I will be back.
Any feedback on the impact of the rolling swim start? How did it affect your time? Did it provide an opportunity to draft you might not have had otherwise? Any insight into how the rolling start might affect your finishing time would be much appreciated.
Of note: Less than 1300 starters at IMC 2017–I raced 3 previous times and the numbers have dwindled down from 2200 the first year–so guessing that the rolling start really doesn’t make a difference. I preferred the in water start as well.