Come on, everybody knows the Ironman swim is too short. Compared to the length of the ironman race day, its nothing more than a fart, long forgotten before half the bike ride is over.
To make it really equivalent in difficulty to the bike and run, it should be at least double, don’t ya think?
Maybe then we wouldn’t be poo-pooing ironman swim training regimens so much either.
2.4 miles? please…even I can admit its too short, and I’m a terrible swimmer. (around 1:12-1:15)
It was never meant to be equivalent I believe. I think it is plenty long enough. 
To make it really equivalent in difficulty to the bike and run, it should be at least double, don’t ya think?
To make it really difficult, why not place the swim last. That would be interesting.
“The story goes that in 1977 Commander Collins, while stationed in Hawaii was debating the fitness levels of various athletes with some friends. He toyed with the idea of combining the three toughest local endurance races (2.4 mile Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Race (112 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon). “I said the gun will go off about 7 a.m., the clock will keep running, and whoever finishes first we’ll call the ironman.” Said Collins.”
Blame it on the Waikiki Roughwater swim not being longer.
I’ve made the similar argument before, and as the poster nefore me said, ‘It is never claimed to be equal, it’s a combination of Hawaii’s toughest race for the 3 disciplines’. That convinced me to change my opinion. The IM is what is.
Now, it’s a case of people wanting to change the rules/distances of the sport to suit themselves. It’s not unique to triathlon. As a pitcher, I would have preferred the mound be 40-feet away, the bases 200 feet, and center field fence 600 feet. Didn’t work out that way.
I think originally it was the same course as the Waikiki rough water? Is that right?
A rough water 2.4 mile is a lot different than puttering around mirror lake for 2.4 miles. So instead of extending the swim I think they should have mandatory wave machines that create three foot chop on the swim course. That should make the swim interesting again.
Im a great swimmer and would love the swim to be longer, but I dont know if doubling it would do the trick. 4.8 miles is a monster swim - Id be happy with it around 3. Its only inconsequential if youre not competing for places - if youre not trying to push yourself, any sport can be thrown away.
My uncle once suggested having distances be equal to what prime athletes finish in equal time - so if some Kenyan guy does a 2:20 marathon, the bike should be what Lance does in 2:20 and the swim should be what Grant Hackett does in 2:20. I feel like it should be “expended effort” - say, number of calories burned by the top athletes during the event, but thats hard to gauge.
The Olympic distance feels like a good ratio - 1.5/40/10. That would translate to a 4 mile swim and 105 mile bike.
Ahh, but then too many people would have to admit that they really just want to be duathletes anyway. The swim is nearly irrelevant to Ironman, but few people would vote to double it because most triathletes don’t really like to swim that much. Based off the feedback of this forum we need to cut back the swim and the run (because running is too hard), so it’s all about the bike.
Chad
how about this for new “ironman”?: 4mi swim / 100mi bike / 24mi run
(all about 4 x the olympic distance)
but i think the ironman is too bloody long. i would like to try a race like this:
3mi swim / 75mi bike / 18mi run
(or in metric: 4.5 km swim / 120 km bike / 30 km run)
Before you guys take this the wrong way - this is in jest. But that swim really is too short and everyone knows it.
I’m not a good swimmer and avoided tri because I couldn’t swim at all. After a few months I’ve done an IM and I enjoyed the swim the most out of all the disciplines.
OK - it is the shortest by time, and is the easiest option - but if you want to go over 2.4 miles, it won’t be the Ironman any more.
The 2.4 is there from its beginnings, and we can’t mess round with it just for the hell of it.
Amyway - its the most dangerous discupline and a 4 mile swim would be harder to marshall safety wise and lead to more fatalities.
Just accept it as it is.
This is an age old debate… I’m a fish and would love nothing more than a longer swim. But the reality is that the swim, more than any other aspect of triathlon, is the main entry barrier to the sport. Anyone can get get on a bike and then walk to the finish line in a sprint race. But not everyone can swim.
So you just have to accept that the swim is very short in relation to time to the bike and run. But that does not mean you can’t leverage the swim. Based on your time, if you become a world class swimmer you could shave off at least 30 min. from your time. Plus you’ll probably be better rested for the bike and run. So why are you complaining? Start swimming under 50 min. swim splits and report back
I like the Olympic ratio. I think 4 mile ironman swim would be great! Ok ok, so I am a good swimming and would benefit from the longer swim. I think for the most part the swim ends up being a “warm-up” for most the uber triathletes
-bcreager
Swimming should be minimized. Running and biking can be learned by mortals. Swimming properly requires magic rituals and arcane knowledge. Coming from a running background I think a good rule of thumb is one mile of running for every 100 yards of swimming.
The Olympic distance feels like a good ratio - 1.5/40/10.
That would translate to a 4 mile swim and 105 mile bike.
Well. ITU World Long Distance is: 4 km (2.5 mi.), 120 km (75.5 mi.), 30km (18.5 mi.). It indeed gives a better chance to the swimmers.
Alex
Waikiki Roughwater Swim Lives Up To Its Name: More Than 600 Swimmers Are Rescued…
Of over 1,000 swimmers who started the race, a mere 356 finished. More than 600 were rescued by eight units of the Honolulu Fire Department, including its helicopter unit. The Coast Guard also joined in the rescue operation with a helicopter and boats and private boaters in the area pulled several swimmers out of the water.
Not all 2.4 mile swims are created equal
That’s what I’m talking about. Although that was an unusual year for the Rough water swim.
That was swimmers being pulled, if it had been triathletes ouit of 1,000 maybe 7 would have made it.
I posted this ahile back in response to a similar thread:
If you think the swim needs to be longer to even the playing field consider this:
Taking IMH 2003 as an example because it is a non-wetsuit swim that favors the strong swimmer - Jan Sibbersen was first out of the water swimming 46:50 and finished in 9:37:35. Peter Reid swam 50:36 and finished in 8:22:35. Extrapolating from these numbers, the swim would have to be increased to 47.8 miles to give Jan enough of a lead to finish with Peter at the end of the race.
Maybe it’s the swimmers that need to learn how to ride and run 
Haim
The answer to this is simple. Most triathletes are piss poor swimmers! The swim portion is just tokenism to be able to say “Hey, look at me, I’m an all around athlete”
I don’t wanna do an IM if the swim is 47.8 miles. Thanks
I made this similar point on the same subject at another website … doubling the swim would have little to no effect on the overall finishing placings.
Look at the time differences in the swim between the top guys and those behind them. The difference on the swim (even doubled) is easily negated by the differences on the run and bike.
The same guys that win each year would do so if it were doubled or not. The only difference the doubled distance would have is on the number of “just finishing” participants (and perhaps those making the bike cutoff).
I just read the part about the 2.4 roughwater swim. Granted that makes a difference (BIG difference). Still, lengthening the swim would only affect the # participants and just finishers … perhaps that is the desired goal?
I like the idea of “4 x Olympic”.
The biggest problem I have with swimming is not that it’s so difficult, or so complicated … but, that it’s so boring. Not all of us have access to various open water sources. So, we’re stuck in the pool. Swimming for a 4 mile swim would be well, doubly boring. It’d be like doing all your training on the trainer and treadmill.
The answer to this is simple. Most triathletes are piss poor swimmers! The swim portion is just tokenism to be able to say “Hey, look at me, I’m an all around athlete”
What’s the cutoff for swim distance (or time) that would qualify for “all around athlete” status. 2.4 miles is a pretty darn good swim. For some of us, that’s a 1.5 hour swim.