Ironman Florida gatorade swim pre-race?

Triathlon Forum
1

A few years ago, when I did IMFL in 2007, they had the swim course marked out in the days before the race. Any chance this is still the case? The official athlete’s guide doesn’t mention any swim practice on the course prior to the race.

What was it like last year?

2

Last year there was nothing, the weather was kind of sketchy and all they had in the water was the little markers. They didn’t put large markers out until morning of, But it was kind of windy with rolling waves, we swam it but had to stop and look for little orange dots on the water.

3

Last year was the first year that they stopped the official Gatorade swim. You’ll see two noticeable differences between 2007 and now.

  1. No Gatorade bag check in area or tent for the practice swim
  2. No buoys

You’ll see a bunch of people in wetsuits all over the beach near official start line just swimming out to sea and back. There are family members out there taking pictures. The only difference was that it was just impromptu. I looked outside my condo and saw folks swimming. I just headed toward that area and swam. Lots of people just layed out their gear on the beach and swam like any other beaches out there.

There were no buoys, lifeguards, or anyone representing the race or vendors. It was just folks out there doing their own little thing.

4

Last year there was nothing, the weather was kind of sketchy and all they had in the water was the little markers. They didn’t put large markers out until morning of, But it was kind of windy with rolling waves, we swam it but had to stop and look for little orange dots on the water.

Thanks for the comments.

Actually, from what I remember in 2007, they too had the little orange buoys (very, very tiny). So, lesson is, don’t bring anything valuable if you don’t have family members holding onto it while you swim!

5

Hey Art. They will mark the course in thre days prior, but you will not have the gear check in as when we did it. Sucks, that was awesome. Also loved stocking up on gatorade water bottles!

Have fun and good luck. I am very envious of you at the moment, and lamenting my November “break” to go do a triathlon!