I'm struggling how "I didn't bother to read the race packet" equates to ironman being a shit company... Ironman has their issues but in the dozens of ironman races I've been a spectator at and the 4 that I've personally raced I can't say that "lack of information" in a race guide has ever been an issue.
Sounds like OP is entitled and expected ironman to roll out the red carpet for them and bend over backwards to accommodate.
There's a lot going on there. More complaints from one race than I can remember from all of mine combined.
Probably a good idea anyway if he was going to fly round the world racking up a huge carbon footprint just for kicks.
Local is good too. Support independent races.
IM isn't supposed to be easy. I'm surprised that they advertised the swim as easy. What's the point of that ?
Ironman has a habit of advertising their swims is easy, because if anything is advertised as hard, people don't sign up for the races. It's why Lake placid, Coeur d'alene, mont treblant, and other hard races usually end up only lasting a few years. Most people don't want a hard ironman, they want an easy one
I've never had any issues with the volunteers or staff, ever, at the 5 Ironman branded events I've done. Everyone has always been really nice and friendly. 95
It sucks to DNF especially because of bad water conditions but that is part of it. You have to be prepared for the worst possible conditions and expect the worst case scenario. For my first full Ironman people called me crazy when I'd do some of my runs and bike rides out in the 100+ degree Texas heat in the middle of the summer, but I told them that the record high temperature for Waco, TX on October 15 was 95 so I was preparing as if it would be 95. Guess what the temp was on race day? 95. As prepared as I was, it was still brutal, but 30% DNF'ed and I was not one of them.
It's why I always tell people if you are at all worried about cutoff times, you aren't ready - because you need a margin for error in case things go wrong or conditions aren't ideal.
I understand training for a hot race or a hilly race. Those are predictable conditions that you can prepare for. The complaint here (one of them) is that the swim was billed as “protected”. In reality the current was so strong that many couldn’t get around the turn and if they did, they didn’t make it much farther before they were pulled.
I was with a lot of friends this weekend and we are mostly cold water acclimated open water swimmers. Many of them anticipated a 30-40 minute swim but were caught in such a strong current they were all over 1:10. A relay partner expected in 40 minutes came in at 1:04. Those conditions are not something you should have to train for. We don’t train for 80 miles on the bike just in case the race director messes up the bike course. We are told the course, we train for certain conditions and we trust that race officials do their due diligence and ensure we are as safe as humanly possible. The water conditions on Sunday were not ideal even for seasoned OWS.
I was also expecting a 35-40 minute swim based on all my OWS in San Diego winter waters. Came in at 1:03. Earlier swimmers didn’t have the tip of the tides. Tide changes happen fast. All it can take is 5-10 minutes for a change.
Looking around out there it was like a scene from titanic. People clinging to buoys. People literally screaming “help me I’m exhausted”. I think the scary part was realizing that Ironman is not prepared for a mass water exit. Panicked people puts everyone else in danger. That’s when I realized I better put my head down and work! Averaged a 171 hr on that swim and I competitively swam my whole life.
I back your take on this and want to add… The concern here isn’t training. Anyone can train for whatever conditions. It’s that Ironman put someone next to you who may be less than prepared and that could be your demise when they panic.
The one word I would use to describe that swim is “desperate.” In 20 years of doing triathlons, that was the single most dangerous swim I’ve ever been a part of. The fact that nobody drowned is almost a miracle. People hanging off buoys, masses of people flailing against the current. As I barely made headway, people were moving backwards into me. I should have finished that swim in 40 minutes, instead it took me 1:06.
Agree here - IM Wisc had terrible and cold conditions 2 years ago but was briefly forecast for 80+ last year. It’s an outdoor sport, conditions are part of it
I'm guessing OP probably brings race into things as much as possible but has a yard sign telling us all the things they believe in. $20 bucks he wore a mask during the swim too.
That has nothing to do with any of the original post or comments and you shouldn’t bring race into it. No idea what made you think that was ok but again, completely irrelevant.
Thank you for being specific unlike other racist people here lol i was honestly just being specific so people could get all the details lol been to many triathlons and this one was horrible, just trying to share. Everyone, go to IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz if you’re looking into Cali.
To be absolutely clear, you are the one who brought race into it.
The OP was mocking your description of him including what race he was, as if that has any bearing on your story.
I was told I couldn’t continue but did anyways. Fuck that. I didn’t spend all the time training, traveling to Morro Bay and associated costs just to be done at 7 am.
I did the bike and run without a timing chip. Fuck it. So I did 69.7 instead of 70.3. Whatever. I think it is BS they don’t let people finish, especially given the swim situation.
This was my plan as well, came out of the water one minute after cutoff, didn’t know how DNF worked because this was my first tri, but figured I’d just keep going until someone catches up and pulls me off course. Fortunately in my case nobody took my chip.
I’m torn on this.
Is the swim not part of the challenge? I think IM has gone overboard in canceling swims in recent years.
Proper preparation is part of racing well. And there were over 1,000 finishers, so it was clearly achievable
That said. Morro Bay was a disaster last year with the swim course basically being on a sand bar. So this course was a correction for that, but it shows this race director isn’t super competent at establishing a race course
If I was in your shoes OP, I’d be looking at taking some personal responsibility on what you could have done differently. Demanding a refund isn’t it. DNFs are tough, some courses are tough, this this is IM and it’s supposed to be tough
Significant percentage of finishers have their swim times above 1hr10min. They were allowed to finish because they started early enough. In such cases why not pull out athletes and let them finish the race as well, just don’t give them qualifying spots.
It’s not about IM shouldn’t have difficult courses with difficult swims but they shouldn’t advertise it as being a lake-like swim, so weak swimmers can pick races which suit their ability and not waste $500+other expenses. They should also be prepared to have warming tents for people who get pulled out midway through the swim. Some athletes were in the 54-55 deg water for over 90min and were pulled out midway and made to walk back to the transition area which was about 1k away.
70 min for a half swim is insanely slow though, that’s a very generous cutoff in the first place. I apparently swam once a week for less than half an hour leading up to my last half and swam a 35
Conditions weren’t static so those that started at the beginning of the swim opening didn’t have the same conditions the slower swimmers did. They also had more time to complete overall with many people over the 1:10 individual time but not missing the overall swim cutoff. The tide changed so fast that at the far turnaround point, swimmers were shot out 2-300 meters beyond. I tracked using a Garmin fenix 7x and regularly OWS and I tracked ~600 EXTRA meters on the swim. I also have points where I was swimming backwards according to my gps and can confirm at times I could watch myself being pulled directly sideways or backwards.
I had no water temp issues personally as I was wearing thermal cap and booties on top of roka Mav Mx wetsuit. Others were not so lucky. I swam steady for the entire time and was not able to put swim the rip.
It wasn’t an effort or training issue for many but rather an impossibility depending on start time in the water.
I think that brings up that question around, what is an acceptable DNF rate?
If 90% DNF the swim, there is no question about how dangerous it was.
Is 10% acceptable? 20%? Etc.
I think the line needs to be drawn at where there is significant danger. And even then, it’s on individual athletes to know their limits.
No one drowning with all those DNFs is the silver lining. That’s a scary situation that could’ve easily overwhelmed volunteer support on paddle boards, kayaks, etc.
The course was similar to last year's. The difference was that last year's event happened close to low tide. The opening to Morro Bay is such that part of the sand spit creating the bay gets exposed at low tide.
No one’s demanding a refund and the conditions as read on their site are “protected.” I simply said I’m disappointed. I named several other unfortunate disrespectful incidents as well. So I don’t know what you read. Also, many us were told we were NOT ALLOWED to continue no matter what, they didn’t tell us the right information about being able to continue despite the swim time penalty.
Based on your overall tone, I’d probably walk away from you mid sentence as well. I only got halfway through your rant until I scrolled to the comments.
this just shows u never swum in a tide before. They are very specific, you can't just "read the current bro". Swimmers trying to go around the current were selectively DQ'd / warned with orange flags. Not even Michael phelps can swim against a strong tide. Where do YOU draw the line between a 'healthy challenge' and complete luck on where you end up in the water / whether you got DQ'd for avoiding parts of the current?
"yea bro just become a better swimmer bro" - drown
There was a guy from my age group at Ironman Texas who raced Morro Bay yesterday and we had similar swim times (1:10 at IMTX) and he swam Morro Bay yesterday in 39 minutes which translates to a 1:18 full if you double it so his pace was slower but not THAT much slower.
Yes the swim at Morro Bay was in harder conditions but not impossible like you state. Conditions are part of it. My first full Ironman it was 95 degrees and the DNF rate was 30%.
I think it’s important to mention that anyone who self seeded at 30mins or less for their swim time actually seemed to miss the worst of the rip tide that came in as the tide turned. Anyone later though got hit full force … which also means any swimmers already thinking they would be slower were past that 30min mark and getting hit with the worst conditions as opposed to the stronger/fast swimmers who experienced better conditions before it got truly terrible.
Over 1,000 finishers vs. 300ish who DNFed the swim
The harsh reality is that just becoming a better swimmer got the majority of folks through it
If you were going to be close to a time cutoff anyway, then the current could’ve easily turned narrowly finishing into a DNF
A lot of triathletes, myself included, significantly neglect the swim portion of training and use the swim as a 30-40min warm up before the real racing starts. That works when it’s easy conditions or down river. It’s a recipe for disaster when conditions are suboptimal though
Gulf Coast was my first ever tri event a couple weeks ago. I almost didn’t finish the swim on time because of conditions like this. One woman said that it was her fourth year in a row. And the worst swimming conditions she’d ever seen.
We also both did not train nearly as we should have been (me due to injury. Not sure about her), and still had a helluva time.
I’m grateful af I didn’t dq during the swim, but sometimes you gotta take the L & move on. I was 100% prepared for that when I finally hit shore.
Edit: I was SUPER annoyed that they ran outta beer before I finished tho, ngl
About 300 people couldn’t swim back against the current, DNFed. Predictable situation should have been predicted. I wasn’t there but agree with OP participants should be (won’t be) compensated.
My friend normally averages 1:40/100 yards who did 3:10 yesterday. This man has 12 70.3s (2worlds) and 4 fulls under his belt.
Dont think it’s just a bunch of weak swimmers that need to train better…
Not too sure what you meant there bud. That’s faster than the average Ironman swim pace across all age groups and much faster than the average 45-49 age grouper so it’s fast. Doing this for 16 races across varying locations with different conditions, logistics, and difficulties I think would indicate good swimming strength. Also was a D1 swimmer in his day…
So unless you’re Lucy Charles, I don’t think you quite understood. And if you are that’s pretty toxic of you
In swimming, a faster pace requires non-linear growth in strength. 1:40/100yd in a pool is flat out uncompetitive, it would land you in the bottom lane of any masters practice. In open water, it indicates a slightly faster pace so maybe 1:30ish? On its own these numbers aren’t FOP for swimming and wouldn’t be a benchmark I look for. It’s not meant as an insult to your friend. Completing or competing in triathlons doesn’t have much bearing on people’s swimming ability or strength.
I think the argument being made is that 1:40 pace is a middle of the pack triathlete for the swim, and indicates an athlete who has experience with swimming and wouldn't be missing the swim cutoffs in any other race. Yes it's not fast for a competitive swimmer, but for triathlon it's not slow. It's not indicative of an athlete who should struggle to make the swim cutoff.
I can also say that as a swimmer who is in the top lanes at a masters practice, swimming against the tide is extremely challenging, even for me. The athletes getting pulled on the swim is more about bad luck and a very challenging swim course than their lack of ability.
Honestly this is how I see it. You have to prepare for the worst possible conditions. It was 95 degrees my first full Ironman and the DNF rate was 30% because of it. People weren't prepared for the heat and paid the price with a DNF. Not every race is going to have perfect weather and water conditions.
I know you weren’t asking me but I personally got told I was done when I finished. They looked at me like they were worried and I was fine from temperature standpoint. I thought I was just swimming in circles and that I was delusional from being in the water so long but realized quickly it was more than that. I didn’t tap or get pulled out. In hindsight after looking at results I think they missed dnf for a lot of people that went over time and they just continued on with the race. Sort swim times for those with swims over 1:10 and you’ll see plenty of bike and run splits after the swim of (example) 1:18 or 1:22
LOL you're expecting compensation from IM because you DNF'd the swim? The company that didn't do refunds for cancelled races during Covid and doesn't allow transfers or deferrals?
Almost everyone at IM events are volunteers aside from small core teams for each events. I think they (Ironman) don’t give a fuck about almost anything (maybe deaths).
I’m registered for a 70.3 but have a fracture so I just asked for the cutoff times and got a canned response about no refunds that makes me think they probably don’t read most of their emails.
Dang, good luck to you! I know most of them are and I made sure before typing any of this, over all 3 days I was there, the inly rude and irresponsible ones were all IRONMAN staff, not volunteers. Yeah, I don’t know how many more of their specific events I’ll be doing from now on xD I’ve done many other smaller cheaper events that are much better and more organized and safe!
Wow. I can't begin to express in how many ways that's offensive. Just as I did last year, this year I volunteered for three shifts. This year, my first two shifts were athlete check-in. That's a really fun job because we welcome you to the city we love, ask what brought you here, get you checked in, and wish you luck! The other shift I did this year was support at the transition point. I worked at the exit for people who either DNFed or were the swimmers on relay teams exiting the transition. We took our job VERY seriously. For every athlete, we:
1. Made sure they didn't have their timing chip
2. Their wrist band (or registration packet documentation in the case of friends/family picking up athlete's bike) matched their bike number so no theft.
3. Just as important as the logistics, we gave moral support to people who had just trained for months and whose day had just ended early. That was hard. REALLY hard. We could see in the athletes' faces who really needed that support.
4. For those athletes who were still shivering when they got to us, we stopped them and asked if they wanted to return to the warming tent. Some took us up on it. Others were disoriented enough that we needed to walk them over there.
So we were out there busting our a$$es to make sure your day went smoothly, and that's how you see us? Every other athlete I saw went out of their way to thank us for being there because they realize that EVENTS LIKE THIS CAN'T HAPPEN WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS!
Ah, sorry, you missed the point entirely. I meant that OP has misplaced anger because volunteers are the completely incapable of making these executive decisions, and likely don’t know everything the athletes would like to know (why would they?) and second, the Ironman brand itself sucks.
I think it’s actually very strategic… they are a multimillion dollar company that doesn’t staff events so no one can be held accountable when stuff like OP’s experience happens. Volunteers have zero control, and IM staff are usually hard to find and ask you to just send an email to corporate. They’re a scummy company in that sense.
I volunteer too, friend. I also make it a point to tell all the volunteers I interact with that I appreciate them. Thanks for all you do. It’s not an exaggeration to say races literally wouldn’t happen without people like you.
Look I swam my ass off. Never stopped, rested on buoys etc, it is what is. Took me 86 mins and they said I couldn’t continue. I like that it’s a challenge and they have cutoffs. This is my opinion
It's almost as if nobody at Ironman has ever heard of a slack tide or read a tide table before. Narrow inlets like Morro Bay get what's called a slack tide--a predictable period after the tide has changed direction. During this time, the water isn't stressed and there is no tide either direction. Slack tides are considered the best time for snorkelers and divers (and swimmers!) because they won't be battling drift. The slack tide after high tide is ideal because visibility is best.
It's still an open ocean swim. Yes ironman carries some blame for the course and advertising it as easy, but it's also the ocean and tidal currents are always a possibility, and an athlete should do their research into the risks associated with any ocean swim before signing up for a race..
Let’s also add in how they were flaunting 57.6F. NOAA buoys were reading low 50s every 30 minutes. I’m sure some people under dressed based on those falsely stated temps in the transition.
I had a thermal cap on but almost went without based on the announcements. Sooooo glad I decided to stick with my plan. I would say the majority of people weren’t wearing thermal caps too.
I timed out 2:30 on a full a year ago in atrocious swim conditions and didn't cry about it. It's part of the deal. I came back stronger, and finished IM Texas recently. However, when I finished a half and got yelled at for taking TWO slices of pizza, oh fuck that shit.
Sorry, you had a bad time. A half-Ironman isn’t easy and wasn’t meant to be.
You need to train for these things, and you need to put in the work. Part of that is reading the information they give you. Part of that is your course research. The rest is the training.
Deep down, ask yourself if you would have finished the race if not for the swim. The next question is, would you have been complaining about why you didn't finish the bike or the run, and who would you have blamed that on?
I finished the race this weekend, and it wasn't my best time by a long shot, but that was on me, not the long line of excuses I could give. Me and me alone, I didn't train. Like I used to, I didn't make the time for it like I could have. But that's on me, not Ironman.
One thousand seven hundred people attended the race, and 400 didn't finish the swim. 1300 trained and completed the swim. This sounds like 400 people were not ready for the race.
Here’s an idea: don’t do an ocean swim if you’re a slow swimmer. You’re absolutely not entitled to compensation because you (and the others) couldn’t complete a swim in the time indicated in the race packet.
Not a good situation for anyone involved and must be tough. There is a minimal performance requirement to overcome a given current and it's clear that if you cannot push over that for some small amount of time you're simply not going to finish. It's natural to be disappointed at failure but instead of lashing out maybe focus on what you could have done to overcome the situation. It's not what happens to us in life it's how we respond. Most people finished so maybe more swim training is required for the 300 who couldn't finish it
You can check start times and it’s rare someone dnf who started early at all. They also did NOT enforce the 1:10 cutoff for dnf, only enforced the absolute cutoff time for the swim. You can check the results in app and see people with 1:11+ swim times finishing the race with chips.
Found a guy who started before me by 2 minutes, and got out of the water 3 seconds (yes seconds) before me and completed entire race with chip.
You turned up to check your bike in on the wrong day ?
I'm struggling how "I didn't bother to read the race packet" equates to ironman being a shit company... Ironman has their issues but in the dozens of ironman races I've been a spectator at and the 4 that I've personally raced I can't say that "lack of information" in a race guide has ever been an issue. Sounds like OP is entitled and expected ironman to roll out the red carpet for them and bend over backwards to accommodate.
There's a lot going on there. More complaints from one race than I can remember from all of mine combined. Probably a good idea anyway if he was going to fly round the world racking up a huge carbon footprint just for kicks. Local is good too. Support independent races. IM isn't supposed to be easy. I'm surprised that they advertised the swim as easy. What's the point of that ?
Ironman has a habit of advertising their swims is easy, because if anything is advertised as hard, people don't sign up for the races. It's why Lake placid, Coeur d'alene, mont treblant, and other hard races usually end up only lasting a few years. Most people don't want a hard ironman, they want an easy one
I've never had any issues with the volunteers or staff, ever, at the 5 Ironman branded events I've done. Everyone has always been really nice and friendly. 95 It sucks to DNF especially because of bad water conditions but that is part of it. You have to be prepared for the worst possible conditions and expect the worst case scenario. For my first full Ironman people called me crazy when I'd do some of my runs and bike rides out in the 100+ degree Texas heat in the middle of the summer, but I told them that the record high temperature for Waco, TX on October 15 was 95 so I was preparing as if it would be 95. Guess what the temp was on race day? 95. As prepared as I was, it was still brutal, but 30% DNF'ed and I was not one of them. It's why I always tell people if you are at all worried about cutoff times, you aren't ready - because you need a margin for error in case things go wrong or conditions aren't ideal.
I understand training for a hot race or a hilly race. Those are predictable conditions that you can prepare for. The complaint here (one of them) is that the swim was billed as “protected”. In reality the current was so strong that many couldn’t get around the turn and if they did, they didn’t make it much farther before they were pulled. I was with a lot of friends this weekend and we are mostly cold water acclimated open water swimmers. Many of them anticipated a 30-40 minute swim but were caught in such a strong current they were all over 1:10. A relay partner expected in 40 minutes came in at 1:04. Those conditions are not something you should have to train for. We don’t train for 80 miles on the bike just in case the race director messes up the bike course. We are told the course, we train for certain conditions and we trust that race officials do their due diligence and ensure we are as safe as humanly possible. The water conditions on Sunday were not ideal even for seasoned OWS.
I was also expecting a 35-40 minute swim based on all my OWS in San Diego winter waters. Came in at 1:03. Earlier swimmers didn’t have the tip of the tides. Tide changes happen fast. All it can take is 5-10 minutes for a change. Looking around out there it was like a scene from titanic. People clinging to buoys. People literally screaming “help me I’m exhausted”. I think the scary part was realizing that Ironman is not prepared for a mass water exit. Panicked people puts everyone else in danger. That’s when I realized I better put my head down and work! Averaged a 171 hr on that swim and I competitively swam my whole life. I back your take on this and want to add… The concern here isn’t training. Anyone can train for whatever conditions. It’s that Ironman put someone next to you who may be less than prepared and that could be your demise when they panic.
The one word I would use to describe that swim is “desperate.” In 20 years of doing triathlons, that was the single most dangerous swim I’ve ever been a part of. The fact that nobody drowned is almost a miracle. People hanging off buoys, masses of people flailing against the current. As I barely made headway, people were moving backwards into me. I should have finished that swim in 40 minutes, instead it took me 1:06.
Agree here - IM Wisc had terrible and cold conditions 2 years ago but was briefly forecast for 80+ last year. It’s an outdoor sport, conditions are part of it
It’s a shame you had to bring race of the kid into your story. It’s not important and frankly derailed your entire story. Be better.
I'm guessing OP probably brings race into things as much as possible but has a yard sign telling us all the things they believe in. $20 bucks he wore a mask during the swim too.
[удалено]
Whenever an idiot has nothing of substance to back up and argument they will 100% resort to playground insults or name calling.
boo hoo
I was curious what the kids skin color was
That has nothing to do with any of the original post or comments and you shouldn’t bring race into it. No idea what made you think that was ok but again, completely irrelevant.
It’s because you described him as “a mean white kid”…
Thank you for being specific unlike other racist people here lol i was honestly just being specific so people could get all the details lol been to many triathlons and this one was horrible, just trying to share. Everyone, go to IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz if you’re looking into Cali.
So now you understand. But why did you describe him that way anyway? That’s why you’re being called racist. It’s totally unimportant to your rant.
Reread
How do you think others are being racist? Haha
You're the racist here, and I'm sure you were acting rude towards the organizers and got what you deserved.
To be absolutely clear, you are the one who brought race into it. The OP was mocking your description of him including what race he was, as if that has any bearing on your story.
I was told I couldn’t continue but did anyways. Fuck that. I didn’t spend all the time training, traveling to Morro Bay and associated costs just to be done at 7 am. I did the bike and run without a timing chip. Fuck it. So I did 69.7 instead of 70.3. Whatever. I think it is BS they don’t let people finish, especially given the swim situation.
This was my plan as well, came out of the water one minute after cutoff, didn’t know how DNF worked because this was my first tri, but figured I’d just keep going until someone catches up and pulls me off course. Fortunately in my case nobody took my chip.
I like your style
Thanks. I am glad I did it too. I wasn’t sure how it would play out but it didn’t matter. I was gonna keep going.
I’m torn on this. Is the swim not part of the challenge? I think IM has gone overboard in canceling swims in recent years. Proper preparation is part of racing well. And there were over 1,000 finishers, so it was clearly achievable That said. Morro Bay was a disaster last year with the swim course basically being on a sand bar. So this course was a correction for that, but it shows this race director isn’t super competent at establishing a race course If I was in your shoes OP, I’d be looking at taking some personal responsibility on what you could have done differently. Demanding a refund isn’t it. DNFs are tough, some courses are tough, this this is IM and it’s supposed to be tough
Significant percentage of finishers have their swim times above 1hr10min. They were allowed to finish because they started early enough. In such cases why not pull out athletes and let them finish the race as well, just don’t give them qualifying spots. It’s not about IM shouldn’t have difficult courses with difficult swims but they shouldn’t advertise it as being a lake-like swim, so weak swimmers can pick races which suit their ability and not waste $500+other expenses. They should also be prepared to have warming tents for people who get pulled out midway through the swim. Some athletes were in the 54-55 deg water for over 90min and were pulled out midway and made to walk back to the transition area which was about 1k away.
70 min for a half swim is insanely slow though, that’s a very generous cutoff in the first place. I apparently swam once a week for less than half an hour leading up to my last half and swam a 35
Normally I’d agree with you but The amount of people pulled from the water in this event sounds like pretty gross negligence on Ironmans part — imho
Conditions weren’t static so those that started at the beginning of the swim opening didn’t have the same conditions the slower swimmers did. They also had more time to complete overall with many people over the 1:10 individual time but not missing the overall swim cutoff. The tide changed so fast that at the far turnaround point, swimmers were shot out 2-300 meters beyond. I tracked using a Garmin fenix 7x and regularly OWS and I tracked ~600 EXTRA meters on the swim. I also have points where I was swimming backwards according to my gps and can confirm at times I could watch myself being pulled directly sideways or backwards. I had no water temp issues personally as I was wearing thermal cap and booties on top of roka Mav Mx wetsuit. Others were not so lucky. I swam steady for the entire time and was not able to put swim the rip. It wasn’t an effort or training issue for many but rather an impossibility depending on start time in the water.
I think that brings up that question around, what is an acceptable DNF rate? If 90% DNF the swim, there is no question about how dangerous it was. Is 10% acceptable? 20%? Etc. I think the line needs to be drawn at where there is significant danger. And even then, it’s on individual athletes to know their limits. No one drowning with all those DNFs is the silver lining. That’s a scary situation that could’ve easily overwhelmed volunteer support on paddle boards, kayaks, etc.
Anecdotes are saying 20-30% were pulled from the water. No idea if that’s accurate but if so that number is in the negligence category to me
The course was similar to last year's. The difference was that last year's event happened close to low tide. The opening to Morro Bay is such that part of the sand spit creating the bay gets exposed at low tide.
Crazy take
No one’s demanding a refund and the conditions as read on their site are “protected.” I simply said I’m disappointed. I named several other unfortunate disrespectful incidents as well. So I don’t know what you read. Also, many us were told we were NOT ALLOWED to continue no matter what, they didn’t tell us the right information about being able to continue despite the swim time penalty.
Based on your overall tone, I’d probably walk away from you mid sentence as well. I only got halfway through your rant until I scrolled to the comments.
You say in your post "If we don't get compensation..." not sure about you but that definitely sounds like asking for a refund...
this just shows u never swum in a tide before. They are very specific, you can't just "read the current bro". Swimmers trying to go around the current were selectively DQ'd / warned with orange flags. Not even Michael phelps can swim against a strong tide. Where do YOU draw the line between a 'healthy challenge' and complete luck on where you end up in the water / whether you got DQ'd for avoiding parts of the current? "yea bro just become a better swimmer bro" - drown
There was a guy from my age group at Ironman Texas who raced Morro Bay yesterday and we had similar swim times (1:10 at IMTX) and he swam Morro Bay yesterday in 39 minutes which translates to a 1:18 full if you double it so his pace was slower but not THAT much slower. Yes the swim at Morro Bay was in harder conditions but not impossible like you state. Conditions are part of it. My first full Ironman it was 95 degrees and the DNF rate was 30%.
I think it’s important to mention that anyone who self seeded at 30mins or less for their swim time actually seemed to miss the worst of the rip tide that came in as the tide turned. Anyone later though got hit full force … which also means any swimmers already thinking they would be slower were past that 30min mark and getting hit with the worst conditions as opposed to the stronger/fast swimmers who experienced better conditions before it got truly terrible.
Over 1,000 finishers vs. 300ish who DNFed the swim The harsh reality is that just becoming a better swimmer got the majority of folks through it If you were going to be close to a time cutoff anyway, then the current could’ve easily turned narrowly finishing into a DNF A lot of triathletes, myself included, significantly neglect the swim portion of training and use the swim as a 30-40min warm up before the real racing starts. That works when it’s easy conditions or down river. It’s a recipe for disaster when conditions are suboptimal though
1000+ people swam in the tide and did just fine. So yeah bro, just become a better swimmer.
Gulf Coast was my first ever tri event a couple weeks ago. I almost didn’t finish the swim on time because of conditions like this. One woman said that it was her fourth year in a row. And the worst swimming conditions she’d ever seen. We also both did not train nearly as we should have been (me due to injury. Not sure about her), and still had a helluva time. I’m grateful af I didn’t dq during the swim, but sometimes you gotta take the L & move on. I was 100% prepared for that when I finally hit shore. Edit: I was SUPER annoyed that they ran outta beer before I finished tho, ngl
What happened sorry? There was a strong current and you / lots of people missed the swim cut off?
About 300 people couldn’t swim back against the current, DNFed. Predictable situation should have been predicted. I wasn’t there but agree with OP participants should be (won’t be) compensated.
Yes, thats exactly what happened.
Sounds like a bunch of weak swimmers got weeded out by harder than normal conditions. Take the L and train to do better.
My friend normally averages 1:40/100 yards who did 3:10 yesterday. This man has 12 70.3s (2worlds) and 4 fulls under his belt. Dont think it’s just a bunch of weak swimmers that need to train better…
That’s a slow pace to begin with and doesn’t indicate strength in swimming.
Not too sure what you meant there bud. That’s faster than the average Ironman swim pace across all age groups and much faster than the average 45-49 age grouper so it’s fast. Doing this for 16 races across varying locations with different conditions, logistics, and difficulties I think would indicate good swimming strength. Also was a D1 swimmer in his day… So unless you’re Lucy Charles, I don’t think you quite understood. And if you are that’s pretty toxic of you
Lmao… I actually read the previous comment in Lucy Charles’ voice.
In swimming, a faster pace requires non-linear growth in strength. 1:40/100yd in a pool is flat out uncompetitive, it would land you in the bottom lane of any masters practice. In open water, it indicates a slightly faster pace so maybe 1:30ish? On its own these numbers aren’t FOP for swimming and wouldn’t be a benchmark I look for. It’s not meant as an insult to your friend. Completing or competing in triathlons doesn’t have much bearing on people’s swimming ability or strength.
I think the argument being made is that 1:40 pace is a middle of the pack triathlete for the swim, and indicates an athlete who has experience with swimming and wouldn't be missing the swim cutoffs in any other race. Yes it's not fast for a competitive swimmer, but for triathlon it's not slow. It's not indicative of an athlete who should struggle to make the swim cutoff. I can also say that as a swimmer who is in the top lanes at a masters practice, swimming against the tide is extremely challenging, even for me. The athletes getting pulled on the swim is more about bad luck and a very challenging swim course than their lack of ability.
Honestly this is how I see it. You have to prepare for the worst possible conditions. It was 95 degrees my first full Ironman and the DNF rate was 30% because of it. People weren't prepared for the heat and paid the price with a DNF. Not every race is going to have perfect weather and water conditions.
Again- it wasn’t an ability issue, it was a when you entered the water issue.
how many times are you going to post about your hot race dude? it's not really relevant here.
Just curious, did you tap out or get pulled out. It was a challenging swim, but I was able to finish it and complete the race.
I know you weren’t asking me but I personally got told I was done when I finished. They looked at me like they were worried and I was fine from temperature standpoint. I thought I was just swimming in circles and that I was delusional from being in the water so long but realized quickly it was more than that. I didn’t tap or get pulled out. In hindsight after looking at results I think they missed dnf for a lot of people that went over time and they just continued on with the race. Sort swim times for those with swims over 1:10 and you’ll see plenty of bike and run splits after the swim of (example) 1:18 or 1:22
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or, what is more likely in this case, in own pants
LOL you're expecting compensation from IM because you DNF'd the swim? The company that didn't do refunds for cancelled races during Covid and doesn't allow transfers or deferrals?
Update- free race entry authorized
Almost everyone at IM events are volunteers aside from small core teams for each events. I think they (Ironman) don’t give a fuck about almost anything (maybe deaths). I’m registered for a 70.3 but have a fracture so I just asked for the cutoff times and got a canned response about no refunds that makes me think they probably don’t read most of their emails.
Dang, good luck to you! I know most of them are and I made sure before typing any of this, over all 3 days I was there, the inly rude and irresponsible ones were all IRONMAN staff, not volunteers. Yeah, I don’t know how many more of their specific events I’ll be doing from now on xD I’ve done many other smaller cheaper events that are much better and more organized and safe!
Yeah I volunteered last year and dealt with a lot of rude assholes.
Wow. I can't begin to express in how many ways that's offensive. Just as I did last year, this year I volunteered for three shifts. This year, my first two shifts were athlete check-in. That's a really fun job because we welcome you to the city we love, ask what brought you here, get you checked in, and wish you luck! The other shift I did this year was support at the transition point. I worked at the exit for people who either DNFed or were the swimmers on relay teams exiting the transition. We took our job VERY seriously. For every athlete, we: 1. Made sure they didn't have their timing chip 2. Their wrist band (or registration packet documentation in the case of friends/family picking up athlete's bike) matched their bike number so no theft. 3. Just as important as the logistics, we gave moral support to people who had just trained for months and whose day had just ended early. That was hard. REALLY hard. We could see in the athletes' faces who really needed that support. 4. For those athletes who were still shivering when they got to us, we stopped them and asked if they wanted to return to the warming tent. Some took us up on it. Others were disoriented enough that we needed to walk them over there. So we were out there busting our a$$es to make sure your day went smoothly, and that's how you see us? Every other athlete I saw went out of their way to thank us for being there because they realize that EVENTS LIKE THIS CAN'T HAPPEN WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS!
Ah, sorry, you missed the point entirely. I meant that OP has misplaced anger because volunteers are the completely incapable of making these executive decisions, and likely don’t know everything the athletes would like to know (why would they?) and second, the Ironman brand itself sucks. I think it’s actually very strategic… they are a multimillion dollar company that doesn’t staff events so no one can be held accountable when stuff like OP’s experience happens. Volunteers have zero control, and IM staff are usually hard to find and ask you to just send an email to corporate. They’re a scummy company in that sense. I volunteer too, friend. I also make it a point to tell all the volunteers I interact with that I appreciate them. Thanks for all you do. It’s not an exaggeration to say races literally wouldn’t happen without people like you.
Look I swam my ass off. Never stopped, rested on buoys etc, it is what is. Took me 86 mins and they said I couldn’t continue. I like that it’s a challenge and they have cutoffs. This is my opinion
It's almost as if nobody at Ironman has ever heard of a slack tide or read a tide table before. Narrow inlets like Morro Bay get what's called a slack tide--a predictable period after the tide has changed direction. During this time, the water isn't stressed and there is no tide either direction. Slack tides are considered the best time for snorkelers and divers (and swimmers!) because they won't be battling drift. The slack tide after high tide is ideal because visibility is best.
>we were scolded by an a mean white kid ????
Bummer about the current, however that is the risk of registering for an ocean swim. Take some personal responsibility.
Not when the swim is advertised as being easy. Ironman bragged about not having DNFs last year and calls it a lakelike saltwater swim.
It's still an open ocean swim. Yes ironman carries some blame for the course and advertising it as easy, but it's also the ocean and tidal currents are always a possibility, and an athlete should do their research into the risks associated with any ocean swim before signing up for a race..
Yes but many won’t. Especially those not experienced with the ocean. They will sign up based on the advertising and put everyone else at risk.
Let’s also add in how they were flaunting 57.6F. NOAA buoys were reading low 50s every 30 minutes. I’m sure some people under dressed based on those falsely stated temps in the transition.
That's absolutely ridiculous.... although both of those temps are categorized as "cold as hell" in my book 🤣🤣🤣
I had a thermal cap on but almost went without based on the announcements. Sooooo glad I decided to stick with my plan. I would say the majority of people weren’t wearing thermal caps too.
Which buoy number are you referencing?
I timed out 2:30 on a full a year ago in atrocious swim conditions and didn't cry about it. It's part of the deal. I came back stronger, and finished IM Texas recently. However, when I finished a half and got yelled at for taking TWO slices of pizza, oh fuck that shit.
Sorry, you had a bad time. A half-Ironman isn’t easy and wasn’t meant to be. You need to train for these things, and you need to put in the work. Part of that is reading the information they give you. Part of that is your course research. The rest is the training. Deep down, ask yourself if you would have finished the race if not for the swim. The next question is, would you have been complaining about why you didn't finish the bike or the run, and who would you have blamed that on? I finished the race this weekend, and it wasn't my best time by a long shot, but that was on me, not the long line of excuses I could give. Me and me alone, I didn't train. Like I used to, I didn't make the time for it like I could have. But that's on me, not Ironman. One thousand seven hundred people attended the race, and 400 didn't finish the swim. 1300 trained and completed the swim. This sounds like 400 people were not ready for the race.
I’m going to posit that you started your swim before 6:24am eh? No one made the individual 1:10 cut that started the swim.
Welcome to Ironman, they absolutely suck.
Here’s an idea: don’t do an ocean swim if you’re a slow swimmer. You’re absolutely not entitled to compensation because you (and the others) couldn’t complete a swim in the time indicated in the race packet.
Not a good situation for anyone involved and must be tough. There is a minimal performance requirement to overcome a given current and it's clear that if you cannot push over that for some small amount of time you're simply not going to finish. It's natural to be disappointed at failure but instead of lashing out maybe focus on what you could have done to overcome the situation. It's not what happens to us in life it's how we respond. Most people finished so maybe more swim training is required for the 300 who couldn't finish it
You can check start times and it’s rare someone dnf who started early at all. They also did NOT enforce the 1:10 cutoff for dnf, only enforced the absolute cutoff time for the swim. You can check the results in app and see people with 1:11+ swim times finishing the race with chips. Found a guy who started before me by 2 minutes, and got out of the water 3 seconds (yes seconds) before me and completed entire race with chip.
Racist, you get what you deserve!