Hold your line or go for the draft?

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 often wind up asking myself the same thing. Most of the time I swim by myself, but If I'm in the mood for drafting, I'll pick someone to draft either before the race (if I know their speed/skill), or just after the start of a race. After that, I'll hang with them for a few minutes, during which time I judge their navigational abilities and speed. If they're all over the course, I venture off on my own. Hopper www.swimvacation.com

I've been in OW races where the start group was 40 up to 300. I found it hard to draft when there were roughly 300 because it seemed like everyone went out in 200m race pace. I guess they wanted to look good in the eyes of the public. it was a river race, and I would guess that over 200 of them huged the line layed out. since 60% of the race was down stream, I ignored them all and swam in the middle of the river, greatest current as well as swam straight lines between distance markers while the rest swam along the curvy side. I wound up drafting and being the lead (do you call it drafter and draftee?) for the last 800m, and it help us both, my dad (watching from the side) thinks that the two of us passed 10-15 swimmers the last 400m... This year I plan on working on being able to start the race faster, and then get into my 1:12/100m pace so i can get out with the lead pack and try to hang on. last year I was 6 minutes behind the winner, going to try to cut that down to 4 minutes this year.

My experience has been to let things settle down and then figure out who is around after the first quarter of a race. Most swimmers are so hyped up at the start that they forget where they are in the big picture of pace and navigation. I agree with previous posts regarding draft for awhile, see what they are doing and then decide to move on. I am always trying to reel in the next pack since I'm a firm believer in negative splitting a race. Chesapeake Bay Temp in Annapolis is 39.

I like to start the race on the outside of the huge pack. (less problems with getting kicked) There is usually less swimmers, but less people to draft off of. The advantage of this is it is easier to sight if you are on the edge of your breathing side. So a straight line is easier for me to find (by following and passing others) , and if drafting becomes a possibility, I take that also. :)

I tried to draft once intentionally. I was trying to hang with the top 3 swimmers and died after about 1K of the 3K race. Wow, did that last 2K hurt. So mostly I swim alone. During last year's Great Ohio River Swim, I drafted only when the opportunity presented itself with a guy moving my pace right in front of me. It was great on the way across. On the way back he ditched me and took off.

... I found it hard to draft when there were roughly 300 because it seemed like everyone went out in 200m race pace. I guess they wanted to look good in the eyes of the public. it was a river race, and I would guess that over 200 of them huged the line layed out ... I, too, hate the "sprint" at the start of the event. I have also found that too many people over-estimate their ability and line up too far forward in an OW start (both in water and run-to-the-water starts). Because of that, the "scrum" towards the buoy line is far worse than towards the outer edges. I know I'm adding extra distance by doing this, but, assuming the buoy line is on the left, I like to line up on the far right side. This allows me to start the race at a pace I like (versus being forced to sprint) and avoid a lot of the elbows & hands in the face you get in the midst of the scrum. Even on a short, mile race, I think I'm adding at most 25 to 50 yards of extra swimming. For me, getting in the right groove with the right mindset is worth this tradeoff.

The problems that occur at starts mentioned here have a lot to do with why I start on the outside as well. I would rather have the extra yardage than contend with legs and elbows. It is also why I was really a big fan of the Big Shoulders start that I experienced last year. In addition to starting in waves, it's a water start with a straight line only one or two deep in most places and everyone pretty much kept jostling to a minimum. Within 100 yards, I completely had my own space. That was the one time where I didn't see a need to get at one end of the pack.

Big Shoulders? Never heard of, tell me more.:cheerleader:

Big Shoulders? Never heard of, tell me more. Big Shoulders is a major swim race done on the lakefront in Chicago. It is always scheduled for the weekend after Labor Day weekend. This year it will be on Sept. 12, 2009. There are two race lengths - 2.5K and 5k (about 1.5 and 3 miles). Often one of the race lengths is for the National Championship, as it will be for the 5K in 2009. It is always very well run and alot of fun! I've done it for 3 years (didn't get to do it last year :sad:) and I've always had a positive experience. For more info, check out Big Shoulders. JIM