My name is Tony Austin and I was the original author of the blog post "Triathletes should be certified by USMS" over at the SCAQ blog.
After reading all these thoughtful posts, I want to change the concept of certification to qualification. When you want to do the Kona Ironman you have to meet specific qualifications or you can't do it unless you win a lottery and even then, I am sure thy look at your athletic résumé
25-triathletes died this year, that's like two a month. That is an unacceptable casualty for a sport. How many masters swimmers died in a pool meet or an open water swim this year? Not many.
It's my belief that a triathlete must compete is a pool race and demonstrate they can meet a time standard, barring any disabilities or particular age group struggles, in such events as the 500-free, 1000-free, 1650-free or their meters counterpart.
When the time standard is met, the athlete can do their triathlon and both the promoter and the USAT will have some semblance of a safe swim.
I stand by the post, I think it is reasonable that if a triathlete is going to swim a mile-point-five from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park, or a 1000-meter lake swim in Wisconsin, a triathlete should meet a time standard in a pool.
The USMS has the infrastructure, a meet result database to make this fast, easy, and efficient.
It will grow both our sports, lower insurance premiums and make triathlons safer.
My name is Tony Austin and I was the original author of the blog post "Triathletes should be certified by USMS" over at the SCAQ blog.
After reading all these thoughtful posts, I want to change the concept of certification to qualification. When you want to do the Kona Ironman you have to meet specific qualifications or you can't do it unless you win a lottery and even then, I am sure thy look at your athletic résumé
25-triathletes died this year, that's like two a month. That is an unacceptable casualty for a sport. How many masters swimmers died in a pool meet or an open water swim this year? Not many.
It's my belief that a triathlete must compete is a pool race and demonstrate they can meet a time standard, barring any disabilities or particular age group struggles, in such events as the 500-free, 1000-free, 1650-free or their meters counterpart.
When the time standard is met, the athlete can do their triathlon and both the promoter and the USAT will have some semblance of a safe swim.
I stand by the post, I think it is reasonable that if a triathlete is going to swim a mile-point-five from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park, or a 1000-meter lake swim in Wisconsin, a triathlete should meet a time standard in a pool.
The USMS has the infrastructure, a meet result database to make this fast, easy, and efficient.
It will grow both our sports, lower insurance premiums and make triathlons safer.
