200 Triathletes Rescued

You make several interesting points. In USMS OW events, assistance of any sort is reason for disqualification. Resting on a kayak, being physically guided out of the water, any touching that is other than accidental is not allowed. Even handing food or drink to the swimmer is a very particular affair. Purity of this sort would probably send the Tri event registrations plummeting, since someone who cannot make 1 or 2 miles without assisted resting would be unable to justify the entry fee. In OW races, the marshalls are on the course to enforce the rules, not decide to what extent they were broken. It would be very interesting to investigate the differences between USMS OW and USAT sanction requirements. As for crap journalism, you can believe what you like. The professional lifeguards and firemen making reports are not in the habit of pumping up numbers for salacious reading. In fact, it creates a considerable amount of paperwork (incident reports) if the person needed assistance other than a hand on the rescue boat to rest. That could be the majority of the cases, but assistance was given nonetheless. The water temperature, with the current and/or rough surf were probably enough to create an environment that would easily foster 169 "assists" out of 2800 competitors in the water. The fact that USAT allows time penalties is a marvel of marketing. It keeps the feeling of competition alive without having to take someone's money after 10 minutes and saying, "you are out" for having broken a rule by getting assistance. Everyone can justify sitting in a time out tent and starting the bike ride or run a little later, as long as they get to cross the finish line. USMS rules are different than USAT rules, so a comparison between what you can do in a USMS event and a USAT event is about as accurate as comapring NBA and MLS rules. Both involve running around a large green field and a ball. That's about it. USAT and USMS rules both involve swimming in open water, and that's it. I would expect someone that hangs on a kayak in a USMS event to be disqualified. The rules are online as USAT and I assume USMS, so it's not that difficult to compare. Do I think the hanging on a kayak rule is good? yes and no. As a decent swimmer (by triathlon standards, not swimming standards), no, I don't think it's good, I believe everyone should be properly trained in the conditions of the race in order to finish the leg, be it swim, bike or run. Is the rule a nod to marketing to get more people to do tris? Partly, it's also safety. But I think in general encouraging people to race is a good thing on many fronts. Healthy for the sport. Healthy for the person. More races, etc. As to time penalties, as I said, it's a penalty, just as a free throw is in basketball or a free kick is in soccer. You foul someone to prevent them from making a shot, they get to take a couple free ones. You draft off someone on the bike, you serve a penalty, either physically sitting out or by time addition. No one is determining to what extent a rule is broken, so I don't get that comment. Perhaps you are not aware that each violation with a "variable time penalty" has a set time period for each violation? The word "variable" refers to the fact that it's a different set time penalty depending on the length of the course and whether the violation is a first one or repeat one. It doesn't mean it's up to someone's discretion. i.e., assistance is a 4:00 penalty, second violation additional time, etc. You can read about the rule here if you are interested: www.campwhitcombmason.org/.../2010 USAT Most Commonly Violated Rules.pdf As for the "crap journalism" comment, I don't think either of us can comment on the accuracy of the numbers since neither of us know the definition of "assistance" or how the numbers were calculated. But I stand by my comment that "200 triathletes" were not, in fact "rescued" at the LA triathlon. Others are free to disagree of course. If someone can produce 169 "incident reports," I will publicly retract my statement. As to other points... I can guarantee that 99% of the triathletes were wearing wetsuits, and the water temp was mid to high 60s. I know, I know, it's not "pure" open water swimming, blah blah blah, and the water temps don't require wetsuits, but wetsuits are legal below a certain temp, and they provide a speed benefit. If you want the fastest time you can do, you wear a wetsuit. As to the length of the IM swim, a little background is required. Way back when in the 70s they had the Waikiki Roughwater swim, the Ride around Oahu, and the Honolulu Marathon. A bar bet was made as to who were the better athletes, and the solution was to add them all together as a challenge. There was no cutoff time, no race marshalls, no rules. hence, 2.4/112/26.2. The swim wasn't anything other than the Waikiki roughwater, so it wasn't through huge surf, unless the surf happened to be big, I suppose. No idea how the shorter distances were calculated (other than a half ironman which is obvious). There have been efforts to balance out the distances, the Tri 101 series, a new tri in Abu Dhabi of all places, and the ITU long course tri to be held in Vegas next year. But triathletes being what they are, they all like the shorter swims since it's the hardest part for many triathletes. So these races suffer. I do one small local race that's based on more or less equal legs, .5 mile swim, 6 mile bike 2 mile run. But those races are the exception. 2.4 is short in comparison to the other two legs, as are all tri swims. As a swimmer, it sucks to get passed by everyone on the bike and run, but that's the way it is. I've completed one Ironman, 5 halfs, and countless sprints and Olys. And, as a sub hour IM swimmer, I've been pulled from the water during an ironman due to unforeseen medical issues. I was on my way to another sub hour swim. Was I unprepared? Nope. People just have to understand and accept that triathlon swimming is a different sport than USMS OW swimming. Just as USAT running is different than USATF running. I do USMS swim races. I do USAT tris. I do USATF run courses. In each one, I know there are different rules applying to each event. Different rules, different mindsets. If one believes that a cetain set of rules is unethical, or violates their notion of honor, they shouldn't do the event. Pretty simple, really. ETA - "Ironman" races are owned by WTC and do not, generally, follow USAT rules. Wow, that turned into a dissertation... sorry about that!

You make several interesting points. In USMS OW events, assistance of any sort is reason for disqualification. Resting on a kayak, being physically guided out of the water, any touching that is other than accidental is not allowed. Even handing food or drink to the swimmer is a very particular affair. Purity of this sort would probably send the Tri event registrations plummeting, since someone who cannot make 1 or 2 miles without assisted resting would be unable to justify the entry fee. In OW races, the marshalls are on the course to enforce the rules, not decide to what extent they were broken. It would be very interesting to investigate the differences between USMS OW and USAT sanction requirements. As for crap journalism, you can believe what you like. The professional lifeguards and firemen making reports are not in the habit of pumping up numbers for salacious reading. In fact, it creates a considerable amount of paperwork (incident reports) if the person needed assistance other than a hand on the rescue boat to rest. That could be the majority of the cases, but assistance was given nonetheless. The water temperature, with the current and/or rough surf were probably enough to create an environment that would easily foster 169 "assists" out of 2800 competitors in the water. The fact that USAT allows time penalties is a marvel of marketing. It keeps the feeling of competition alive without having to take someone's money after 10 minutes and saying, "you are out" for having broken a rule by getting assistance. Everyone can justify sitting in a time out tent and starting the bike ride or run a little later, as long as they get to cross the finish line. USMS rules are different than USAT rules, so a comparison between what you can do in a USMS event and a USAT event is about as accurate as comapring NBA and MLS rules. Both involve running around a large green field and a ball. That's about it. USAT and USMS rules both involve swimming in open water, and that's it. I would expect someone that hangs on a kayak in a USMS event to be disqualified. The rules are online as USAT and I assume USMS, so it's not that difficult to compare. Do I think the hanging on a kayak rule is good? yes and no. As a decent swimmer (by triathlon standards, not swimming standards), no, I don't think it's good, I believe everyone should be properly trained in the conditions of the race in order to finish the leg, be it swim, bike or run. Is the rule a nod to marketing to get more people to do tris? Partly, it's also safety. But I think in general encouraging people to race is a good thing on many fronts. Healthy for the sport. Healthy for the person. More races, etc. As to time penalties, as I said, it's a penalty, just as a free throw is in basketball or a free kick is in soccer. You foul someone to prevent them from making a shot, they get to take a couple free ones. You draft off someone on the bike, you serve a penalty, either physically sitting out or by time addition. No one is determining to what extent a rule is broken, so I don't get that comment. Perhaps you are not aware that each violation with a "variable time penalty" has a set time period for each violation? The word "variable" refers to the fact that it's a different set time penalty depending on the length of the course and whether the violation is a first one or repeat one. It doesn't mean it's up to someone's discretion. i.e., assistance is a 4:00 penalty, second violation additional time, etc. You can read about the rule here if you are interested: www.campwhitcombmason.org/.../2010 USAT Most Commonly Violated Rules.pdf As for the "crap journalism" comment, I don't think either of us can comment on the accuracy of the numbers since neither of us know the definition of "assistance" or how the numbers were calculated. But I stand by my comment that "200 triathletes" were not, in fact "rescued" at the LA triathlon. Others are free to disagree of course. If someone can produce 169 "incident reports," I will publicly retract my statement. As to other points... I can guarantee that 99% of the triathletes were wearing wetsuits, and the water temp was mid to high 60s. I know, I know, it's not "pure" open water swimming, blah blah blah, and the water temps don't require wetsuits, but wetsuits are legal below a certain temp, and they provide a speed benefit. If you want the fastest time you can do, you wear a wetsuit. As to the length of the IM swim, a little background is required. Way back when in the 70s they had the Waikiki Roughwater swim, the Ride around Oahu, and the Honolulu Marathon. A bar bet was made as to who were the better athletes, and the solution was to add them all together as a challenge. There was no cutoff time, no race marshalls, no rules. hence, 2.4/112/26.2. The swim wasn't anything other than the Waikiki roughwater, so it wasn't through huge surf, unless the surf happened to be big, I suppose. No idea how the shorter distances were calculated (other than a half ironman which is obvious). There have been efforts to balance out the distances, the Tri 101 series, a new tri in Abu Dhabi of all places, and the ITU long course tri to be held in Vegas next year. But triathletes being what they are, they all like the shorter swims since it's the hardest part for many triathletes. So these races suffer. I do one small local race that's based on more or less equal legs, .5 mile swim, 6 mile bike 2 mile run. But those races are the exception. 2.4 is short in comparison to the other two legs, as are all tri swims. As a swimmer, it sucks to get passed by everyone on the bike and run, but that's the way it is. I've completed one Ironman, 5 halfs, and countless sprints and Olys. And, as a sub hour IM swimmer, I've been pulled from the water during an ironman due to unforeseen medical issues. I was on my way to another sub hour swim. Was I unprepared? Nope. People just have to understand and accept that triathlon swimming is a different sport than USMS OW swimming. Just as USAT running is different than USATF running. I do USMS swim races. I do USAT tris. I do USATF run courses. In each one, I know there are different rules applying to each event. Different rules, different mindsets. If one believes that a cetain set of rules is unethical, or violates their notion of honor, they shouldn't do the event. Pretty simple, really. ETA - "Ironman" races are owned by WTC and do not, generally, follow USAT rules. Wow, that turned into a dissertation... sorry about that!