One more reason to NOT do triathlons!

It is my observation that triathlon is now being dominated by people who just can't swim and have the mentality that its ok not to even work on it. All the time I hear people really stressing about the swim before we start. I have a friend that I used to fear for during the swim, it would take him almost 30 mintes to go 400m. Why do I state all this? Becasue it affects the sport. Races get cancelled or RD's turn swim's into a second run when waves pick up a bit. I dropped $185 on Steelhead 70.3 last year to have the swim cancelled. Take out the swim and I lose my overall advantage and my qualification to compete at Clearwater. Now lets point the finger at me, I am not a super runner, never was. I know this. So I work at it. I did the research, I asked everying, I even called my old HS XC coach for advide. After 3 years I can finally split 6 min miles/ 10k. A triathlon is 3 sports, embrace ALL 3 or do something else. I hate the overwhelming number of people who think they need to change their lives with Tri but aren't willing to put the time in to succeed at the whole. I wanted to play football, I even tried once. I just couldn't get my once 125 lb body to be effective. I recongnize that's not my sport. Others need to do the same. Sorry, just a short rant from somebody who thinks people who can't swim shouldn't. Cmonster - I can understand what you mean about the need to train adequately for the swim before taking on a triathlon. At the same time, it is not fair to single out the individuals who are not strong on the swim. If I sat around and really thought about it, I suppose I could get annoyed at the age group or college swimmers that come in and do a triathlon for fun and who can't bike very well (mainly because they haven't practiced it). Often they smoke everybody on the swim and then are out on the road biking before everybody else. I suppose I could complain that they get in my way of having a better bike split and make my biking portion of the race more dangerous because I have to pass them. At the same time, fast runners could complain about people like me that they have to pass when trying to run their fastest times on the end of the triathlon. Don't blame the weak swimmers for a race director's decision to cancel the swim portion of a triathlon. Blame lawyers, our legal system, and juries.

It is my observation that triathlon is now being dominated by people who just can't swim and have the mentality that its ok not to even work on it. All the time I hear people really stressing about the swim before we start. I have a friend that I used to fear for during the swim, it would take him almost 30 mintes to go 400m. Why do I state all this? Becasue it affects the sport. Races get cancelled or RD's turn swim's into a second run when waves pick up a bit. I dropped $185 on Steelhead 70.3 last year to have the swim cancelled. Take out the swim and I lose my overall advantage and my qualification to compete at Clearwater. Now lets point the finger at me, I am not a super runner, never was. I know this. So I work at it. I did the research, I asked everying, I even called my old HS XC coach for advide. After 3 years I can finally split 6 min miles/ 10k. A triathlon is 3 sports, embrace ALL 3 or do something else. I hate the overwhelming number of people who think they need to change their lives with Tri but aren't willing to put the time in to succeed at the whole. I wanted to play football, I even tried once. I just couldn't get my once 125 lb body to be effective. I recongnize that's not my sport. Others need to do the same. Sorry, just a short rant from somebody who thinks people who can't swim shouldn't. Cmonster - I can understand what you mean about the need to train adequately for the swim before taking on a triathlon. At the same time, it is not fair to single out the individuals who are not strong on the swim. If I sat around and really thought about it, I suppose I could get annoyed at the age group or college swimmers that come in and do a triathlon for fun and who can't bike very well (mainly because they haven't practiced it). Often they smoke everybody on the swim and then are out on the road biking before everybody else. I suppose I could complain that they get in my way of having a better bike split and make my biking portion of the race more dangerous because I have to pass them. At the same time, fast runners could complain about people like me that they have to pass when trying to run their fastest times on the end of the triathlon. Don't blame the weak swimmers for a race director's decision to cancel the swim portion of a triathlon. Blame lawyers, our legal system, and juries.