More on the ‘Free the Rear Hydration’ thread: chat and clarity from IRONMAN’s Head Referee.
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I assume T100 is following the new guidelines? Because here is Jamie Riddle on what is clearly a non-conforming setup in their promo videos
What makes you think this would be none conforming?
Hard to tell from a photo but does not look higher than 20cm or further back than 25cm from his elbow in this shot.
- Prohibited Items:
– Bottles/hydration or any other objects (excluding nutrition) attached to or inserted in an athlete’s race suit;
Excluding nutrition, does that mean I can put a baguette down the front of my Trisuit instead of a bottle. Presume it has the same effect 
Also, no exclusion for the GPS units Ironman is making Pro series athletes wear.
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A 750ml bottle (which is specified in the World Tri interpretation doc/implementation video as the ‘reference bottle’ and is 250mm long) offers an easy assessment of whether a set up is legal at the front: in the base of the bottle cage in front of the arm rest lowest point (the datum point)? If ‘yes’: all good. Otherwise: nope. And it’s not good saying ‘oh I’ll put a 600ml bottle there’.
I’m sure the approach being followed will be covered in the Pro Briefing shortly.
Given that the DTU refs screwed this down in Kraichgau (4 Pros needed to adjust stuff) and doing the same for the WPros in Hamburg, I’m sure the USAT refs will be both well-briefed and disciplined in San Francisco.
Given Riccitello has clearly got a firm grip of this for IRONMAN, as was evident in the ST Pod, I’m sure World Tri will be keen to show excellence: T100 is their premier draft-illegal race series after all.
Hamburg message (to WPros last week):
UPDATED FAIRINGS
World Triathlon, in consultation with its Technical Committee, the DTU, and the bicycling manufacturers’ industry, has updated their Rules pertaining to fairings and Hydration Systems.
- [Fairings Update] (this has been linked upthread ad nauseum)
Alignment with this Rule at IRONMAN/ IRONMAN 70.3 events, will be effective starting on May 25th.
25 cm is approximately the size of a standard 750ml bottle, and this bottle starts well back of the elbows.
This one’s the easy one to spot for most bikes, since you just compare the bottle start to elbow position. You could probably just stand at bike check-in and use that as your rule of thumb to spot on the fly. The other is obviously the BTS + Speedbox combo, but I don’t think that one will stand the test of time, at least at IM.
That’s going to be one messy trisuit by the end of the race.
It’s hard to tell where the back of the scoop is because of the towel, but from this angle it looks like might be fine?
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'Fraid not, Ben. The quote is from the ‘interpretation’ document whereas the actual rule is below.
IM Competition Rules
5.01 (m) Except as set forth below in Section 5.02(b) [helmet], additional equipment that is deemed to have the effect of reducing wind resistance, as determined by the Head Referee, is prohibited during the bike segment of the Race (whether such equipment is worn under the athlete’s clothing, over the athlete’s clothing, or is otherwise attached to the athlete’s body or the athlete’s bike). This includes, but is not limited to, (i) any bottles/hydration or any other insert located in the front of an athlete’s race suit (DSQ)
I note that this rule says “front”. The Pro’s GPS device is required to be worn on the back.
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Here’s a better angle. He probably can just move the whole bottle forward a few inches and be fine though.
With that bottle size it certainly does seem to be illegal, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the bikes look like on course in San Fran this weekend.
Well I guess young Jamie will know he has hit the big time now that he is the center of a " 'Twitch Hunt ". 
Right, but you can’t really see where the “lowest edge of the arm support” is, and that’s where the measurement is taken, not from the elbow (that’s only when there’s no arm support):
When measured from the lowest edge of the arm support (if none exists, the lowest edge of the athlete’s elbow in the rider’s intended aero position) […]
So I think this one might be fine because the end of the bottle is in front of the back edge of the arm scoop (assuming it’s under the towel where the second line is).
Anyway, I think you’re right that if it’s not within spec it should be an easy fix.
Note that the interpretation document specifies the datum point as:
“the lowest edge of the arm support (if none exists, the lowest edge of the athlete’s elbow in the rider’s intended aero position),”
NOT the “back edge”. (Because otherwise one could circumvent this restriction bay having a massive ‘scoop’ extension on the arm rests.)
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Lol, I don’t fault him. This was likely just his default position.
I only bring it up because the mid-season change and lack of communication about how/when/where it applies is terrible practice. All the parties should be working this out now behind the scenes, and then together make an announcement about 2026 once they’ve worked out the kinks.
Instead we get promo videos and emails showing pro athletes clearly in the wrong position about new rules which aren’t yet uniformly enforced.
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You’re totally right, I was assuming the lowest edge was at the back here.
Anyway, now that we are (or I am… ) combing through promo videos for rule violations here’s Kate Waugh’s setup. Its hard to tell from the angle where the bottle starts relative to the arm cups, but the 1L bottle makes it easy.
I don’t believe she’s compliant either. This is going to be a fun weekend for the refs 
You can still get around it by having a false extension on the back of the bars that goes nearly horizontal. Then just tell the officials that your “intended aero position” is with your elbows off the back.
An even easier workaround, by the exact letter or the rule, is to show your “intended aero position” with you elbows hanging off the back of your bars, almost like the Obree Praying Mantis.
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For an amateur passing the bike check maybe it might work, but you wouldn’t want to risk this as a pro who has many more eyeballs on them during the race. If you spend most of the race with daylight between the arms and bottle it’s easy to spot. If not by a moto, then on video where another competitor can lodge a protest. Isn’t the penalty an auto DQ?
Mark Matthews was saying that if Laura Phillip came to Hamburg with both an internal bladder and a BTS setup, he’d lodge a protest - not likely specifically against Laura but against the absurdity of the rules and how unclear they are and to force the ref’s hand.
That’s exactly why it’s such a problem. There’s no definition of “intended aero position”. What if a rider truly has their elbows off the back of their pads and uses the back of their elbows as the datum (like below) - are they ever allowed to move their arms forward? If their elbows cross the invisible line 250mm in front of their bottle for 1 second will they be DQ’d? What about 1 minute, 1 hour, the entire race?
You can conceivably set something up that passes by the exact letter of the rule, but then be DQ’d because an official chooses to interpret the rule differently.
It’s not the responsibility of the athlete to determine the intent of the rule. It’s the responsibility of the rulemaker to write rules that accurately constrain equipment/behavior in an unambiguous way.
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