General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Ironman Florida Race Report Rss Feed  
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2015-03-26 9:13 PM


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Subject: Ironman Florida Race Report
Here is my race report from Ironman Florida (2014). I do not wish our weather conditions on anyone else, but it is a great race! If you are signed up, I am excited for you! Its a great course, beautiful water, and a great set up! If you have any questions, please email me or post here!
http://www.trihardmom.com/2015/03/ironman-florida-race-report-2014....


Audrey
www.trihardmom.com


2015-03-27 1:54 AM
in reply to: 0


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Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Race Report
Originally posted by anovchich

Here is my race report from Ironman Florida (2014). I do not wish our weather conditions on anyone else, but it is a great race! If you are signed up, I am excited for you! Its a great course, beautiful water, and a great set up! If you have any questions, please email me or post here!
http://www.trihardmom.com/2015/03/ironman-florida-race-report-2014....


Audrey
www.trihardmom.com


Such a shame they cancelled the swim. Surely they could have come up with a plan B? Tough conditions, but in theory the competitors are very fit athletes, that are capable of swimming 4km+ in open water, not to mention they're wearing wetsuits which is more or less a floatation device. Plus there would be a multitude of rescue craft, rescue boats, RIBS, Jetskis, the kayakers apparently couldn't stay upright, which I find strange. If you're a competent kayaker, you should be able to manage a kayak even in wild seas. Irrespectively, even without kayakers, there should have been sufficient safety cover. I actually think it would be pretty hard to drown in a wetsuit.



This is a photo from the rottnest swim last month, 12 miles in wild open water, 20mph winds, 4m swell, a couple of 3m sharks checking out the swimmers, jellyfish etc etc no cancellation and the swimmers weren't wearing wetsuits and none of the kayakers had problems..

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BLShp-QBEfk/VOtZF3IskyI/AAAAAAAAF9U/Ox-My...

http://globalsurfski.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014D1Hank.jpg


Edited by zedzded 2015-03-27 2:23 AM
2015-03-27 7:40 AM
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Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Race Report

Originally posted by zedzded  Surely they could have come up with a plan B? Tough conditions, but in theory the competitors are very fit athletes, that are capable of swimming 4km+ in open water, not to mention they're wearing wetsuits which is more or less a floatation device.

Having done IMFL twice I think I can speak to this.  Both times I did the race I finished the swim around 1:05 on a complete cruise control pace.  I'm not the best swimmer in the field but I'm certainly nowhere near the weakest.

The last time I did the race was in 2013.  We dodged a bullet by about 15 or 16 hours.  The race is held on Saturday.  Had the race been held on Friday the entire race would have been canceled.  The beach was double red flagged, which means the water was closed to swimming: http://www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/beaches/beach-warning-flags/ .  The surface waves barely tell the story, it's what's happening under the water that is what makes it dangerous (rip currents, undertow, etc.).

It rained very hard and the wind was whipping at a sustained 40+ mph which would have meant they would have also canceled the bike... which meant the whole race would have been canceled.

I did a practice swim and bike on Thursday afternoon.  The storm was still many hours from hitting us but the wind had already started to kick up and the Gulf started to get a little angry.  The practice swim was borderline unswimmable at that point.  The only way you could swim was parallel with the shoreline.  Swimming away from the shore was nearly impossible, it was like swimming in an endless pool... and that was only yellow flagged at that time (and probably borderline single red flag).  Remember, I can outswim 85% of the field, so if I found it very difficult the weaker swimmers may have found even a yellow flag to be nearly impossible... let alone a red or double red flag.  The practice bike ride was downright scary along the coast line, and the conditions were much, much worse the next day.

Race day was okay and progressively got better all day long.  The swim looked a bit intimidating in the morning as the surface waves along the beach took some effort to get through but once you were out 150m or so it was smooth sailing.  The day after the race was absolute perfection.

I can't speak for 2014 as I was not there but the rip current was the reason the swim was canceled.  I remember reading the beach was single red flagged that morning which meant high hazard but technically open to swimming.  But who wants to risk the safety of 2500 people?  A red flagged Panama City Beach swim would have been very, very difficult even for the strongest swimmers.

There is no Plan B for the IMFL swim.  They are at the mercy of Mother Nature.



Edited by GMAN 19030 2015-03-27 7:41 AM
2015-03-29 9:44 PM
in reply to: zedzded

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Subject: RE: Ironman Florida Race Report
Sure there was probably a good plan B, but this is America, land of the lawsuit. Stub your toe on someone else's property and Americans feel like they are owed a million dollars. Scrap plan B and start with the bike.

The water conditions sucked, swim-able for most but for people who weren't really prepared for the swim it would have caused issues. Too many issues within a field of 2000+ swimmers is a bad idea.

I enjoyed my late cup of coffee, watched sportscenter then went for a really long bike/run brick.
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