So this past weekend, I’m in a sprint triathlon (.5mi/16mi/3.1mi), fourth wave of five (40-49 age groups). Beach start on a lake. Gun goes off, and it’s a zoo. I’m pounded, grabbed, swum over, bumped, pushed, and generally violated (but not in a fun way). After about 10 seconds of this, I decide that I must sprint out of there, which I do for about 30 seconds. Clear swimming from there on in, except for the several hundred swimmers in the first three waves ahead.
Looking at the results, I see that one person in the wave came out in 11:32. I and another were next at 11:55. The next person was at 12:18, and only three more under 13:00! Who were all those people who were swimming as fast at the start as I wanted to swim for the whole leg, and where were they at the finish? What were they thinking?
I can’t imagine what an IM swim start is like, although I hope to find out some day.
(Prisoner’s Dilemma)
If everyone just swam their normal pace and seeded themselves appropriately at the start, nobody would be forced to sprint, and everyone would come out ahead. But if you swim your normal pace and everyone else goes wild, you lose big time. And if you go wild and everyone else swims normally, you win. And if everyone goes wild, everyone loses.
They are idiots. It’s like a 5k road race, everybody goes like a bat out of hell for 1-3 min then slows down. Most of these swimmers would be better served by starting a bit slower and not swimming :03 secs off their 200m PR time.
At the Turtleman on Aug 7th they have gone to a self seeded race. They’ll take the first 100 volunteers for each wave, and you pick what you want.
Probably ex-division 1 swimmers or other ex-hardcore fish. For most of them, 1:30/100 yard pace is a relaxed comfortable aerobic swim even as they’ll bend your ear about how slow they are now. For the good ones, that pace is essentially active rest.
Probably ex-division 1 swimmers or other ex-hardcore fish. For most of them, 1:30/100 yard pace is a relaxed comfortable aerobic swim even as they’ll bend your ear about how slow they are now. For the good ones, that pace is essentially active rest.
Perhaps I should have been more clear: the first person in my wave out of the water was at 11:32; I and another were second at 11:55. If there were hardcore fish in my wave, they missed a turn. That 11:55 also includes running in the water and up the beach a bit, so I figure my pace was between 1:15 and 1:20/100yd. Also, Laurie Hug was there, and swam 10:43, so if you know how fast she swims, you can estimate how long this swim was. (As an aside, I out-biked and out-ran her 
I also doubt it is ex-swimmers, most of them still swim circles around most triathletes.
I suspect that most are competitive triathletes who may be near the front at the end. They are fast bikers or runners who don’t want to ‘give away’ anything at the start, although, overall they’d be much better off and faster by swimming a more consistant pace.
I must admit that I am somewhat guilty of this in duathlons. I am not the fastest runner out there, but know I will be near the front at the end of the race, so I line up in the first row for the first run. I get some cold stares as faster runners sail by.
Ah, misunderstood you there, and feel your pain. They’ve probably all read the same article that suggested they sprint the first 50 to get around traffic, then slow down to their normal pace.
Am irritated by those swimmers as well. Back in the pool days, I discovered that if I took a long race out too fast I would hypervenhilate bad enough my coach would think I was having an asthma attack. If that sort of thing happened to me in a tri, I’d be DNFing three miles into the bike. So I’m stuck doing a long slow build up to speed and find myself constantly passing slower traffic the first 300-400 meters before getting clear (and running into the previous wave)
I think a lot of people underestimate the aerobic nature of a “sprint” triathlon. However, having said that, I see the same thing in OLY and HIM races. In the past two races I was in I couldn’t believe the number of people that went out hard at the start.
I think you did the right thing by pushing the pace to get out of there. If you know you are fit in comparison to other triathletes (sep. in the water), then you can assume how hard everyone else must be working to be in the pack.
I have actually found IMs to be more civil (or cooperative or whatever word works:). I think there are enough folks out there that are willing to work alongside (instead of against) one another.
justin d
Starting a mass start swim with a sprint has been part of triathlon ever since I got into it (1985).
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Real fast swimmers are trying to drop the drafters
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Bike/run specialists are trying to catch the feet of #1
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Mediocre swimmers are trying to catch the feet of #2
