USAT had 4,334 sanctioned events (1) in 2011. There were 146,657 full members at a price of $45/yr in 2011. They also sold 134,276 "one day" passes (2) in 2010 for a fee of $12.
1) That number includes 1,011 "youth events" and an unstated number of camps/clinics. USAT also sanctions some events that only use a pool or do not have a swimming portion. So 4334 - youth events - camps/clinics - pool-based triathlons - duathlons = ???? open water races.
2) Might be misleading -- I initially bought a "one day" pass when I was tri-ing it out and later converted to a full membership with their offer of paying the difference between annual price and one-day price. I was told a bunch of people do it that way but who knows?
If only we could "insure" absolutely all of our actions and the actions of others that cause us harm -- no one wants catastrophe ---
Open water swims won't cease to exist for the adventurous. For those that require "insurance" then their choices will obviously be limited in the future - maybe even to the point of paralysis. They will have to stick to the blue line on the bottom of the pool. For me, I'm going to keep swimming in the open water. I keep my health and life insurance current as a way to protect myself and my family. For those that swam the Arizona S.C.A.R. Swim last year and this year - it's an adventure that has not associated with USMS nor is it insured. Perhaps this is naive on my part and exposes me to "lawsuits" but I'm focused on the front-end safety of the event.
I don't rely or expect some other organization to give me the "green light" or make an event "legitimate." I just want to swim and be in the open water with those that have a similar love of open water swimming. I still belong to USMS and understand their concerns - I just don't feel like I need their blessing before getting in the water.
Kent Nicholas
S.C.A.R. Swim Organizer (volunteer)
Attorney
Swimmers can protect themselves by obtaining some personal insurance. I like the DAN policy:
www.diversalertnetwork.org/.../
Dave,
The first photo of “Examples of allowable Propeller guards” in the Open Water Sanction Guidelines www.usms.org/.../owgto_sanctions.pdf is of a SwimGuard– Standard - Marine Propeller Guard from MariTech www.maritechind.com/swimguard.html
According to their web site features:
Customized for a perfect fit from the smallest (9.9 hp) to the largest motors.
Can be installed and maintained with boat in the water.
Easy on - No drilling or mounting holes required.
Easy off - Can be taken off and reinstalled quickly, allowing for mission or job specific use.
Note: I have not personally verified MariTech’s claims, but I’ll take them at their word for now.
Let me just say that I like the idea of prop guards enough to have drilled 9 holes in a brand new Yamaha 115 hp motor. The performance loss was unacceptable for the actions that might be required of me during an event. I would love to find an option that worked.
I just had a frank conversation with a gentleman at MariTech and the bottom line is that he said I should expect a 40% drop off the top end. This just won't work for me, but thanks for the link. These guards are great for a venue that can dedicate support vessels to duties
Cost to sanction a triathlon with USAT, assuming you file on time is $200. So that could be an ironman with 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles of roads and cyclists and 26 miles of run course, all for $200.
Interesting.
It might be a little bit of an apples-to-oranges thing, though. I can't claim to have knowledge of the wide variety of triathlons out there but for most I have seen the OW portion is pretty tame (and short). Granted you have the possibility of accidents in the other portions of the race too.
...but for most I have seen the OW portion is pretty tame (and short).
Short: yes, but tame? The last place I would ever want to be is in the middle of a thrashing pack of 2000 adrenaline junkies in wetsuits.
Guess I'm getting soft....
I look at USAT and -- at the risk of being insensitive -- they have people dying all the time in their events, often in the swim portion. Granted that dying of a heart attack or what have you is different then what happened in Maui, I have to wonder: what kind of coverage do THEY have?
Cost to sanction a triathlon with USAT, assuming you file on time is $200. So that could be an ironman with 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles of roads and cyclists and 26 miles of run course, all for $200.
The task force is chaired by Phil Dodson and includes Long Distance Chair Donn Livoni, Open Water Chair Lynn Hazlewood, Past President Rob Copeland, Legal Counsel Patty Miller, USMS board member Bruce Hopson, Treasurer Ralph Davis, President Nadine Day, and Executive Director Rob Butcher.
How were the members of this "Task Force" chosen, exactly?
(Question not directed at chaos, obviously.)
A general rule of thumb, if a cruise ship decides to pull out of its dock or a barge is steaming down the middle of the river; you don’t need a boat with some speed and maneuverability to intervene. You need to get out of the way!
If you are fast enough to swim out of the way of a cruise ship or a barge...then I guess there is a reason you aren't worried about prop guards or insurance. I, however, am not. If I really needed to get out of the way - then I would get on my support boat.
If you are fast enough to swim out of the way of a cruise ship or a barge...then I guess there is a reason you aren't worried about prop guards or insurance. I, however, am not. If I really needed to get out of the way - then I would get on my support boat.
Courtney, the response to your first post was disingenuous and obfuscatory, so perhaps it's not even worth pursuing on this forum.
Anyway, we should stop picking on poor Rob Copeland. It can't be easy being the designated P.R. flack for this fiasco.
