I did that same Rev3 race! It was memorable!
I was in the 27 min and under as well and said the same thing to my boyfriend after the raceā¦I passed quite a few people in the first few minutes that had no business being in the 27 min and under group.
This was my fourth time doing this race in Augusta and I can tell you there are a few things that lead to this, especially there.
- IM not allowing or setting up a warm up/practice area is a bad idea. This race setup creates challenges for doing this, but there has to be a solution.
- This race is advertised as easy and fast, therefore non swimmers select this race for that purpose. You then have confident swimmers, and triathletes who swam once a week for 6 months leading up thinking āhey its easyā/
- Augusta is known for being a hot race, the water is always borderline and they always magically find the cold spot in the river. So now you have swimmers who are already freaked out about the swim, wearing tight wet suits because they donāt know any better, mixed in with warm water and humid outside conditions. The last two years I wore a wet suit and regretted itā¦
Can Ironman make some changes to improve, 100%. But at the end of the day there is a level of personal responsibility. Freak accidents happen but from being there the last 4 times the race has been run, I can tell you with 100% confidence that it is scary how many people you see prior to the swim start on the borderline of crying because they donāt know if they can swim 1.2 miles. If you donāt think you can, donāt get in the Fāing water. This is a hobby for 99.9% of us, why are you putting your self and the rescue workers at risk?
Iāve raced Augusta 4x as well and do agree with you that there is a trend for people to target this race that have minimal swim ability. A lot of people show up praying for it to be wetsuit legal as they are banking on that to help them down the river as well.
This makes the third year of my participation in the race that a tragic event has happened during the swim. The past two years someone has tragically died during the swim and in 2019 a man had an event during the swim and survived, though he needed significant hospital and rehab time in Augusta to recover enough to go back to his home state.
Iād like to see them go to wave starts where you begin by treading water, but I just donāt know that they will. There are negatives and positives for each method of starting the swim, but even jumping into 72-73 degree water can be a bit of shock to the system, especially when your heart rate is already up because of nerves. Add on to that that you know that you only have 3 seconds before another 3 racers are going to be jumping in and swimming over top of you if you find yourself struggling in front of the floating dock.
Getting back to your point about the heat at Augusta, Iāve actually heard racers state they are lining up in the front two groups so they get in the water earlier and that way they can avoid some of the heat on the bike and run. Itās a bad idea as you are going to get pummeled by the fasters swimmers and that in itself can lead to a panic attack in the water.
In my 4 year experience at Augusta, they seem to be pretty fair about water temp. 2018 and 2019 were borderline and they went with wetsuit optional. 2021 and this year have been well below the 76 degree cutoff. What water temp you find a wetsuit uncomfortable is very individual, though I imagine there are a lot of first timers at the race who have never swam in open water nor in a wetsuit. That gets back to your most important point of personal responsibility. 1.2 miles is a long way, even with the current. You can stand on the bridge over the river and look out at all the buoys placed out and get an idea of just how far it is. At the end of the day we all have to be honest with ourselves regarding our own abilities and our own health.
Well said
There is an unofficial practice swim at Augusta 2 days before the race that is a good idea for people to do to familiarize themselves with the water ahead of timeā¦IM does threaten in the Athlete guide that anyone swimming in the river before the race is subject to a DQ but there are literally hundreds of people that do the practice swimā¦I donāt see them DQing that many people and I donāt see how they can prevent people from using a public waterwayā¦I think they should tone down the message in the Athlete guide and just say there is no official swim before the race and you swim at your own risk.
If an event implies not to swim in the waterway before the event, itās a good idea not to swim in the swim area. Race organizations have all kinds of agreements with cities, etc and so if itās not āallowedā donāt do it.
The liability couched in that idea is insane. The only play for Ironman (to have a reasonable defense) is to 100% prohibit any swimming outside the event. That goes for the bike course, too. Ironman saying āswim at your own riskā is implying that they condone swimming outside of race day.
Iāll chime in hereā¦
This very topic has been on my mind for quite some time, and I feel (finally) it is gaining the traction it deserves. I, too suffer from swim panic attacks on race day that I cannot emulate any other time. Iāve been racing since 2016, now in my late 40ās and am an average swimmer (:35 half; 1:14 full race day PRās). Iām definitely faster solo and can usually beat these times if Iām not surrounded by hundreds of other swimmers thrashing around me. In fact, thatās usually when the panic begins - I find myself jumping in, taking a few strokes and suddenly there I am trying to get around slower swimmers right in front, thus causing me to breathe not to my side but straight ahead and sort of āgallopingā in order to move forward. Thereās just too many bodies in the water. I hate running into people, (and I donāt like my feet slapped either) and when I do it throws off my swim rhythm. Furthermore when I gallop while maneuvering around swimmers in order to find clean water I end up hyperventilating, and thatās when the panic usually starts. From here I end up swimming a makeshift butterfly, and naturally Iāll look behind me back at the start line (not recommended) and all you see are swimmers en masse coming toward you. Not good. Throw in the cold water, a constricting wetsuit and it can be a recipe for a DNF. So realizing I have a problem, I began to research how to mitigate these panic attacks. Naturally the mammalian dive complex came up and my plan was to simply train in cold water. Didnāt really help. I even began early this season open water swimming in the Pacific on Feb 1, with a water temperature of about 54F. Neoprene cap, ear plugs, wetsuit and a running start right into the water. Yes, the cold took my breath away, but never anything CLOSE to what Iāve felt on race day in much warmer water temps.
During my first-ever 70.3 (Santa Cruz, 2016) I suffered my first real panic attack that almost caused a DNF. After about 200 yards I simply couldnāt breathe, felt like I was gasping for air and I had to turn on my side and sidestroke in order to continue. Eventually I calmed down and found my groove, but this was truly an eye-opener. I tacked it up as being āinexperiencedā and went on to compete again next year in Santa Cruz with no panic attack (although the swim was shortened) as well as three subsequent Santa Rosa 70.3ās and two full IMās also in Santa Rosa. I recall there was a swim warmup one year in Lake Sonoma for the Santa Rosa 70.3 and I took full advantage of that. Water temp was just below the wetsuit cutoff and I felt the combination of the warmer water plus the swim warmup helped incredibly. Fast-forward to 70.3 St. George last year (May 2021) and I once again suffered a mild panic attack in the water. Sand Hollow Reservoir was pretty dang cold last year and again I found myself in familiar territory sidestroking after about 200 yards until I calmed down enough to finish the swim. The worst was this year at IronMan St. George when something else developed. It seems I may have had SIPE but didnāt realize it until after I finished the race. The day prior to the race I practiced on the southwest side of the reservoir (we were not allowed to swim near the start) and had a very nice and comfortable 1:42 pace for about 1,000 yards. The water felt amazing and I was calm and relaxed. Come race day it was another story and I again found myself galloping around slower swimmers and burned my matches way too early. I panicked, sidestroked for maybe 300 yards and finally calmed down enough to finish the swim in 1:16 but was not happy at all with the way this turned out. I wore my buddyās faster BlueSeventy Helix that day and a neoprene cap with the chin strap and felt early on I was being choked by not only the chin strap but also the tighter wetsuit (I was constantly pulling it away from my neck). On the bike portion I began to lightly cough and the mild cough continued well onto the run - and that is when I started to taste that metallic taste when I coughed deep enough. The cough wasnāt enough to develop any sputum so I continued and had a pretty good race despite the adverse conditions (hot and windy). It was not until I got back to my parentās house later that night when I began to cough up blood. I continued to cough up blood for a couple more hours and let everyone in my family know and then went to sleep. I never felt out of breath or winded, but this did concern me. The next morning I was completely fine. Now Iām wondering if this was indeed SIPE or simply a long day in tough conditions. I have one more full IronMan in three weeks (IronMan California) and am trying to figure out how to not go through this panic debacle again.
There is an unofficial practice swim at Augusta 2 days before the race that is a good idea for people to do to familiarize themselves with the water ahead of timeā¦IM does threaten in the Athlete guide that anyone swimming in the river before the race is subject to a DQ but there are literally hundreds of people that do the practice swimā¦I donāt see them DQing that many people and I donāt see how they can prevent people from using a public waterwayā¦I think they should tone down the message in the Athlete guide and just say there is no official swim before the race and you swim at your own risk.
This is how Iāve always understood it. They usually have an area around the dock marked off with yellow tape. As long as you donāt interfere with their efforts to get set-up, youāre good to go. As you said, its a public waterway so thy canāt really prevent you from accessing it. The unofficial practice swim has been going on for 5-6 years now and Iāve never heard of anyone getting a DQ for taking part in it.
What are the odds of Ironman allowing people to use a Swim Buoy? Maybe start at the end of the race and not be eligible for awards. It would certainly give people peace of mind.
What about aTekraPod? Are they legal?
I see the swim buoy as more of a negative than a positive. All that does is encourage poor swimmers to continue to consider 70.3 and 140.6 events. It also opens up the possibility of people becoming entangled in the ropes/tethers of others. I swam over a number of people Sunday and if they had a buoy in tow then I, or both of us, possibly end up in a bad situation.
I believe the races do allow for the emergency flotation devices that you can wear around your thigh/leg. If you deploy it during the race, you are DQād, but it gives you the option of having a buoy on you that has less of a chance of causing issues for other athletes.
The SwimIt is the one Iām more familiar with:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/09/the-swim-it-in-depth-review.html
cozumel 70.3 this past weekend
havent read this whole thread.. curious, what the autopsies reveal? LOTS of people with undiagnosed cardiac problems in Triathlon and all endurance sports. HCM is a big one that kills people, the old āconsult with your physician before starting an exercise program.ā along with a cardiac screening would be a good idea for many people.
Can only speak for Canadiansā¦ā¦.āconsultingā with a physician here would be a waste of time.
Me: Iād like to get some cardiac screening done.
Doc: Are you having bad chest pain?
Me: No
Doc: No. And if you get bad chest pain, go to ER.
Me: Iād still like to get screened, even have some family history.
Doc: No. And even if I said yes, then Iād have to refer you to a cardiologist, which will take at least a year to get in, and then they will say no.
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A calcium test (CAC score) has been recommended by many. I had one a few years ago and only cost $50 in the US without a doctorās prescription. If youāre ever in the States, search for this, theyāre available in most cities.
I know weāve discussed this a few times on the forum, the calcium test and getting one in the US. Iāve called diagnostic imaging clinics in my closest bordering state, all said I needed a referral from a doctor.
So one thing I enjoyed at Nice this year was the in water start. I actually think thatās a much better approach to a rolling start, or a āwarm upā with a rolling start. Because most people donāt actually take a warm up anyway. Thereās something to be said for swimming out 75 yards, deciding on your spot in the group, and then waiting for that signal to go while you tread water.
For one, youāre not running into the water and then diving in, which does spike the heart rate. Two you get a little acclimatization from just swimming out to the start and treading water. Three, you can decide where you want to sit in the pack and let yourself hang out in the back. Yes, in the rolling start, allegedly you can do that too if you seed yourself appropriately. But you still have the nervous run and swim, and suddenly there are still going to be people swimming around you after that burst of adrenaline.
Just a thought.
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Agreed on all points.
I just had one, nice 0 for a scoreā¦ but i am awaiting the bill. im sure it will be far away from 0
0 is great but I thought I had read that just means you donāt have āhardā plaque in your vessels. I donāt believe the test detects āsoftā plaque.
OTOH I scored a 429 which means I definitely have plaque build up. I followed up with a cardiologist and he ordered a CT angiogram and I did receive a diagnosis of CAD but no blockages. He has me on an annual checkup and thatās all - no meds.
So, did the Coronary Calcium score produce unnecessary testing? I donāt think so but maybe others would.
Unnecessary testing, I think you knowing you are at 429 is going to be invaluable going forward, maybe even save your life. I would get a 2nd opinion on the meds too, maybe Dale can chime in here, but sure seems like the standard at such a high level suggest some sort of statin.
I think my calcium score was about 470 and I have an awful family history of heart diseases, including 4 deaths from some form of it. At our first appointment my cardiologist told me straight out that just based on these 2 factors either a stent or a bypass operation were likely outcomes. However, he did a pretty thorough workup - heart, vascular, and lungs. The end result was that I didnāt need surgery; a statin + an annual check is enough for now.