IM swim pace times

I think you'll find that adding a wetsuit and a HUUUUGE draft at IM courses, that you will be at or below that 1:40 pace....

It depends on alot of things, if you can't sight well you will be slower.  If you can you will be faster.  1:40/100 is a good pace for an IM, that would put you solidly in the top half.  Make sure your sighting is solid and you should be faster.

I've never done an IM swim, but I can tell you that my HIM distance pace in the pool was in the 1:40/100 range but in the actual OWS it was 2:00/100. It seems to be par for me with converting my pool times to OWS - and I don't get off course! I'm thinking I push off the wall and coast really well before resuming my front crawl. My first stroke comes when my feet are past the first set of flags. I dunno, just one more guy's opinion I guess.

I was faster per 100 for my first IM than my pool pace (swim was 75 degrees, calm river with no current to speak of).  I was right around my pool pace for my 2nd IM (which was somewhat choppier...and 59 degrees...I had to stop for about 30 seconds at about 3000 yds with a bad cramp in my calf from the cold).  You shouldn't be slower in the open water in a wetsuit than you are in a pool...I've always been at least as fast (normally faster) than in the pool at every distance from sprint to IM, even under less than ideal conditions.

(I'm comparing my IM swims to nonstop pool swims of 4000-4300 yards, btw.)

Then I must be doing something wrong. I don't even do flip turns! And I've measured my pool to make sure it's 25 yards. I have several 1:40-1:45 per 100 swims documented in my training for IMKS and my IMKS race report says I averaged 2:01/100 with a wetsuit on and adjusted to 1:55/100 for the long run to the timing mat from shore. Who knows.

I think many folks are slower in open water than in the pool and that difference varies by person. IM Canada I was about 20 seconds per hundred slower than what was my typical swim in the pool at that time. I sighted poorly on the long way back to shore.

I think your experience is not that uncommon and is about the same for me but I'm slower than you in the pool but am about 10-20" slower in ow.

Swims can be measured wrong. Some folks improve a lot in wetsuit and others not so much. I know someone that swims about 15 seconds slower than me in the pool but is always faster than me in ows by a bit. Her wetsuit helps her more than mine helps me.

If this is your first IM my question would be; should you be worrying about the swim time? Just a thought as it could ruin the rest of your day if you try to hold a certain pace and on that day you just are not feeling it in the swim. Vanish the mind from the time it takes to complete a leg and just enjoy the experience, after all the swim will be long forgotten during the run. However if you really want to know, go ahead and do an open swim in your race kit and then take off about 5 – 10secs per 100 for the race.

Well his handle is 'chasingkona'... maybe he's got a shot at qualifying.  

You are doing Wisconsin.

The swim is an absolute washing machine. That's the biggest problem I had. I wasn't swimming in water... I was swimming over bodies... and getting clobbered in the head!

That said, my IMWI swim time was a wee bit slower per 100 than what I usually swim... I swam a 1:17 with very little effort extended and while being absolutely beaten to death in the water. It should be noted that I swam a 1:17 @ the Madison Open Water Swim race as well... with a lot fewer people to fight off.

I normally swim 1:38/1:40 per 100 in the pool. I think 1:17 breaks down to about 1:48/100.

One thing I'd like to add... and even stress... is that the swim shouldn't be your focus. You will spend less than 2 hours swimming in an Ironman. You will spend 5+ hours biking and 4+ hours (likely) running. The swim focus should be to get out of the water after swimming 2.4 miles feeling refreshed and not like you've taken anything out of the tank for the day. You should make every effort to stay aerobic and emerge from the water with your HR in a good spot, ready to ride for 112 miles with a minimum of "settling".

I don't see the point of getting all gassed in the swim. It's a long long long long day.

great opinions all. Whizzzz I am doing the Madison OWS this August so I will get an idea of the course along with the distance in open water. I am very aware of how little time I will be swimming compared to the bike and run, but I would like to hit all my time goals as well.

As for sighting well with the crowd that big at IM Wisconsin is sighting really that important? I only ask that bc I feel that I could draft more or less off someone or follow the pack and occasionally look to make sure that I am on pace.

I am starting on Monday doing OWS classes so I guess that will help to give me a better judgement along with the OWS challenge in Madison just before IM, but given my shoulder injury from this past winter I still feel that I am a good to stronger swimmer and would like to see a good result from it.

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Just looking at your 1000 yard TT averaging a 1:40/100, you should target more like a 1:50/100 average in OW swimming in a large group. Yes, there is a draft, but you will be swimming in the largest part of the pack and the crowding will interrupt your stroke and sighting is difficult as the mass of bodies can stretch over 100 yards wide and you end up zig zagging through.

Bryan,  Not sure what my OWS pace will be.  I will know more after this weekend's oly and my HIM in July.  Based on today's 2:00/100 pool pace(this is starting my stopwatch at the beginning of the session and stopping it an hour later), should I get to the back outside of the scrum for IMWI swim? 

Whizz, please chime in too!

I have no idea about the IMWI swim logistics...but my Mom is from Lafayette, Indiana!

I'd go a little wide. I (inadvertently and quite incorrectly) swam the buoy line @ IMWI this year and it was a boxing match. Next year I will start further to the right, perhaps even to the right of the ski jump. I'd rather go a little wide and swim just a wee bit further than get clobbered repeatedly about the head and neck, like I did.

I consider myself a solid swimmer, but the all of the action was too much for me. I needed a break on the back side of the first lap. The contact was relentless. I actually held onto a kayak for a minute or two, just to gather myself.

Go wide. Stay out of that mixmaster.

Hey Bryan, when are you going to do IMWI? 2011? Ya wanna??  Would be good to meet you for real, finally!

No way, no day, cuttie pie! I'm off the IM hamster wheel for a bit after Hawaii this year. Come back to AZ see I can see your smiling face!

Edited by bryancd 2010-06-10 3:35 PM

 

I have no idea about the IMWI swim logistics...but my Mom is from Lafayette, Indiana!

As I was swimming... I started laughing, thinking to myself... "THIS REMINDS ME OF PANICKED FRENZIED HORRIFIED PREY FLAILING AROUND TRYING TO EVADE SHARKS!"

It's really something else. Really.

Something I'll add, IM swim "pace" is (for me at least) an "effort," and not a "time."  First, you won't know your distance until you reach the turnaround, and speeding up to hit a predetermined pace would not be a great idea.  Some days easy for me is 1:25, some days it's +:05, all depends on how I am feeling that day

Just my .02 

I think this is what I was trying to say, in far too many words.

Don't gas yourself in the swim trying to hit an arbitrary time goal. Keep yourself aerobic and within an acceptable effort range.

Personally I feel like there is really no way to tell.  The course could be long.  The course could be short.  There could be waves.  There could be currents.  Trying to predict pace on an OWS is impossible.