As an "older" female swimmer, I wondered how they come up with the time restraints in the National Championship Open Water swims.
For the 10 K race, the entry form it said "the race will end two hours after the first individual finishes. All swimmers that have not completed the course at that time will be asked to retire."
For the 1 mile race, the entry form stated "swimmers still on the course after the 60 min. time limit will be stopped and listed as DNF in the results."
By my calculations, in the 1 mile swim you would have nearly two and one half times longer than the first swimmer to complete the race, while in the 10 K race you would have less than twice as long.
I would like to see more time allowed, especially for the longer distances. I understand the push to make the day as short as possible but I feel older swimmers are disadvantaged by these restrictions. Older women, are even more disadvantaged. Perhaps more older swimmers would participate if they were not threatened with a DNF if they don't make the cut off times.
Does anyone else have a concern about the time limits in our Open Water National Championship races?
I believe the time constraints are there in part because of the need to have boats, paddlers, etc. on the course to help all swimmers. A few swimmers who lag far behind others draw the resources away from main part of event.
I have also noticed official finishing times that extended beyond the published we-pull-you-out threat time.
I am a slow swimmer and am not terribly concerned about the fairness or unfairness of it all; bit by bit I am learning to swim faster.
Courses that offer once-around and twice-around options are good, as the boats will be there for the twice-arounders and thus for the slower once-arounders.
Also, a meet is a meet. At some point it is qualitatively different from enjoying oneself slowly in the water. It is for time. There are still lots of choices. Are you swimming the Big Shoulders 5k in Chicago in September? That's a pretty forgiving event.
25k is 16 miles. :drown:
Regards, VB
I have also noticed official finishing times that extended beyond the published we-pull-you-out threat time.
This has been my experience, too. I think they want to discourage people who will be out there way too long, but if you are close to the finish at the official deadline in most cases they are going to let you finish.
I wondered about how they came up with the time limits, too. I'd like to try the 10K and eventually the 25K, but probably never will because I don't want the frustration of DNF'ing because of time limits. As it is, it seems like it would penalize those of us who could do the distance but are slower, especially if there is a very very fast lead swimmer.
Maybe eventually USMS will go towards something like the Boston Marathon does and set up qualifying times that vary by age and gender, which levels it for older runners and women. Men 18-34 have to run a previous marathon in 3:10 or under, but women over 80 qualify with a 5:30.
I think many more swimmers would enter and train for these longer events if the time limits were extended, or if you needed a qualifying time to enter but no cutoff at the race itself.
I wondered how they come up with the time restraints in the National Championship Open Water swims.
I think the key word here is National Championship. I have swam in 5 OW races in the past 2 years. 3 last summer and 2 so far this summer. Only one of them was a "Championship" race.
I think the reason for the time limits is to keep a higher standard for the race results. as well as to keep out breaststrokers.
In the famous 3km race in Sweden (Vansbro) the mens winner usually finishes around 29-32 minutes. water temps and currents play a big role. over the past 7 yrs the top 100 time goes between 40-45minutes. after that it's hard to compare results from yr to yr. somtimes the 1 hour mark comes at 500th place sometimes not until 1200th place. and those that come in last can have times up around 2.5 hours. sure it's fun to have 4000-5000 men and women swimming in a 3km race, but it's really two races. the first start group (300-500) of competitive swimmers and then the rest (90% breaststrokers) who just want to swim 3km so they can say they did it.
In events that are geared to have lots of swimmers I see no need for a time limit. but if the OW event is going to be called a Championship, then yes time limits are good.
ps even the Ironman races have cut off times.
I see no problem with time restrictions. Race volunteers are not there for your pleasure. If you enter a race it implies you have done some training, have some sort of proficiency, and can complete the course in a reasonable amount of time. If you want to feel good about yourself, enter a sprint triathlon. (Hopefully your wave will be before mine so I can experience the joy of being kicked in the head while you are doing breaststroke). My advice--in case anybody's asking--leave the 10K and 25K swims to people that can actually swim.
I somewhat agree with you about the time limit. I think it should be longer, but the need for a time limit is usually imposed for safety reasons. In a 10 K there are safety personnel out on the water, that may have other other duties. In a 10 K I swim, there is the county Search and Rescue team on the race course. If they have to be pulled to perform another rescue, the race is done at the time.
Just things to think about.
I think the key word here is National Championship. I have swam in 5 OW races in the past 2 years. 3 last summer and 2 so far this summer. Only one of them was a "Championship" race.
I think the reason for the time limits is to keep a higher standard for the race results. as well as to keep out breaststrokers.
there are many reasons for putting a time limit on an event, just to name a few in no order of importance:
1. tides and currents change. a favorable current can easily become imposable.
2. permits. often shipping will be disrupted to facilitate an open water event.
3. volunteer fatigue. many of the people that provide safety and aid to the swimmers are volunteers and their time should not be taken for granted.
4. no time limits would encourage floaters to participate. yes, i have participated in ow swims (not races) where the stroke of choice was the conversational breaststroke ...caps and goggles replaced by sunglasses and visors.
5. swimmers that are slower can cause hazards. two events i entered this year were cancelled after the start because a large portion of the field was unable to make any progress against the currents. once boats start entering the course to start pulling people, things get dangerous.
