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Triathlon Newbie

Hi to all..just been reading about triathlon over the past month or so as someone who is does all 3 tri activities individually anyway i thought it would suit me nicely. My only concern as a newbie is the swim, and mainly how crowded and chaotic is it at the start ? does everyone make a mad dash for the open water and get in each others way most of the swim or are most tri's staggered so you dont have the "bunching" effect?, thanks, Stuart

Comments

  • Cathryn WCathryn W Posts: 2
    Hi Stuart. I am hardly a seasoned athlete but I can offer the following. The fun 2 tri series www.fun2tri.co.uk are mainly based in pools. For these everyone submits their estimated time and then they start off the slowest first working up to the fastest in between 15s and 30s intervals. There is always some overtaking but its normally quite calm and organised.

    For the open water swims in the fun2tri series (Trentham) their was a mens and a womens mass start. In this case it was all quite polite with the weaker swimmers like myself hanging back. The only difficulty was with a four lap circuit I was lapped which was a bit scary. If you are a stronger swimmer you will find yourself in a large crowd, depending on event and can be quite busy indeed. If in doubt, swim slightly wider to avoid congestion stress,



    Cathryn - It's all easy once the swim course is over....



  • BonusBBonusB Posts: 279
    Most swims I've done are pool based with different formats, usually though you have plenty of space. As to open water swims, I'll tell you after next weekend
  • Just as said already, most are pool swims and are well organised. Any open water swims you do will obviously have a bit of a tussle owing to things like no lane ropes and people going in different directions. Don't forget there are many others like you in an open water swim also. Best advice from myself would be to sacrifice a little time in open water and either be in the back entrants or off to the side. Once you know what to expect and have an idea of your capabilities you'll be far more confident. Like everything in this game really...fear of the unknown. Trust me, its worth it when you have done it! Enjoy
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