After reading several posts about swim related deaths in triathlon, I was wondering why the time-trial start is not a default option in races?
One could argue that you would drastically reduce the stress which is related to mass swim starts. Second, volunteers might be able to better spot weak swimmers, or athletes with seizures from the crowd. Third, this start type might be more practical for strong swimmers since the probability to get stuck behind slow groups of swimmers would be reduced.
Since someone of the members was doing research on SIPE (Francois?), I’m curious, have you seen any SIPE events in triathlons using time-trial start?
An obvious reason would be the time delay involved with a time-trial style start. Even with short intervals between competitors I don’t think it would be a viable option with large field sizes.
I think a TT start would suck as a default option. Even having an AG split into waves sucks. As I am racing against others in my AG it is nice to know who is where in relation to each other.
The coolest thing about doing an IM is the Mass start.
An obvious reason would be the time delay involved with a time-trial style start. Even with short intervals between competitors I don’t think it would be a viable option with large field sizes.
a tt start probably does take a little longer, but not a lot. if you send someone every 3 seconds, that would be an equivalent rate to a wave of 100 every 5 minutes. lifetime fitness tri had 3000+ finishers this year and they use a tt start for age-groupers (wave start for pros, elites, clydes/athenas, relays).
OK, 100 every 5 minutes is 1200/hour, or ~2 hours for an IM field. So then what do you do about the cut-off times when some folks are getting out of the water an hour before others even get in? Likewise, getting to start 1-2 hours earlier or later could have a significant bearing by the time you reach the run depending on how fast you swim/bike and how hot it is in the afternoon, so how do you decide who merits that advantage or disadvantage?
I absolutely hate the TT start for many reasons but you can pull it off regardless of size. IM Lou did it this year in 43 minutes with a field of ~2700
That’s impressive. At the local Putah Creek time trials this summer I had to wait ~40 minutes with a field size of less than one hundred people. I’d imagine IM Lou had less generous time intervals but, as other posters have pointed out, the starting time can play an important role in your performance.
IM Lou did it this year in 43 minutes with a field of ~2700
very interesting. i did not know that. looking at the imlou athlete guide, they did it self-seeded with first come/first serve and so folks that lined up early had ~3 hours to finish the swim (swim course closed 2:20 after the last starter). everyone still had the same 5:30pm cutoff for the bike and 12am for the run so the last starter had only 16:17 to finish.
Although I am a BOP swimmer, part of the allure of an IM is the chaos at the beginning of the swim. In both IM’s I’ve spectated at (Kona in '06, LP in '09), I got chills throughout my body as the tension was building leading up to the start of the race. I’m not saying that a time-trial start is not a valid argument, just that seeing the huge mass of people starting the day is inspiring to say the least.
And what would Mike Riley say at the start of a race… “And the first swimmer is off… then the next… then the next…”. It just isn’t the same.
What about 5 swimmers every 10 seconds diving off a pontoon, or just running from a beach start. That gets you 30 per minute, of 1800 over an hour. I think this would work better than pure wave start and it immediately spreads things out and “unclumps” things and also makes it easier to spot a swimmer in distress. In reality, in 10 seconds the first group of 5 is 10+ m up the swim and the current group of 5 are spread out by say 10m on the pontoon, so they can’t actually beat each other up. If you want to draft, you can pick one of the 5 in your group, swim harder and catch someone in the group up front, or take it easy and let a guy from the next 5 person group to catch up and get onto those feet.
How many of these deaths occur during the first 400m of the race? That would be the only real reason for the change. And if you really do have a problem with the start, just wait 5 min and then swim.
this start type might be more practical for strong swimmers since the probability to get stuck behind slow groups of swimmers would be reduced
Actually my experience is that you get stuck behind slower swimmers for a longer perod of time, as they are strung out along the swim course in front of you
After reading several posts about swim related deaths in triathlon, I was wondering why the time-trial start is not a default option in races?
One could argue that you would drastically reduce the stress which is related to mass swim starts. Second, volunteers might be able to better spot weak swimmers, or athletes with seizures from the crowd. Third, this start type might be more practical for strong swimmers since the probability to get stuck behind slow groups of swimmers would be reduced.
Since someone of the members was doing research on SIPE (Francois?), I’m curious, have you seen any SIPE events in triathlons using time-trial start?
Hrm.
So if you’re a strong swimmer that is starting 350 back in a TT type start, you now have this long string of people swimming all over the place that you have to go through, instead of being able to break out in front of your group.
The Rattlesnake triathlon does a TT start, and it’s very nicely run, but they are doing ~5-600 competitors. I don’t think it would work all that great for the larger races.
Plus, I don’t think it would be easier on the kayakers. The old cattle drivers kept them in groups for a reason.
Seems like fighting the crowd to the first buey is part of the excitement of the event! I’m not a super strong of a swimmer, but it has definately forced me to get alot better… A TT start would take alot of the anxiety and excitement out of it - IMHO.
