Triathletes Hate Swimmers!

This makes zero sense. Why not shorten the run as opposed to the swim? Running is harder on the body and in the best interest of the sport, you'd think you'd promote the part that has the most health benefits/fewer risk factors.

I agree that the swims don't seem long enough relative to the other legs. Last weekend, I did a tri with a 1/4 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 4 mile run. I came out of the water in the top half of the pack, but nearer the middle than the top. But if the swim had been longer (say twice as long), I would have been closer to the top. I had just started to get warmed up and got a good rhythm going - I am certain that with more distance I would passed more people. With the way the races start - a big group of people flailing in the water - it is hard to get a good swim stroke going until the pack spreads out some - and this just doesn't happen much in a 1/4 mile.

When my then 12 year old (now 18) Son Matt and I swam the Golden Gate Bridge Swim and the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swims together in 1998 we swam both evens in the non-wet suit division. The Golden Gate Bridge Swim is restricted to 250 swimmers due to the treacherous nature of the swim. Only 14 people swam it without wet suits in 1998, Matt & I being two of the 14. Many triathlon swimmers gravitate to those swims and quite a few asked Matt where his wet suit was. I laughed out loud when my little 12 year old Son from Texas told them, “I’m a swimmer, I don’t need a wet suit, and besides, none of the 19 Texans who swam here with my Dad last year wore wet suits.” Matt went on to win the 10-19 (10 year age grouping on those swims) year old age group, beating most of the triathlon swimmers on the Golden Gate Bridge Swim. One really nice triathlon swimmer asked Matt if his Dad feeds him live chickens, because he was such an animal. Matt smiled and told him, “Swimmers Rule!” The triathlon swimmers got a kick out of Matt and told him he should be a triathlon athlete. Matt told them he was a distance guy and they should be swimmers….. Without exception, all of the triathlon athletes I have swam against, have all been stand up people.

I was at the 2-mile cable swim in Indy. It was a very good swim. Prior to the swim there was a mini-tri. Many of the swimmers made very negative remarks about the triaths. The guy who ran the swim made a negative comment over his blowhorn & many of the swimmers applauded. I found it really bad. Every outdoor distance swim I've ever gone to, I've heard people make negative comments about triaths. I really don't get it. I truly think that many on both sidesdon't like the other. I wonder if it is misunderstanding of the other. Both are competing for the same sort of time at the pool or what?

When I did do triathalons, I used to run a lot alwo. the biking wasn't a great problem but hard. In the last 10 years the swimming portions have gotten shorter because most triahtalons are organized by runners who are trying to put some challenge into their races. If more swimmers got involved in the plannig the swimming wouldprobably become more important

Keeping the swim shorter makes the tri doable for more people. They don't have to spend as much time in the water both racing and in training. Make the swim longer and I think fewer will want to participate at the grassroots level. Not really in the best interest of the sport.

Originally posted by Scansy I agree that the swims don't seem long enough relative to the other legs. Last weekend, I did a tri with a 1/4 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 4 mile run. I came out of the water in the top half of the pack, but nearer the middle than the top. But if the swim had been longer (say twice as long), I would have been closer to the top. I had just started to get warmed up and got a good rhythm going - I am certain that with more distance I would passed more people. With the way the races start - a big group of people flailing in the water - it is hard to get a good swim stroke going until the pack spreads out some - and this just doesn't happen much in a 1/4 mile. In a quarter mile swim I often spent most of the swim portion searching for space in which to swim. When I would finally find some room and be able to really swim - the swim would be over. The swim leg was the only part I was good at. Also, the swim leg seems to be shortened all too often. We had a tri here that was 1/2 mile swim, 15.5 mile bike, 5 K run - distances that are as good as it gets for swimmers. Alas, the swim leg was shortened to 1/4 mile while the other distances remained the same.

When I was beach guarding in santa barbara a few years back I was the swim director for our local triathalon, which is now a pretty big event.. It was great fun because I was given the responsibility of setting the 1 mile course and when a swimmer sets a mile you know it will be a mile.. many people complained about the distance so much so that the local newspaper picked up a bit of the story and asked me for my take and all I had to say was that "everybody had to swim the same distance and swim the same mile, looking at the times of the better swimmers it was fair to say that it was a real mile, so maybe instead of complaining about their times they should do what all good athletes do and find a way to get ready for next year." Maybe it was a bit harsh, but the local Masters numbers swelled for a few months and the race director was happy there was a little contraversy..hey they were talking about the event and the swim! Kipp

Originally posted by Guvnah (And as we've seen in several threads about starting up with a masters swim team, masters swimmers are a welcoming and generous lot. Unless they are noodle-users who demand that the pool managers heat up the lap pool to 88 degrees. :D

I would expect any "I hate swimmers" sentiments to come from triathletes who were not previously swimmers. And of those who were not previously swimmers, any such sentiments would not come from those who have developed decent swimming skills. The thing about swimming is this: you can't just swim down some lonely river by yourself and work at getting stronger on your own. You have to do swimming in places where you almost necessarily have to rub elbows and share lanes with accomplished swimmers. Running and biking are not limited in that way. If you feel intimidated by a certain group of runners or bikers, you can choose a different road or path. So if an athlete can't get over feelings if inferiority or intimidation, they're gonna resent being around strong swimmers. They're going to pick up negative vibes whether they're there or not. (And as we've seen in several threads about starting up with a masters swim team, masters swimmers are a welcoming and generous lot. So all the triaths have to do is jump in and rub elbows, and they'll see that there's nothing to fear and everything to gain.) If only the triaths could know my awe and admiration for their conditioning and capabilities! Sure, maybe I get from one end of the pool to the other faster than they can, but they do practically everything else faster than I can!