Drafting etiquette question

Perhaps this is an issue where there is a significant difference between the perspective of competitive elite swimmers and individuals who simply want to participate for fitness and a sense of accomplishment? Among competitive elite swimmers, it is an acquired and respected skill to draft properly. Among these swimmers, there are practiced tactics on drafting and positioning that have been researched and taught by the world's leading open water coaches. Among these swimmers, there is no shame in drafting and then sprinting to victory. In fact, that is the entire purpose of drafting and positioning properly. Among professional open water swimmers, tapping on the feet and trying to "get inside the head" of one's opponents while drafting is also an acquired and respected skill that elite athletes have no problem with (unless they lose). As others have pointed out, Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands and Larisa Ilchenko of Russia are among the best practioners of this skill. In fact, "The Ilchenko" is a skill well-known outside the US (refer to www.10kswimmer.com/.../great-sports-moves-ilchenko.html). Domestically, successful masters swimmers such as Gerry Rodrigues and a handful of others are renowned for effectively conserving their energy by drafting and smart positioning throughout the race - and then winning at the end. I can see how individuals do not think this is fair, but in a competitive environment, ANY and ALL swimmers have the opportunity to draft. At the professional and Olympic level, there are swimmers like the British (including silver medalist David Davies and Keri-Anne Payne) who simply like to swim in front and ignore the "scrum" behind them. At the domestic masters level, there are swimmers like Alex Kostich who also prefer to push the pace from the front in order to seal victories. Of course, pulling on feet, ankles and legs is illegal - and at the elite level and competitive domestic level - would most likely result in a swift kick or some other form of physical retaliation, yellow card or red card. But among those individuals who simply want to enjoy the race or the camaraderie of open water swimming and swim from Point A to Point B, I agree that drafting behind or alongside and then "sprinting" ahead "to win" could be seen as unsportsmanlike and in poor taste. Certainly, tapping on the feet or constantly bumping into the person ahead of you would fall into the poor etiquette category. In this case, if you were being bothered by someone, I would recommend swimming laterally - even for a few meters - and the problem could resolve itself. Alternatively - and this has occurred at the professional and competitive elite levels often - you can also simply stop dead in your tracks or do some easy backstroke until the offender has passed by you or you have switched positions on your drafting opponent. One of the most clever drafting tactics that I observed was Paul Asmuth, the 7-time professional marathon swimming champion, and his competitors "drafting" off of their row boats in the 22.5-mile race around Atlantic City. As the swimmers swam behind the row boats, the rowers would give a big pull, creating a wake that help the swimmer slightly. I also observed numerous swimmers at the recent Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim in Manhattan Beach, traditionally one of the most competitive races in Southern California, draft off of their opponents and then body-surf right past them at the finish. From my observations, there were only a very small number of individuals who got out of the race and were upset.

I also observed numerous swimmers at the recent Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim in Manhattan Beach, traditionally one of the most competitive races in Southern California, draft off of their opponents and then body-surf right past them at the finish. From my observations, there were only a very small number of individuals who got out of the race and were upset. Thanks for the input. However, once you are in the surf zone, I agree all bets are off. You either catch the wave and shoot forward or you don't

The analogy to a cyclist having mechanical problems, crashing or urinating in the open water can occur. For example, elite swimmers (including Keri-Anne Payne, the silver medalist from Beijing and recent 2009 world 10K swimming champion) make great moves around the turn buoys, especially when they are in the lead and the rest of the lead pack is following them. They know that the "scrum" of swimmers behind them will slow down due to the physical contact around the turn buoy. The crush of bodies behind them - around a turn buoy, especially one that requires a 180-degree turn - is a great time to put some distance between the leader and the rest of the pack. The same situation occurs at the feeding stations where the relative positions of the swimmers always changes. Sometimes, athletes miss their feedings due to the crowd of bodies. In a series of 3 famous 16+ hour races across (and back) Lac St-Jean in Quebec, Canada during the 1980's between Claudio Plit of Argentina and Philip Rush of New Zealand, these fierce and mighty competitors tried every trick in the book to "break" each other. In another famous professional marathon race in Lake Michigan, Abo-Heif of Egypt reportedly turned off the lights on his escort boat as the race went through the night so his competitors could not see his moves which, depending on your viewpoint, can certainly be seen as a breach of etiquette. On the other hand, I have witnessed great camaraderie among the open water swimming community throughout the world despite differences in language, culture, gender, ability and competitive zeal. I believe this camaraderie - that most visibly manifests itself at the end of every open water swim when athletes are sharing their experiences with one another or during the race when one athlete follows another simply because they have no real idea what direction to swim towards - are some of the great attractions of the sport.

Steve, Thanks for your great input. Is 10kswimmer.com your site? If so, I'd like to say thanks. It's become a regular stop for me. Edit: Answered my own question. Great site Steve.

I once did the 2 – mile Newport Beach Pier to Pier with a good friend of mine that had lifeguarded there many years before. I intentionally drafted him for about 1.5 miles but put my move on him with about half mile to go, I rounded the last course buoy about three body lengths ahead of him, however he had the last laugh as the finish flag was at about 45 degree north angle from the last buoy, I swam for the finishing flag but he cut a 90 degree angle and headed straight into the beach and the ran the 75 yards north along the beach and finished ahead of me. Running is faster then swimming. As the rule was to round that last buoy there was no rule against running to the finish, so another lesson learned. The reason I mention this last night I did a local race in Denver, it was 2 – mile event that was on a ½ mile loop that forces the competitors to exit and enter the water on each loop, so you end up walking/running a few yards on the beach each loop. This was the fourth time this summer I had done this swim. With me last night was one of my master’s team mates who is one of the strongest milers in the nation in her age group and a excellent drafter in practice. On the second loop she was drafting me well, even as I weaved my way through a bunch of swim/run participants that started ahead of us. I felt I needed to break her draft or she would be with me to the end, so on my second beach exit and entry I ran about 50 yards down the beach (again no rule against it) before re-entering the water to cut my distance to the first course buoy and stepped it up on the tempo and broke the draft. As they say in NASCAR, it’s just racing.