Bartleys Tri (Triathlon for Beginners: Part 4)

Bartleys Tri has been all about how to "do" a triathlon, aimed at newbies who want to know what to expect in their first race. This series of posts is all about documenting what-I-wish-I-knew-then, only two sprint triathlons later. Did I forget to explain anything? Leave a comment and I'll get you an answer! Did I miss something in my description? Leave a comment!

In Part 1, I wrote about triathlon distances, how to choose one, checking in, and setting up. 

Part 2 covers the stuff you'll need to bring for race day, and what little things to pack in your bag so you can enjoy smooth sailing.

Part 3 is all about what to wear for a tri, covering the basics and the would-love-to-haves. I also included a tri gear buying guide, no matter what your budget.

But what actually happens when the gun goes off? Read on.

Bartleys Tri, Part 4: Out Racing - Swim

From the beginning, let's talk about what goes on in a triathlon. As a cheat sheet, I highlighted the main steps in red.

Pre-Race

First, get there early. Get there no later than an hour before the race start. Do you check-in and packet pick-up thing, and mosey on over to your bike rack.

I mentioned in Part 1 that there is a pre-race meeting of sorts. It's usually pretty informal - typically the race director with a microphone. The announcements usually cover race number placement (which I described here), reminders of legal and illegal actions during the race that could get you a time penalty or disqualified, and organizing all of the participants for the start. It's during these announcements where you'll learn what type of start you're dealing with, unless it's posted on the event website beforehand.

Set up your transition area, detailed in Part 1. It's show time!

Starting the Swim

Sheer madness!

The explanation for the start depends heavily on the type of race start, so a little introduction has to happen concurrently. There are two types of starts. Everyone starts at different times, and this system works because of the timing chip (basically, don't lose the chip). The electronic timing chip, which I described in Part 1, is ultimately what records your start time, each transition, and when you finish. So, it doesn't matter if you're in the first wave or the last wave, the first in a staggered start, or the last in a staggered start. The only difference this might make is the competitive advantage, but that's something to consider farther down the road. Long story short, make sure the timing chip and strap are velcroed to your ankle with no chance of coming off.

The two types of starts:

Wave start - "waves," or groups, of people start all at once. You typically see this where there is a wide shore to work with. When you check in, you are given a colored swim cap, and in a wave start, everyone with the same colored cap starts together. Waves can be grouped by swimming ability or by age/gender. In the Island Lake Triathlon, I started with all other females aged 18-29, and we all had red caps. Each wave is usually staggered about 2-5 minutes apart, depending on the size of each wave and how long it takes the previous wave to safely clear.

A nice wide shoreline is perfect for wave starts.

Wave starts can be intimidating for first-timers! Guidelines for you, if yours is a wave start:

• A few minutes before the start, get in the water and try to get acclimated to the water temperature. (You're allowed to do a swim warm-up too). They'll call you out of the water when they begin starting each wave.
• If there are waves that are starting before you, watch out -- while you're waiting, stay out of the water or out of their way!
• You could be starting on the shore or in the water.
• When your wave is on deck, I recommend hanging back after the athletes in your wave begin. You don't have to go all-out with everyone and begin at the front of the line, but if you're a strong swimmer, go for it! I've heard horror stories.
• Wait a couple of seconds after the start signal before you start swimming. I've been hit in the head,  kicked other people in the head, had someone grab my foot, and even heard of getting swam over (yes, this is when someone is actually swimming ON TOP of you!!).... all from being right in the middle of the wave. If you hang back and wait a couple of seconds for the majority of your wave to clear, you'll have less traffic to navigate through. Or, if you're a slower swimmer, you won't get swam over or get in anyone's way. See the guy in the wetsuit in the photo below (bottom left)? He's a genius for waiting it out!
• Once you're in the water, it's up to you when you want to start swimming. I, personally, am much slower swimming than I am wading/running through water in the areas where I can still touch the ground. So, I go as far as I can until I have to start swimming.

Everyone starts together in a wave start- the red caps
denote all of these guys start in the same wave. 

Update (8/21/2011): I hate you scare you off about the swim, but to add a little humor to the chaos of the swim start, make sure to watch this 30-second video.

Staggered Start - each person gets into the water for the swim, one at a time. You'll see this configuration where there is a dock or where the shore won't allow large groups of people to start at once. There is usually a few second's delay in between each person's start. Since a picture's worth a thousand words... I marked this one up for you, from the Go Girl last year: Each person is staggered by a few seconds, where a race starter (see below) stands there to control the flow of people. As you'll see in the photo, there's not a lot of "beach" to work with, and they put a ramp in to ease the big drop from the park to the sand. 

Notice the multiple colored swim caps in these photos -- in my experience with the staggered start, swim cap colors had zero relationship to where you started the race (in fact, they let us choose the color at check-in!). In the case of the first two photos below, start order was determined by race number assignment - smallest numbers first.

Even though they sound better, staggered starts still do present the potential for "contact swimming," which I described in the last bullet under the Wave Start. In fact, there might be more potential, because you don't have the opportunity to sit back until the big crowd clears... it's a constant stream of people coming from behind you. 

The view beyond the start banner

Guidelines for the staggered start:

• A few minutes before the start, get in the water and try to get acclimated to the water temperature. (You're allowed to do a swim warm-up too). They'll call you out of the water when they begin starting each wave.
• Listen closely to the announcer when the starts are about to begin. The announcer will call your race number range so you know when to step up to the line. Your start order shouldn't matter greatly, but there may be some correlation between your start position and your swimming ability (like in the Go Girl, where they asked us in the registration how well we could swim). If you're starting with the swimmers with similar capabilities as you, you'll be less likely to create or run into traffic in the water.
• Since staggered starts usually have tricky terrain to navigate before you get to the water, be careful! Watch your feet for ramps, steps, and other things you can trip on.
• Most people will run into the water. Do what feels most comfortable.
• Again, it's completely up to you when you want to start swimming. I choose to run as far as I can until I can't reach the ground, since my aqua run is still faster than my swim!

And one last staggered start example:

A staggered Tri Indy swim start. The line is on the right-hand side.

Triathlon Swim Survival Guide

Now that we've got the start knocked out, some general comments to help you with the swim underway:

• If you have trouble, there will be boats, kayaks, and/or canoes in the water. They'll be watching for people with issues and can pull you out if needed. I've heard that some triathlons will allow you to hold onto the boat to rest, but others will disqualify you for this*. [Update: the triathlon holding-onto-the-boat rule is posted below. You can hold onto the boat to rest, but it can't be moving or "making forward progress, otherwise you'll get a time penalty. ]
• Exact USA Triathlon Rules: Bottom Contact and Resting. A participant may stand on the bottom or rest by holding an inanimate object such as a buoy, boat, rope or floating object. Excluding the bottom, a participant shall not use any inanimate object to gain forward progress. A violation of this section shall result in a variable time penalty, unless the Head Referee in his/her sole discretion determines that (i) the violation was substantial and resulted in an unfair time dvantage, or (ii) the violation constituted endangerment under Section 3.4(1).
• Just breathe! To be honest, I had my first-ever panic attack when I began my first triathlon swim. First, I'd never swam in open water. Second, there were just so many waves, and no way to see what was below me, and... it was just overwhelming. Remember to breathe and stay relaxed.
• Like I mentioned earlier, hang back to avoid heavy traffic in the water. Along the same lines, remember to take the outside of the turns so you're not getting boxed in, kicked, and slapped around.
• Don't go out too fast. Even the experienced triathletes I run with say that the biggest mistake they've made is going too hard, too fast - and paying for it later. For all of the events, start at a slow and easy pace, and if you feel good at the halfway point, power it in.
• Don't swim inside the buoys, or you may get disqualified for cutting the course. Make sure you swim to the outside.



Taking a right hand turn around the marker

• Make sure you know where you're going (sighting). Sighting is when you lift your head up from the water to breathe while  locating a landmark in front of you so you can make sure you're swimming in the right direction - surprisingly difficult! I still don't know how to do this well. Your goal should be to make a conscious effort to look up every few strokes to make sure you're not swimming solo/off course.
• More thoughts on sighting. Challenges include: sun glare off of the water and hard-to-spot buoys (because they're too small, people in the way, etc.). The best advice I've heard is to make sure you're following the group of people in front of you if you can't see the next landmark. Once you make that last glorious turn and can spot the shore, you'll probably see a bigger landmark, like the two inflatable arches you see in the photos above -- so, in that last stretch, as long as you're swimming toward the big arch, you're in good shape! For all of you experienced triathletes, I would love your input on this... Post a comment and share your best tips.

Did I forget something? Or, if you're an experienced triathlete, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment!


Next time: the swim to bike transition, and the bike portion.

Check out the rest of the Bartleys Tri series:
Part 1 - Signing up and Setting up
Part 2 - Equipment & Gear
Part 3 - What to Wear
Part 5 - Transition 1 & Bike
Part 6 - Transition 2 & Run

Ps -- shout out to my buddy Scoop, who just finished his SECOND Ironman triathlon, Coeur d'Alene! So proud of you Scoop! 12:41:49!!