Swimming drafting question

There was an article on Facebook about this.

Found it..

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/11/training/drafting-swim-tips...

Drafting can save up to 38% of your energy so I would think you could do it provided you can stay with the leaders off the start.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Last year him and someone else just disappeared, no-one could catch them.

My first question is are they doing the race again this year (Mandurah right?)?
If they get out in front of you with the current in the canals then you are going to be in some trouble because you wont be able to catch up. The deep water start might not help either make sure you stick close as soon as you get in.

Hey Stacey, yeah doing Mandurah. Are you doing it?

Drafting off the hip has a stronger draft but often times harder to stay in because both people swerve around a little in OWSing.

The initial 200 will be tough to hang with him, but also if he feels(sees) you there and wants to lose you he probably can.

Nope. I have a sprint on the same day and a friend is doing her first tri. Also I'm not anywhere near up to doing a full HIM. I did the swim leg of Mandurah as part of a team. It was a pretty fast swim with the current and was wetsuit legal that year, amazingly hot though.

Maybe you should just tap the guy and the shoulder before you start and tell him you want to hang onto his feet and see if he will co-operate

The ONLY thing I HATE about this whole triathlon thing.

Good Luck Zed, curious how it goes

Edited by TJHammer 2015-10-28 5:30 PM

I guess the main issue, is the start. I've had some bad wetsuit problems in the past that has resulted in some bad swims. Basically I wasn't putting it on right, just putting it on like a typical surfing wetsuit, unaware that you had to really pull the arms, legs and shoulders up. So the first 3 times I wore it, the chest was so tight it really constricted my breathing. So much so that after 200m I had to virtually stop and despite treading water and not really moving I still couldn't breathe. That's when I started panicking. Despite being a swimmer and spending most of my life in the ocean free diving, surfing, windsurfing etc there I was close to having a panic attack! A paddle border came over and had a chat and after a minute or 2 I could finally breathe. At this point I was dead last. I carried on swimming, but at 50%, as soon as I started working harder I could feel a tightness in my chest like someone was sitting on it. The next 2 races I had a similar problem, although not as bad and it resulted in me having to switch to breaststroke after 200m, get my breath and then carry on swimming at a slower pace than I would have liked. Eventually my coach helped me pinpoint the problem, showed me how to put it on and I haven't had an issue since. However I still have it hanging over me and always ensure the first 100 - 200 aren't too quick which can put me at a disadvantage as I'm a fop swimmer and this can result in me losing touch with the top guys. It's an important race so sprinting the first 200m probably isn't the smartest move. I have a sprint in 6 weeks that I'd like to do well in, but it's not as important so I will use that race s a test and go flat out from the start.

I was thinking that maybe you could go without the suit, but then I checked the weather. Its currently forecast to be cloudy and 24 so perfect racing weather but the water in those canals wont have had time to warm up by then so it will most likely be wet suit legal and if you go without and the guys you are trying to draft don't then you wont be able to keep up with them anyway.

Any chance you can get an OWS in this weekend just to settle your mind a bit? I went in last weekend at Woodman Point and the water was freezing so it might be a good test.

See you at Hillarys in six weeks time. I will be the one crossing the line last

I did Rotto long course 2 weeks ago and went well in the swim. Not a slow start, but not quick. So I've had time in the wetsuit and I feel great in it. But that feeling that you can't breathe came on so quick last time it happened you can't really anticipate it and it makes me loathe to sprint in it, if it happens again it could ruin my whole race. I think what I'll try and do is gradually build over 200 - 300m to sprinting pace see who is around me, hook onto their toes and relax into race pace.

Well the 70.3 went well, finally broke 5 hours with a 4.57. Swim was OK, not quite to plan, finishing 7th. I hooked straight onto the toes of the guy who's fastest in my AG, along with another guy and the 3 of us swam together keeping up a decent pace, but as we were one of the last waves to go we hit a lot of traffic, all the slow swimmers from the waves before us and it was mayhem, having to waterpolo swim, zig zagging through the swimmers, over the top of them and I quickly lost sight of the guys I was drafting off. He finished 3 minutes ahead of me, pretty confident I could have stayed on his feet the whole way if it wasn't for the traffic.

Happy it went well. Or at least ok enough in the swim to not aggravate. But that moment when traffic causes all sorts of alternative plans affecting time gotta be frustrating. Way to remain focused. I did a sprint tri this summer in Jersey that had a good amount of competitors total. All distances and divisions were time trial starts, , there was limtied chaos and that piranhas look of fish in the water. It was the most comfortable I felt in an event swim, Wish they all did it that way. Congrats

Thanks

Thanks I've had 2 70.3s now where I've hit a lot of traffic, going to have to work on managing that a bit better.