Long time pool racer, getting ready to swim my first open water race in a few weeks. I'm curious about whether people typically converse and try to self-sort by pace before the start, letting the faster swimmers line up towards the front, or whether it's usually just a "first come, first served" situation with things getting sorted out in a scrum after the gun.
I've experienced both water and land starts. It depends on how many experienced OWS are in the event as to how the start goes. I've been at large events that start in waves in which people sort themselves out and in small 30 swimmer deals in which the start is a scrum.
In addition to the advice above of starting on far left or right, I would the following:
-- Check results from previous years and determine if you think you'd be more of a front runner, a pack swimmer, or are out for the cruise and sort yourself accordingly.
-- I often find someone whom I know is a stronger swimmer than I, and then I tuck behind them at the start. That person will clear out the traffic, and I get a draft even if it's only for a few seconds.
-- I do find (without wanting to open an age-old argument) that if the event is more heavily weighted with triathletes rather than swimmers (often a large number of wetsuits is a tell), the starts are rougher and not sorted out by speed at all. In these cases, I start as wide as I can no matter how far off-line I might be for the first buoy.
-- In a longer swim, unless you're a front runner, there is value in hesitating a few seconds at the start though I don't have the discipline to do it.
More importantly, have fun. Open water is addictive.
I've experienced both water and land starts. It depends on how many experienced OWS are in the event as to how the start goes. I've been at large events that start in waves in which people sort themselves out and in small 30 swimmer deals in which the start is a scrum.
In addition to the advice above of starting on far left or right, I would the following:
-- Check results from previous years and determine if you think you'd be more of a front runner, a pack swimmer, or are out for the cruise and sort yourself accordingly.
-- I often find someone whom I know is a stronger swimmer than I, and then I tuck behind them at the start. That person will clear out the traffic, and I get a draft even if it's only for a few seconds.
-- I do find (without wanting to open an age-old argument) that if the event is more heavily weighted with triathletes rather than swimmers (often a large number of wetsuits is a tell), the starts are rougher and not sorted out by speed at all. In these cases, I start as wide as I can no matter how far off-line I might be for the first buoy.
-- In a longer swim, unless you're a front runner, there is value in hesitating a few seconds at the start though I don't have the discipline to do it.
More importantly, have fun. Open water is addictive.
