When I swam in high school, the “mile” swim was always 1,500 meters. Never really questioned the math, just went with it.
In an ironman, is the distance 2.4 x 1,500m or is it nautical miles or something else? Or perhaps I just should not care because it is impossible to get a course that is exactly perfect.
Also, this weekend I am swimming a USMS sanctioned open water mile swim… would that be 1,500m or would it be an actual mile?
3800M or 2.4 real world miles or as close to that as they can get.
Swimmers have an odd perception of the word “mile”. In the normal world, 1 mile= 1760 yards= 1609 meters. In the swimmer world, 1 mile= 1650 yards= 1500 meters. Nautical miles are even longer. IM swims are based on the normal version of the word, not the swimmer version or the nautical version.
This reminds me of the riddle: “Which weighs more an ounce of gold or an ounce of silver?” Answer: An ounce of gold because it uses the Troy ounce.
I’ve read numerous threads - none of which has had a race officiant chime on on the methodology - and my understanding is that the the 2.4 mile IM swim is measured in “statute” miles (1609 meters per mile) not “nautical” miles (1852 meters per mile).
This issue gets clouded because the conventional wisdom for a “swimmers mile” is that it is not 1609 meters, but rather 1500 and from what I gather that metric only applies to an actual 1500 or one mile swim event.
I think my race times bear this out (i.e. I’m not significantly slower in race than in training pool and if it was nautical miles, it would likely add time to swim?)
What is a little confusing is that for Sprint and Olympic distance Tri’s the swims are 500 meters and 1500 meters ( the bike and run are also in meters ) when you get to the half Ironman they switch everything to miles 1.2 mile swim 56 mile bike and 13.1 mike run and double that for full Ironman. Also from Sprint to Olympic the swim is triple the distance but from Olympic to 1/2 Iron it’s only an additional ~430 meters.
IM swims are based on the normal version of the word, not the swimmer version or the nautical version.
Except for that one time at Ironman California when the Marines from Camp Pendleton thought that since it was 2.4 miles on the water, they meant nautical miles.
What is a little confusing is that for Sprint and Olympic distance Tri’s the swims are 500 meters and 1500 meters ( the bike and run are also in meters ) when you get to the half Ironman they switch everything to miles 1.2 mile swim 56 mile bike and 13.1 mike run and double that for full Ironman. Also from Sprint to Olympic the swim is triple the distance but from Olympic to 1/2 Iron it’s only an additional ~430 meters.
Well sprint swim distances are all wonky. The most common sprint swim distances around here are 400m (the we know you hate swimming so let’s make it short model), or 750m (let’s do exactly half of an Olympic).
Yeah… you’re right. I know there are a lot that just have their own odd ball distances. One near me is a 1/2 mile swim 22.8 bike and 4.8 run.
Yeah… you’re right. I know there are a lot that just have their own odd ball distances. One near me is a 1/2 mile swim 22.8 bike and 4.8 run.
1/2 mile = 750m, or 1/2 mile = 804m 
Yeah… you’re right. I know there are a lot that just have their own odd ball distances. One near me is a 1/2 mile swim 22.8 bike and 4.8 run.
1/2 mile = 750m, or 1/2 mile = 804m
1/2 mile = wherever they decide to set the buoys that day.
When I swam in high school, the “mile” swim was always 1,500 meters. Never really questioned the math, just went with it.
In an ironman, is the distance 2.4 x 1,500m or is it nautical miles or something else? Or perhaps I just should not care because it is impossible to get a course that is exactly perfect.
Also, this weekend I am swimming a USMS sanctioned open water mile swim… would that be 1500 m or would it be an actual mile?
While in the pool the “mile” is 1650 yd or 1500 m, in OW USMS and FINA use the conventional 1760 yd. I think the use of 1500 m/1650 yd is due to 1500 m being considered the “metric mile”. As others have said, in IM races the swim is 2.4 mi or 4225 yd/3800 m.
So riddle me this: I swim in a 25 yard pool and I do 70 laps to hit 1750 yards, which I assume is my mile swim. The pool attendants tell me 66 laps is a mile, which would make more sense if it was a 25 meter pool, right?
So riddle me this: I swim in a 25 yard pool and I do 70 laps to hit 1750 yards, which I assume is my mile swim. The pool attendants tell me 66 laps is a mile, which would make more sense if it was a 25 meter pool, right?
Nah, they’re using the 1650 short course yards (scy) racing distance, which is the scy version of 1500 m.
Ah, sprint races are 750m or less.
This reminds me of the riddle: “Which weighs more an ounce of gold or an ounce of silver?” Answer: An ounce of gold because it uses the Troy ounce.
But which weighs more, a pound of gold or a pound of silver?
Ha! I remember that race when I did it…thought, “What a long ass swim it must be the current, my time is so slow!” Then found out they used nautical miles. Hey, the Marines still put on the best supported race I have ever done there in C.P. Better than Penticton, Hawaii, or any other across the world I’ve done. The only one that came close had to be New Zealand & one time, IM Florida when there were what seemed like 50-100 volunteers per aid station on the run. Yes, the Marines sure know how to put on a show! So they measured wrong…it was still exceptional, kudos for that.
What is a little confusing is that for Sprint and Olympic distance Tri’s the swims are 500 meters and 1500 meters ( the bike and run are also in meters ) when you get to the half Ironman they switch everything to miles 1.2 mile swim 56 mile bike and 13.1 mike run and double that for full Ironman. Also from Sprint to Olympic the swim is triple the distance but from Olympic to 1/2 Iron it’s only an additional ~430 meters.
The distances for an Oly triathlon are based on distances in each of the three sports that are raced in the Olympics.
The distances for the Ironman were based on the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around Oahu Bike Ride, and the Honolulu Marathon.
What is a little confusing is that for Sprint and Olympic distance Tri’s the swims are 500 meters and 1500 meters ( the bike and run are also in meters ) when you get to the half Ironman they switch everything to miles 1.2 mile swim 56 mile bike and 13.1 mike run and double that for full Ironman. Also from Sprint to Olympic the swim is triple the distance but from Olympic to 1/2 Iron it’s only an additional ~430 meters.
Well, in the US they do. I would assume if you’re anywhere else in the world they use metric!
I also swim 70 for my mile
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