I frequently find myself having to make a quick decision in open water races - draft off the person in front of me who is drifting slightly off course or give up and go on my own without the draft benefit on the straighter line.
Often I figure that the slight extra distance is worth the draft and just silently hope the lead person in the pack straightens out.
It's very hard to decide which is best in the heat of the swim. It depends on how off course the lead person is, but it's not easy to know that at water level in the middle of the race.
Which would you pick?
I'm such a crappy sighter, I'd opt for the draft anytime. However, I'm not that great a drafter either, so I often unconsciously lose my draft even when I'm trying not to.
But, more seriously, it depends on the race and my goals. My last OW swim was LaJolla where I did both the 1 and 3 mile. On the 1 mile, since I'm now an "old guy" (above 40 starts in a separate wave), I swam alone. I did try to catch a draft near the end as Kurt Dickson blew by me, but I was toast and couldn't keep up. In the 3 mile, I got in a nice pack of generally younger, faster folks and I just assumed they were going in the right direction. That worked perfectly on the way out, but then the pack went into "negative split" mode as I went into "major positive split" mode and I swam alone.
I'm gonna work on drafting better this summer.
I'm such a crappy sighter, I'd opt for the draft anytime. However, I'm not that great a drafter either, so I often unconsciously lose my draft even when I'm trying not to.
But, more seriously, it depends on the race and my goals. My last OW swim was LaJolla where I did both the 1 and 3 mile. On the 1 mile, since I'm now an "old guy" (above 40 starts in a separate wave), I swam alone. I did try to catch a draft near the end as Kurt Dickson blew by me, but I was toast and couldn't keep up. In the 3 mile, I got in a nice pack of generally younger, faster folks and I just assumed they were going in the right direction. That worked perfectly on the way out, but then the pack went into "negative split" mode as I went into "major positive split" mode and I swam alone.
I'm gonna work on drafting better this summer.
