Swim Start for Maine 70.3 – from the athlete guide - IM reps saying this is how they do it at 70.3s most of the time. What happened to self-seeding start corrals? Just wondering if this was how Challenge did it or another IM perk?
6:00am All swimmers must exit the water. Lining up for the start will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
6:20am Swimmers will start the race in a rolling format with 2-swimmers entering the water every 2-seconds.
Interesting…Syracuse 70.3 this year was age group waves.
Last year was Rev again (although the Challenge year was also Rev, but with the Challenge logos). Last year it was wave starts.
This year I guess with the much larger field they are opting for the rolling start. I don’t mind it necessarily, but it sounds like it’s by first-come-first-served vs self-seeded by expected swim time. That I am not thrilled with.
Exactly - is it that hard to make signs for self-seeding?
Maybe it’ll keep the course more free flowing? i.e. since you’re not with people your speed in the water, maybe you won’t bunch up as much on the bike?
It would make the swim messy if slower people line up at the front to “get extra time” and faster people smash into and swim over them. Since it’s not a long swim I doubt it would spread the field all that much on the bike. Though there could be some strategizing involved with starting near the back so you get some slingshot effect.
… Since it’s not a long swim…
Is it less than 1.2 miles?
… Since it’s not a long swim…
Is it less than 1.2 miles?
It is… I just don’t think that 2100 yards is enough distance to spread a field out, at least for faster people.