200 Triathletes Rescued

jkormanik I don't have an argument with anything you've said. I competed in 11 triathlons in 2 years as I returned to competitive athletics. I started with triathlons because of a compromised shoulder. What I found is that generalizations about why triathletes perform only adequately or poorly in the swim, are usually wrong. My observations 1) Some simply could not swim when they started to focus on doing a triathlon, so they have so much to learn. 2) Some have never swam out of a pool and the idea of open water scares them. I guess if all the bike riding I did was on a track, riding in traffic would freak me out 3) They have 3% body fat and get cold in water colder than a swimming pool at the "Y" 4) Not many have a neoprene fetish so they freak out in a tight wetsuit, particularly at the start of the event when their anxiety level is high. Remember most OW swimmers hate wetsuits too, but get annoyed not anxious about wearing them. 5) Some are always anxious at any start and have a tendency to hyperventilate. Not a good thing to do when your face is in the water. 6) Some feel like anytime someone bumps into them in the water that the person was trying to swim over them and will do so at any minute. 7) Many feel that anytime you are doing a workout and not breathing hard, you are wasting your time. Many of the others will perform some kind of stroke drill and either don't fully understand it or are unable to integrate it into their stroke. 8) Almost all them would never consider spending the majority of their time in the pool only working on their stroke. I started into triathlons because of a problem shoulder. I developed almost all of my conditioning cycling and running. My time in the pool was all about stroke work. I would swim all out on race day figuring that if I injured it I could rest it after a race. I always finished high in the swim (and never inured my shoulder because I had not put too much strain on it in practice) 9) Some look at the swim leg just as they do the entry fee. They hate it, but consider it just the price of admission. They train for the swim leg like they write the check. Not a bit more than they have to. 10) Finally, I would say the majority of them don't have the time to train in all 3 sports so they take the time loss in the swimming leg, thinking that they can make it up on the bike and run. However if you give up 6 minutes in the water in an olympic distance, you are going to have to run a mile a minute faster. That's pretty hard for mere mortals. As far as which is tougher: apples & oranges.

jkormanik I don't have an argument with anything you've said. I competed in 11 triathlons in 2 years as I returned to competitive athletics. I started with triathlons because of a compromised shoulder. What I found is that generalizations about why triathletes perform only adequately or poorly in the swim, are usually wrong. My observations 1) Some simply could not swim when they started to focus on doing a triathlon, so they have so much to learn. 2) Some have never swam out of a pool and the idea of open water scares them. I guess if all the bike riding I did was on a track, riding in traffic would freak me out 3) They have 3% body fat and get cold in water colder than a swimming pool at the "Y" 4) Not many have a neoprene fetish so they freak out in a tight wetsuit, particularly at the start of the event when their anxiety level is high. Remember most OW swimmers hate wetsuits too, but get annoyed not anxious about wearing them. 5) Some are always anxious at any start and have a tendency to hyperventilate. Not a good thing to do when your face is in the water. 6) Some feel like anytime someone bumps into them in the water that the person was trying to swim over them and will do so at any minute. 7) Many feel that anytime you are doing a workout and not breathing hard, you are wasting your time. Many of the others will perform some kind of stroke drill and either don't fully understand it or are unable to integrate it into their stroke. 8) Almost all them would never consider spending the majority of their time in the pool only working on their stroke. I started into triathlons because of a problem shoulder. I developed almost all of my conditioning cycling and running. My time in the pool was all about stroke work. I would swim all out on race day figuring that if I injured it I could rest it after a race. I always finished high in the swim (and never inured my shoulder because I had not put too much strain on it in practice) 9) Some look at the swim leg just as they do the entry fee. They hate it, but consider it just the price of admission. They train for the swim leg like they write the check. Not a bit more than they have to. 10) Finally, I would say the majority of them don't have the time to train in all 3 sports so they take the time loss in the swimming leg, thinking that they can make it up on the bike and run. However if you give up 6 minutes in the water in an olympic distance, you are going to have to run a mile a minute faster. That's pretty hard for mere mortals. As far as which is tougher: apples & oranges.