having just recently competed in the 2nd annual lake quassapaug open water festival, i can honestly say that stage racing has become my favorite way to kill a day (or a week).
i will be heading out to austin in october to participate in the highland lakes monster challenge....5 lakes in 5 days.
not to limit the pleasure of such a format to open water, i think there are tremendous possibilities for adding such challenges to the standard pool racing format.
here are a few suggestions:
50 of each stroke and the 100 im
100 of each stroke and the 200 im
200 of each stroke and the 400 im
1000, 1650 and 400 im
etc.
to clarify, each participant would be scored by their combined time.
Parents
Former Member
When I lived in Atlanta in the 1990's they had the GOWSS or Georgia Open Water Swim Series which was very cool. I recall there were 5 races of various lengths from ~1k to 5k over a summertime. You scored points in a grand prix fashion which accumulated to an overall winner. You got points for high places in your agegroup and how many people you beat overall. The points accumulation kept you coming back. I don't know if they still do that, but I hope so.
Here in WA state, they do a SCM pentathlon meet. They have a sprint (50's + 100IM), middle distance (100's + 200IM) and monster division (200's + 400IM), with an added brute division (200 Fly, 400IM and 1500 free). Its a good format, but tends to be too short between events.
Also, there are people here who do a Tour de Mercer (Island). Its a six (?) stage race around Mercer Island done mornings over two weeks. There is reputedly a yellow thong for the leader. Not sure of the exact details.
I think events like this just need to be done by some faithful few until they catch on. Sort like the Ironman story. Started with a few guys, and grew and grew. Of course, there is no gurantee of it catching on, but it won't unless you start somewhere. I understand that the planning of these events gets very involved once you get "official".
When I lived in Atlanta in the 1990's they had the GOWSS or Georgia Open Water Swim Series which was very cool. I recall there were 5 races of various lengths from ~1k to 5k over a summertime. You scored points in a grand prix fashion which accumulated to an overall winner. You got points for high places in your agegroup and how many people you beat overall. The points accumulation kept you coming back. I don't know if they still do that, but I hope so.
Here in WA state, they do a SCM pentathlon meet. They have a sprint (50's + 100IM), middle distance (100's + 200IM) and monster division (200's + 400IM), with an added brute division (200 Fly, 400IM and 1500 free). Its a good format, but tends to be too short between events.
Also, there are people here who do a Tour de Mercer (Island). Its a six (?) stage race around Mercer Island done mornings over two weeks. There is reputedly a yellow thong for the leader. Not sure of the exact details.
I think events like this just need to be done by some faithful few until they catch on. Sort like the Ironman story. Started with a few guys, and grew and grew. Of course, there is no gurantee of it catching on, but it won't unless you start somewhere. I understand that the planning of these events gets very involved once you get "official".
