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explorerJC




Joined: 20 Oct 2005
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Location: Farthingstone

PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:59 am    Post subject: IM Africa Reply with quote

Very sad news of two fatalities... Sad
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mattsurf




Joined: 28 Sep 2016
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Location: Zug, Switzerland

PostPosted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very sad, both on the swim, and the swim was halved due to very hard conditions. There is so much pressure on IM to run the whole event no matter what the conditions... in Weymouth they almost cancelled the swim, but decided not to, however, more than 50 competitors had to be pulled from the water
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explorerJC




Joined: 20 Oct 2005
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Location: Farthingstone

PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2019 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mattsurf wrote:
Very sad, both on the swim, and the swim was halved due to very hard conditions. There is so much pressure on IM to run the whole event no matter what the conditions... in Weymouth they almost cancelled the swim, but decided not to, however, more than 50 competitors had to be pulled from the water


very sad indeed...i await hearing more about the circumstances...

good race coverage on u tubby
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Tony Stark




Joined: 26 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its called Ironman, not Marshmallowman.
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ttowel




Joined: 30 Sep 2008
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Location: Swim School

PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe Tony, but there are several issues here.

Ironman still remains one of the toughest single day endurance events and there is absolutely no minimum standard to take part in it. You don't need to prove you can swim 100m.

If a swim is too rough for full distance it should be cancelled. Not sure that anyone who is anxious of rough sea, sees 90 minutes of hell more preferable over 2 hours of flat water.

Ironman is just a business that gives no turd about its competitors and will come out of any law suit squeaky clean
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Doonhamer




Joined: 16 Nov 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ttowel wrote:
.......Ironman still remains one of the toughest single day endurance events and there is absolutely no minimum standard to take part in it. You don't need to prove you can swim 100m........


This is something about triathlon that amazed me when I was allowed to enter my first Half having only done a couple of sprints.

I came from a fellrunning background where you were often expected to provide proof that you'd completed similar events if you wanted to participate.
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explorerJC




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PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

although it shouldn't be beyond any participant to call it quits if they are not sufficiently prepared...
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mattsurf




Joined: 28 Sep 2016
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Location: Zug, Switzerland

PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 5:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was surprised in Weymouth last year how many people were not prepared for a choppy sea swim, over 50 people had to be pulled off the swim course by the rescue boats. Conditons were quite tough, but nothing unusual, and not as bad as some of the local triathlons in the past. According to IM, they were very close to cancelling the swim completely, but in the end they shortened it.

Sea swims are different to pools and lakes, and I understand that many people have no access to the sea to practice. I am inclined to agree that a shortened swim is not really effective, those people who are able to swim in a choppy sea, will be able to swim 2km or 4km, while those who struggle in choppy water will still find swimming 2km very tough
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JaRok2300




Joined: 01 May 2014
Posts: 461
Location: Worcester, UK

PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You've only got to see the outrage if a race is declared non-wetsuit to understand the level of swimming ability many potential IM competitors get to. A perfectly calm wetsuit swim seems to be the absolute limit of what they train for.

If you spend a bit of time on IM Journey upi realise that is almost the culture now, it's applauded hence one of their most celebrated members "Riptide"


Last edited by JaRok2300 on Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:55 am; edited 1 time in total
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explorerJC




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PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you haven't access to a sea swim for practise and you are not a strong swimmer, why on earth would you not sign up for a more practical option?
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Jorgan




Joined: 12 Nov 2007
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Location: alles was ich bin, alles was ich war

PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As far as the populous goes, I'm a very strong swimmer and yet the only time I've had a 'wobble' was in a rough sea swim*. It's certainly the most likely place you're going to be put under extreme stress & panic in a triathlon.

*Okay, it is called the 'Extreme Surf Triathlon' for a reason! But that was a particularly bad year, and I'd even got a few sea swims done in Cornwall that summer as preparation. On the way back in, a wave picked me up and double somersaulted me underwater; luckily my goggles stayed on, but my hat was ripped off (I always put the strap under the cap).

But yeah, far too many people entering Triathlons pay lip-service to swimming; it's why Standard Dist events have dried-up Rolling Eyes
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Whisk




Joined: 09 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember standing in the registration queue at St George and the people behind were discussing how they hoped to finish the swim inside the cut-off "this time", having started multiple races without ever being able to start the bike Rolling Eyes . I was a swimmer as a kid, so the swim has never been an issue for me, but I can't understand why anyone who is a weak swimmer would even contemplate entering an event with what by most standards is a "long" swim.

I guess from a race organiser's point of view, cancelling the swim isn't as simple as just dropping one leg of the event. You obviously can't have everyone starting the bike at the same time, so you either need to put a 2nd run at the start and have the logistical issues of how your transitions etc are going to work, or you simply set people off at intervals on the bike. If you do the latter, you're probably going to have to cut the distances short too.
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fat buddha




Joined: 13 Jul 2004
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Location: rural Zuzzex

PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jorgan wrote:
As far as the populous goes, I'm a very strong swimmer and yet the only time I've had a 'wobble' was in a rough sea swim*. It's certainly the most likely place you're going to be put under extreme stress & panic in a triathlon.

*Okay, it is called the 'Extreme Surf Triathlon' for a reason! But that was a particularly bad year, and I'd even got a few sea swims done in Cornwall that summer as preparation. On the way back in, a wave picked me up and double somersaulted me underwater; luckily my goggles stayed on, but my hat was ripped off (I always put the strap under the cap).

But yeah, far too many people entering Triathlons pay lip-service to swimming; it's why Standard Dist events have dried-up Rolling Eyes


I did the 1st IM Wales in 2011 - the one with the last minute swim change due to the remnants of a hurricane and with really rough water - bizarrely it became my IM swim PB. Very Happy but lots of experience of sea swimming, often in rough conditions, certainly helped that day.

over the years I've met loads of wannabee IM who have never swum in the sea yet enter events like Lanza, Nice, Wales etc. makes you wonder what's going on in their heads really - they're happy to practice riding and running hills but never get to practice a sea swim.
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awildt




Joined: 08 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In this case the 2 swimmers who died were from coastal towns in South Africa. So I'm sure it was more a combination of unfortunate scenarios than lack of prep. No I don't know how much sea swimming they did in their prep, but reading about the one guy (from my hometown) he wasn't a stranger to SA's obsession with endurance events so I am sure he would've done as much as possible to be prepared.

One thing they did note was the cold water, which a person from the east coast of SA would have difficulty preparing for, especially at this time of year, and does cause shock issues in a swim (as Europeans know and become accustomed to).

I agree that Ironman does attract a vast number of non-swimmers and underprepared swimmers, and people should be educated about the differences in the swim conditions and how much it can affect you. But that takes time and money Rolling Eyes
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