Was anybody there?
A friend of mine competed, trying to qualify for worlds. He raced well but was beat by someone and therefore didn’t qualify. This person apparently swam about 6 minutes faster than he has in past races. My friend protested within the legal time limit and, I suppose it’s under investigation.
How could this person swim six minutes faster? My friend said everyone had yellow swim caps, so you basically could start in any wave - the waves were five minutes apart.
I have the name, but I don’t have splits yet or any other information.
I told my friend to follow up his protest with Charlie Crawford. Is there anything else he should do?
How long since his previous race? I took 5 minutes off my swim in a race from one year to the following. Same course, same conditions, I was better. Its entirely possible that the guy spent more time in the pool than he previously had. Or maybe his previous race was not indicative of his swim strength.
In Oregon (NAGC) earlier this year, he swam the 1500 in 28:20 - 33rd in AG (50-54). At Jordanelle, he swam nearly a 20 flat to take third OVERALL in the swim. Also, this swim was at nearly 7000 ft altitude.
This is an excerpt from his blog about racing Worlds in Lausanne last year:
“I had a great race. My unofficial results are a 26 minute swim, a 1:05 bike and a 46 minute run giving me a 2:29 finish. This put me at 18th place in my division, which is a very good result for me and I don’t think I could have done much better.”
You can’t protest this situation. Protests deal with eligibility (racing in correct age group) or some equipment (double disc wheels). See the USAT rules (Article X).
Just because someone swam faster doesn’t mean they cut the course. Reality is what the official sees & nothing else matters. If no official saw this person cut the course then it did not happen. You’re basing this allegation on circumstantial evidence at best. If this person was in the incorrect wave start then it’s an issue for the timing people. If, and that’s a little word with major connotations, this person was in the wrong wave, & started earlier than his or her assigned wave, then you hope the timing people catch it. The timing people are part of the officiating crew, if indeed there were USAT officials present, and can make the adjustment in the results. If not, well then c’est la vie. Karma will even out the score, IF this person cheated.
well I was there and I know who your friend (R.J.) is. yeah we think the guy that beat him went in the first wave. as everybody had yellow swim caps. so anybody that was 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th wave could sneak in and go a wave early and swim nice and easy and not be tired from the swim and hammer the bike and run. that is what we think happened.
but I did feel the altitude on the swim. i couldn’t bike as i did too much mountain biking up in Park City the week of the race. Oh yeah and I also fell on the race.
He brought it to Charlie’s attention who, in turn, reviewed the splits and contacted the RD. The RD contacted the person in question who remarked he cannot swim that fast, but can’t explain it. At the finish, his watch clicked off a 2:11, which is about where the official clock pegged him.
I figure they know he cheated, but won’t disqualify him… no proof. But, I hope, given that, they give my friend a spot on the team, anyway. From the correspondence he’s sent me, it sounds like it might go that way.
(Why would all the waves have the same color cap? LAME!!!)
yeah, he did one lap. it was a two lap course, he probably did go with his wave, but just did one easy lap. since everybody else had a yellow cap. you can’t tell who has swam 1 or 2 laps and what wave they went in. so he comes in fresh from the swim and puts it down on the bike and run. And everybody else is doing two laps at elevation and is having a hard time breathing. well at least all of us that went up there from the OC.
Shockingly great news…
The dude was disqualified.
From the RD:
On August 25, 2007, you participated in the Olympic-distance Jordanelle
Triathlon in Francis, Utah. The electronic timing provided by
Milliseconds shows your preliminary results of 2:11:32 for the entire
race, including your swim split time of 20:58. This performance has
generated multiple conversations with you, the timing company, the race
director, and with various officials within USAT.
The timing officials have verified that your swim time was accurately
reported - from the start of the second wave you were assigned, until
the time you exited the water, 20:58 was the correct time. Based on
your own performance as well as the performance of other athletes with a
proven swimming performance, the only conclusion I can make is that you
did not correctly complete the entire swim course as defined in Rule
3.4a, Entire Course, of the USA Triathlon Competitive Rules.
Based on this conclusion, I must disqualify your performance at this
race. With this email, I am providing notice to the race director and
to the timing officials to make this change in the official race results
athlete #xxxx, , should receive a DQ based on a violation
of rule 3.4a, Entire Course.