Does anyone have any info on the OH river? High flow etc? I have not signed up yet and dont want to drop 1600 on a race weekend for a shorter swim.
Does anyone have any info on the OH river? High flow etc? I have not signed up yet and dont want to drop 1600 on a race weekend for a shorter swim.
I haven’t heard anything, but am registered for this race. I’m hoping that since last years had bad weather and a shortened swim that this year will be good!
Somewhat related: I swam the course (plus extra) today in the Ohio River. Calm current until I swam back upstream, water temp about 81. On this weekend 9, 10, and 11 years ago, I did the race when it was conducted in August. Today would have been a great day for the race: hi temp was around 82 with partial cloud cover and not much wind.
Thanks, I was worried it might be flooding again.
No flooding since we have had very little rain in the last few weeks, either here in Louisville or upstream in Cincinnati, Wheeling, or Pittsburgh.
I do want rain this week, however, since I’ll be joining a “Bridge to Bridge†swim, 9 miles downstream from the East End Bridge to downtown Louisville. A current will help.
Has IM KY swim ever been shortened or cancelled? If it has it would be a rare instance. Don’t let a river swim cause you to not do the race. It is a good one!
Has IM KY swim ever been shortened or cancelled? If it has it would be a rare instance. Don’t let a river swim cause you to not do the race. It is a good one!
The swim was shortened last year. I raced it in 2015 and up until a couple of days before the race the swim was at risk of being canceled due to a toxic algae outbreak. We ended up swimming and it was a perfect weather day.
That’s interesting. Back when it was an August race (I think August is correct) I had friends that did it every year for several years and I don’t recall any issues with the swim.
Has IM KY swim ever been shortened or cancelled? If it has it would be a rare instance. Don’t let a river swim cause you to not do the race. It is a good one!
The swim was shortened last year. I raced it in 2015 and up until a couple of days before the race the swim was at risk of being canceled due to a toxic algae outbreak. We ended up swimming and it was a perfect weather day.
That was a really nice day. I had my fastest swim ever.
I have only seen this swim altered 1 time which was last year.
I swam it in 14 minutes. It was like swimming in white water rapids down stream
Does the fact that the upstream portion is not actually in the river make it not really upstream and thus a faster swim than a normal 2.4 IM swim?
Does the fact that the upstream portion is not actually in the river make it not really upstream and thus a faster swim than a normal 2.4 IM swim?
Yes, I’d agree. It’s not IMChoo fast, but probably faster on average than a lake swim. Just my N=1, but my times at IMLou and IMFL were identical (1:08). Some current help vs. some salt water help.
I have only seen this swim altered 1 time which was last year.
I swam it in 14 minutes. It was like swimming in white water rapids down stream
Are you forgetting the inaugural year? The whole reason why IM Louisville is a TT swim start is because of the current that first year (2007).
Does the fact that the upstream portion is not actually in the river make it not really upstream and thus a faster swim than a normal 2.4 IM swim?
Yea. The upstream portion of this swim is mostly in a channel of a protected island. You go upriver in this channel with almost zero current for the first ~700 yards. Then you turn out into the channel and you do fight the current a little bit for about 300 yards. Then you hit the turn buoy and FLY downriver to the finish. I was 2 minutes faster in IMLOU (1:00 flat) than I was earlier that same year at IMLP (1:02) and I don’t think I got any faster in the 2.5 months between those races.
I have only seen this swim altered 1 time which was last year.
I swam it in 14 minutes. It was like swimming in white water rapids down stream
I, too, had a 14 minute swim time there last year. It’s rare for me to advocate for a swim cancellation, but this was one instance where honestly we should all have walked back to transition and done a TT start. That swim was only good for getting everyone cold and wet. You couldn’t even use it as a “warmup” because it was so short, and getting started cycling in the cold and wet was not at all a good way to start the day. I ended up DNFed due to hypothermia 35 miles into the ride.
Actually, the current on the Kentucky side of Towhead Island is relative to the overall current. If you’ve experienced minimal current, it’s a factor of a slower river. However, it’s not true that the small channel behind the island has no current. I swam in the Ohio River on the exact course yesterday (Sunday, 25th) which would have been the corresponding date if the race were still in October. The main river current wasn’t that fast, but there was still current swimming upstream from the race start position. Further down, there was a bit of movement, especially near and under the I-65 bridges, and especially since we swam upstream from the swim exit back to the start for the complete circuit. As always, the advice is to swim a bit wider and let the current help you. HOWEVER, if there’s a stronger current, and you’re not strong enough to cut across it to get out at swim exit, aim to swim closer and, and definitely sight for the swim exit and get take to it, rather than trying to cross the current.
I swam several times in mid- and late May. It was a very rainy spring, and the river was MOVING. Water temps in the mid-upper 60’s, no wetsuit. Swimming up the channel was still pretty hard, as sheltered as it is. The downstream portion was like swimming downhill. Then, turning around and swimming back turned into basically a sprint. When we got to the bridge pilings in the main river, it was pretty frustrating to sight the concrete and only move what appeared to be inches every stroke cycle. It was basically a 95-99% effort, and each piling took more than 90s to pass. I think that these pilings are no more than 35m wide. By contrast, swimming downstream, we passed those in less than 20s.
If the barges are moored in the river, you’ll have to swim further into the main current. Be prepared. Yesterday, the barges were moored 5 wide. You’ll have to be sure you really know how to plan ahead to swim toward the exit once you’re clear of the island. That distance is about 1000 +/- m.
Does the fact that the upstream portion is not actually in the river make it not really upstream and thus a faster swim than a normal 2.4 IM swim?
Yes, I’d agree. It’s not IMChoo fast, but probably faster on average than a lake swim. Just my N=1, but my times at IMLou and IMFL were identical (1:08). Some current help vs. some salt water help.
I have had the same experience for this swim. Faster than a lake swim but not IM Choo fast
Yes… I was forgetting that year
I have only seen this swim altered 1 time which was last year.
I swam it in 14 minutes. It was like swimming in white water rapids down stream
I, too, had a 14 minute swim time there last year. It’s rare for me to advocate for a swim cancellation, but this was one instance where honestly we should all have walked back to transition and done a TT start. That swim was only good for getting everyone cold and wet. You couldn’t even use it as a “warmup” because it was so short, and getting started cycling in the cold and wet was not at all a good way to start the day. I ended up DNFed due to hypothermia 35 miles into the ride.
I was kind of surprised that the swim was not scrapped completely as well. Although I never felt unsafe in the water.
I elected to towel dry and a full change in T1. I put on a base layer including 3 layers on my trunk. Then topped it off with a cycling rain jacket. Not aero to say the least but I was warm and my trunk stayed dry. Besides cold rain in my face all day, I was able to be reasonably comfortable. I saw alot of athletes going out in their regular race kits that I thought were going to be in trouble and I was right. Many athletes could no longer open nutrition or other tasks requiring any dexterity. I managed a decent bike split considering the conditions
The run dried up a bit but my feet were wet again by mile 8. I’m hoping for better weather this year… How could it be worse??
I was kind of surprised that the swim was not scrapped completely as well. Although I never felt unsafe in the water.
I elected to towel dry and a full change in T1. I put on a base layer including 3 layers on my trunk. Then topped it off with a cycling rain jacket. Not aero to say the least but I was warm and my trunk stayed dry. Besides cold rain in my face all day, I was able to be reasonably comfortable. I saw alot of athletes going out in their regular race kits that I thought were going to be in trouble and I was right. Many athletes could no longer open nutrition or other tasks requiring any dexterity. I managed a decent bike split considering the conditions
The run dried up a bit but my feet were wet again by mile 8. I’m hoping for better weather this year… How could it be worse??
Yea this was me. I used my regular race kit. I toweled off somewhat in T1, but didn’t change. I should have. Or at least worn one of the special needs bags as a sortof vest. If I had been able to at least keep some heat in my torso, even if I was still wet, I likely would have been fine. But by mile 35 I was so frozen I couldn’t drink, couldn’t get to my nutrition, couldn’t shift my bike. But what finally caused me to make the smart decision to pull the plug was when I realized my hands weren’t working well enough to even slow my bike down. I couldn’t grip my brake handles with any useful dexterity. I pulled off where there was a slight uphill into a left turn manned by volunteers with a tent and told them I was done. There were like 5 other people sitting under that tent in the same situation with me. I do not for a second regret pulling the plug that day.
I have half a mind to go back this year. I finished the race in a decent time in 2017 so it’s not like I haven’t already finished one there. And I am racing IMMD two weeks before it. But part of me says just go to Louisville last minute if the weather is looking like it will be decent and register on site.