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pool tri etiquete

diddsdidds Posts: 655
if you tap a foot and the swimmer in front doesn;t stop at the wall to let you past, are you ever "permitted" to just swim right over the top of them like what you would in openwater?



As a newby still I have ALL my experience (*cough*) in openwater (3 x aquathlon + 1 x tri) and no pool experience.



I can feel an experience worthy of inclusion in Conehead's new book if I don;t sort out stuff like this quickly! (like a DQ 2 minutes into my first pool tri or somesuch!)



didds

Comments

  • THE YEOTHE YEO Posts: 20
    DIDDS this is always a hot topic at the start of the season when all those pool based triathlons kick the season off. They are run differently - Thames Turbos uses the method of getting peoples swim time and then setting them off fastest to slowest but you go up and down then duck under the lane rope and move into the next lane and continue this method until you get to the otherside. Whereas 7 Oaks operates 3 -4 in a lane and you swim until you complete your laps. Both work equally well until you get someone who's been a wee bit too generous with their 400m swim time.



    I've always found that 99% will stop at the next end and let you pass on by. However, you will get some who thinks that this is going to destroy thier overall time - i think not! If this happens, i would give them another tap on the toes - firmer and if that still doesn't work them squeeze down the middle as sharp as i could using some drafting to help. If this still doesn't work because they hate being over taken then you can't be blamed for swimming over the top of the twats.



    Most pool based tri's will have a marshell over looking this to pull these people up on their bad etiquete.



    Hope this helps
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    Don't do anything dangerous, didds. If some tit can't get out of your way then just cruise behind them, right on their toes, keep tapping away which will unsettle them and remember you'll be using practically zero energy.

    Any time you lose will be more than made up when you get out the water feeling fresh as a young spring lamb and go out there and murder them on the bike.

    This is supposed to be a time-trial sport, but unfortunately part of the race conditions - as well as weather, road surface, length of run into transition etc - also includes idiots.



    Do remember that if you are very careful and feel like going for it then you can always wait until the other side of the lane is free then turn it on for 10s to get past them.
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595

    I can’t understand why anybody would lie about their predicted swim time.

    If they don’t take the hint after plenty of toe tapping, then the turns are the place to take them, if it’s holding you back. However, you might find that the benefit of the drafting means that it’s worth sitting it out. If the swim is just 400m then in a seeded start you should be on the heels of somebody about the same speed; you can check your pace by looking at the pool clock(s) and it might only be a second per length down on your expected pace, which I think I would be happy to give up for the decrease in required effort needed when drafting.

    Yes, drafting isn’t in the ethic of the race, but if the person you’re following lied or was mistaken in their expected swim time, then that’s their fault, really.
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    nivagh wrote:




    I can’t understand why anybody would lie about their predicted swim time.



    To get a later start time. Add on a couple of minutes and you don't have to get up so early in the morning. People who had done races I did last year before admitted to this.
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595

    Hmm, ah well. If they're doing that deliberately then they have only themselves to blame if they get held up by people who really are doing 12 minutes for their 400m...
  • jon_gjon_g Posts: 318
    whats wrong with drafting off someone in the swim? it's perfectly legal. i try do it all the time. why are people worried it's not in the spirit of the sport?
  • I had the opposite thing happen to me last year. I was in one of the early (slow people) waves only to find a seasoned and rather fast triathlete in the same lane as me. The other 2 people in the lane and myself did observe pool etiquette and let him passed what seemed like every 30 seconds, but the whole thing really wasn't much fun for us newbies and I certainly couldn't get in to any sort of rhythm. I can only assume the guy added what must have been 2.5 minutes to his predicted time so he could get home for early. Very odd. Anyway, hasn't happened again and in the other pool events I did everyone observed etiquette really well.
  • diddsdidds Posts: 655
    cheers all... I hadn't considered the drafting effect (mainly cos I am so bloody slow that I'm never near anybody in openwater to draft off them seriously for long!).



    having spent the entire winter honing my technique to that of a dolphin of course I may actually catch someone this year to see what drafting really does...



    Seriously chaps... thanks for the advice.





    And if I get DQ'd I'll let you know conehead :-)



    didds

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