I have “heard” that there is a white cable under the water that you can use to sight on instead of having to look up for the bouy. As sighting is my large weakness in the water, this sounds like a great plan for me.
For those that have been there:
It is easy to see?
How far away can you be from it?
How deep is it?
This is my first IM, so I am nervous about such a mass start and want to know everything that I can expect so I can find my stroke as quick as possible.
The water in Mirror Lake is really clear, you can see it a couple body widths away from it. It is about 3 ft under the surface. The line is out there all the time, no boat traffic is allowed on the lake, so you can see it during practice swims. I didn’t get near it on the first loop, but was able to find some space on the second loop and stay right on it.
Yes. Just follow the cable. This works well in practice. It’s easy to see, just a few ft underwater, so you can be pretty far off to one side to see it.
On race day, not so much. It’s a lot rougher closer to the cable and the churning bodies are in the way so you need to be closer to see it. It’s pretty crowded, just follow the guy in the wetsuit. if you’re swimming in clear water, you should go ahead and take a sighting.
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Just follow the cable.
Great in theory/practice but on race day, 2000+ other triathletes are trying to follow the cable!! Best to stay wide on the first leg or perhaps for the whole swim. See how it is at the first turn and then make an assesment from there as to how close to the cable you can get. Best thing to do on this course is find a good draft( someone or a group swimming slightly faster than a pace you can maintain on your own) and hang in there for all your life. Your reward should be a swim split faster than you expect.
The problem with the rope is the 2200 other athletes that also know it’s there and have it in their minds to depend on it for sighting.
I swam the course a few times before the race and while using the rope was nice, I still sighted and set my internal timer to know where the turns are.
You can stay on the inside of the line, just make sure you don’t clip the bouy on the turns.
Ron W.
Unless you are a very fast swimmer and can sprint out from the pack early on, the cable is pretty much useless. I found that last year (I swam a 1:01) I was stuck in a group with people ahead of me blocking me from swimming any faster and people behind me that would keep me from slowing down. Being a crummy sprinter I got boxed in right from the start and just ended up following the crowd and conserving energy for later in the race.
Its yellow polypro line and is great for practice, but I haven’t swam there with the masses so I don’t know how close you can really get to it on race day. Bestg of luck, Tim
i suck at sighting but had a great swim for my standards at imlp. just get as close as you can to the cable and go…there are so many people going straight in that small area that you never have to look up.
your plan sucks big time with 2300 others in the water unless you plan on banging out a 47 minute swim. Having done IMLP several times and swimming up there several times each month you’ll never see the cable during the race. I am a mid-pack swimmer with an IM best of 1:07 and could not use the cable as my pacifier.
Yellow cable that turns to green after the turn visible from at least 5 feet off to the side, although mayber further now that I got my contact prescription upgraded.
In a practice swim I was so busy watching the cable that without noticing the color change I would have swam up onto the beach.
My plan is swim the 1st loop surrounded by the masses and when it spreads out i.e. everybody is in front of me, I will use the cable for the 2nd loop.
Good advice from Ron - a lot less traffic on the inside of the buoys/cable. Just make sure you get back outside for the corner buoys or you’re gonna have a short day.
I’ve done IMLP twice with swims of 59 & 61 with no trouble sitting on the cable either time. Placid is my favorite tri swim venue by far - you’ll enjoy it.
cheers
I used the cable in practice but found that by race day, way too many people there to be bothered so I started way wide right (by the shore). Nice open, clean water and some fast feet to follow. Had a very comfortable, issue free swim and felt great when I got out (swam a 1:04). Not one kick, punch, elbow…nada. I probably swam a bit further but I did the math and it was neglible in the grand scheme of things.