The open water discussion has been a little boring lately so time to add some controversy. The above quote was affixed to a plaque my swimmers gave me when I retired as Head Coach of the University of Denver Masters Swim Team. Yes, they knew where I stood on the subject. Others share my view. In my day job as a stock broker I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal “Wimp or Triathlete, You Probably Like That New Wetsuit" by Kevin Helliker, published on September 24, 1999. In it were several memorable quotes on the subject. "How pathetic, says Betsy Brennan a Lake Michigan swimmer" "When I see people in wetsuits, I think: wimp." Another Chicagoan Ted Erikson, who did a double crossing of the English Channel without a wetsuit, said on the increasingly use of wetsuit by swimmers in Lake Michigan. "I ask them, 'Why don't you just get a boat? Boats have heaters.”:D
I know Ironman events have really changed their safety policy since that episode. I still submit someone can slip under even with the closest of safety monitoring. I just hope if I bump my head against another competitor and slip to the depths of the toxic waste dump known as Tempe Town Lake, my wife takes the life insurance money and moves to the Virgin Islands with a 19 year old cabana boy named Pedro (rather than calling Goldberg and Osborn law firm and extracting cash out of a poor race director).
Alas, the days of "manning up" are gone.
I know Ironman events have really changed their safety policy since that episode. I still submit someone can slip under even with the closest of safety monitoring. I just hope if I bump my head against another competitor and slip to the depths of the toxic waste dump known as Tempe Town Lake, my wife takes the life insurance money and moves to the Virgin Islands with a 19 year old cabana boy named Pedro (rather than calling Goldberg and Osborn law firm and extracting cash out of a poor race director).
Alas, the days of "manning up" are gone.
