In an IRONMAN 70.3 they diminish by approximately 18 points per minute. Swim: Each wave will have 1:10 to complete the swim. I know how challenging it can be when you are new to a sport, have a competitive nature but have no idea what to bench mark your performance or pace off of! I immediately recognized that Age Group Tri swimming was unique. Figure Out How You Stack Up Workout Out Your Primary Focus Establish an Appropriate Goal Remember, The Goal Is To Be Good, Not Great. This is my easy to understand, straightforward guide to efficient technique, better endurance & unshakable triathlon swimming confidence. We’re comparing open water times to pool times, but looking at the CSS pace of the athletes I coach, the standards of being a great swimmer are quite a bit higher than the standards for being a good tri swimmer. It’s very easy to see where my weakness lies and what I need to work on as I go into the next season. He says; “pro triathletes shouldn’t expect to be competitive on less than 30km a week if they don’t come from a swimming background”. But there is a lot more we can learn from this data than whether you are above or below average. This is to be expected, but you can use this knowledge to your advantage. Open water swim times are always relative. Thanks for reading and hanging out on my site, I hope you’ve found it valuable! On race day, it’s integral that you try and control your adrenaline, only going out hard if you’re a good swimmer looking for clear water. That’s the middle athlete, the one that separates the top 50% from the bottom 50% in a race. Ironman 70.3 history. All the good stuff I don’t share anywhere else. IRONMAN Warm-Up. The problem is this leads to lifting up at the front, and a rise of just 25mm will cause the back to go down 175mm. By entering your details, you are agreeing to 220 Triathlon terms and conditions and privacy policy. You should know what 80% feels like versus 95%, as well as knowing your swim split times for any distance and effort level. Since 2011, no finish time has cracked the all-time top 10 finish. This is to be expected. Focus on your stroke. One of the best ways to improve your Ironman swim is by learning from some of the best Ironman age groupers in the world. It’ll make a large speed difference due to the reduction of drag – the biggest single factor that limits forward propulsion. How much of a warm-up you need for an event like an IRONMAN is a highly individual thing. After hours of data mining and crunching numbers, I’m excited to share this with you. However, prior to the launch of the 70.3 series in 2005, races were then known as Half Ironman before adopting the Ironman 70.3 label. As well as producing new records in the professional ranks, 14 new age group records were set. Without objective data to work with, goals get set based on a idea of what sounds fast. Calculating your possible Ironman timing is not as simple as adding up the numbers. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. Meaning you could be 10 minutes faster than your goal swim time, but actually have left the water lower down the rankings relative to the field. Everyone knows it’s no fun getting breaststroke kicked in the forehead going round a buoy. And as we’ll see next, the jump is even bigger when we get to the big show in Kona. Ironman says the decision to move to an extended wave start was made following a comprehensive analysis of athlete data with the goal of reducing peak athlete density flowing onto the bike course. Hey! As an Age Grouper you can’t compare your swim times a with specialist swimmers or elite triathletes. Tactics Fast swimmers should go out reasonably hard to find clear water sooner and then settle into a slower pace; everyone else should conserve energy and work their way into the swim. Across all amateur athletes, the average Half Ironman time is 5:51:25 for Men, and 6:18:13 for Women. Check the athlete guide for more information. Liz McCane during the 112-mile bike portion of the Ironman Florida triathlon. Are You A Good Tri Swimmer? Great Article ,. Currently, I swim at Aquatic Park (open water) in San Francisco. To argue this point is just being obtuse. This is a good one to repeat multiple times in the year as you can gauge your progression easily. If you never “peaked” in your prime like I did, you can continue to get faster as long as you stay consistent with your training. ~ Rory. Athletes looking for a challenge that's slightly less intense should consider the Ironman 70.3 series. Are you in the top 50%? I’ve already told you I would consider my swim in this race to be pretty poor. It’s not the average swim time for your age group. Athletes who take longer than 1:10 to complete the swim will receive a DNF. The Ironman swim distance is 2.4 miles. When you age up, you’ll be faster and your competition will be relatively slower. Or maybe do some Strava stalking to see what pace the fast guy in your local club swam in his last race. Orange. This, my friend is attrition working in your favor! Kind regards, To help rectify this, work on your balance. The goal is to get “fast”, but no one has enough hours in the week to get really fast. Transitions really are the fourth event in a triathlon, as transition times from swim to bike and bike to run count toward total race time. The sessions are designed to take place at the end of a structured and progressive 10-to-16-week build phase and to see you into the race preparation phase of training. Hi Raul, thanks for your comment! It’s impossible to compare the swim times of Age Group Triathletes to pro triathletes or specialist swimmers. Clearly, at 3.8km the IM swim is much further than the Olympic-distance swim at 1.5km. 8 Improve key technique areas such as: balance; breathing – bilateral, not leaning on the hands; slow to fast finish; kicking – lightly and efficiently will reduce drag, especially in non-wetsuit swims. Are you within striking distance of the top 10%. Triathlon swimming is different. Great article with information that can’t be found anywhere else! 2017 wasn’t an abnormal year – the pace differs by no more than 2 seconds per 100m. The 70.3 takes about 6 hours on average to finish: the swim takes 45 minutes, the bike ride about 3:00, and the run approximately 2:15. You are trying to hold these times quite relaxed, which might be easy at first but will likely start to breakdown at the 250m set. This data will give you an objective baseline for comparison. Back then, swimming was my life. The key is being able to transfer that speed. Treat this as a benchmark set to be repeated every six to eight weeks. Get the PDF + tips and advice to help you swim faster. If you are looking for the fastest 70.3 or best half ironman in Europe look no further than Brazil or Austria. My hope is that what you read will help give you some context to the nuances and standards of age group triathlon swimming. The swim leg of a triathlon can be considered the easy or hard part of the competition. You can click on each image to read the numbers more clearly. At half the distances of a full Ironman -- a 1.2-mile (1.9-kilometer) swim, 56-mile (90-kilometer) bike ride and a 13.1-mile (21-kilometer) run -- the Ironman 70.3 series is the fastest growing triathlon series in the world. We want to promote a slower, longer, more energy-efficient stroke for distance swimming, so we need to be pulling on the water all the way through the stroke. The average middle lady swims at 2.09/100m or an Ironman and at 2.12/100m for a 70.3. I pulled the data from Ironman branded races only (purely because it was the most accessible). Are You A Very Good Tri Swimmer? CSS – 1:27. Combined Swim & Bike Cut-Off: 5 hours 30 minutes (from YOUR chip swim start time) Individual Ironman 70.3 races may have an additional intermediate cut off times on the bike course. . Best Half Ironman Europe. The unique set up of Age Group Triathlon swimming makes your job of goal setting and benchmarking downright confusing. or use my hand to block the sun temporarily. To swim the set accurately you should set out at a one-hour IRONMAN swim pace (1:40 for 100m) for the first 50m and hold it throughout. I felt that calculating a theoretical CSS pace gives a better comparison. To improve my overall result, I need to work on my running, not getting my swim to a level that my ego would be happy with. Is one significantly better or worse than another? Most of them only want to commit to it when they are confident they can finish the distance though. I included each of the Ironman Championship races along with some of the more popular races around the world. IRONMAN officials reserve the right to remove athletes off the course who exceed any designated cut-off time. 42 - 43mm. Mirinda Carfrae on coping with the heat in long-distance triathlons. This is achieved by a gradual acceleration through to the fast finish (or push) past the hips to the thigh (think ‘slow to fast’). The last biggy for the majority of age-group swimmers is the grip. The 800m Freestyle is he longest distance freestyle event open to Masters swimmers. If you know your CSS pace ( link to CSS calculator), that will be the easiest way to compare where you stand in relation to a specialist swimmer. I'll only email you with triathlon swim advice, Key Take Aways To Help You Be Better Than Average, Remember, The Goal Is To Be Good, Not Great. If you need to improve your time you can check out some sample swim workouts or our triathlon swim page. Additionally, any athlete that starts in the final wave and misses the 1:10 cut off will not be allowed to continue on … It was not the fastest on record, 2018 claims many of those times, but 2019 lies somewhere between that and the average for the course. I showed you what times you would need to swim to compete in Kona. https://multisportmojo.com/ironman-cut-off-times-easily-explained There’s something about 400s that I love – they’re short enough that you can push the pace and they go fast mentally, but they’re also long enough that endurance gets worked and you can easily tap into the IRONMAN effort and pace. My last 70.3 race in Colombo is a prime example. Refine By Sort By. Practise swimming straight, as well as focusing on sighting without lifting your head or body too much at the front, because this makes you sink at the back. Hope the rest of your race went well too! 7 Use swim aids to break up the training and add variety. Until now…. “pro triathletes shouldn’t expect to be competitive on less than 30km a week if they don’t come from a swimming background”. Completed Coeur d'Alene 70.3 in June. You should swim intervals, with the sets between 150m and 400m for 90% of the time. The new start times will not change the existing cut off standards for the Ironman World Championship – 2:20 for the swim and 10:30 for the bike. Swim: 1:15; Bike: 6:05 Resin Silicone Features. Before having a crack at these killer sessions, you should have been working towards your Ironman goal for a couple of months and have built up your swim, bike and run volume. 6 Simple Tips for a Better IRONMAN Swim; By IRONMAN.com 06/26/2017, 9:00am EDT ; It's time to transition from the pool to the open water. Ironman. However, the swim is as significant a part of your Ironman race as the bike or the run. Provided you’re fit, breathing well and have the fuel to burn you don’t slow down much once you tap into your aerobic swim pace. There’s no need to knock out 3.8km every time you train. Hi Rory, My hope is that this post has helped give you some context to the nuances and standards of triathlon swimming. Download it right now. But relative to the field, my run is far weaker than my swim. Across all Age Groups the ladies need to swim a 1.41/100m average to break into the top 10% while the guys need to hold 1.35/100m (this is skewed slightly by the 55-59 & 60-64 AG’s. A 70.3 race typically covers 1.9K of open water swimming, which is only 400m longer than a standard Olympic triathlon. 9 Train in open water as part of your meticulous programme. The 400s are done at I… I’d say that’s pretty good! As a rough guide, your half-Ironman pace would likely be around 5–8 seconds per 100 slower than your 400 time for beginner to intermediate level athletes. In an Olympic size pool it’s around 40 lengths. Take a look at your individual rankings for each discipline. Thanks Carla. ● You don’t have the time or flexibility to invest the time to swim 30km per week like the pro’s do. This is a good one to repeat multiple times in the year as you can gauge your progression easily. We will also take a look at how fast you need to swim to be considered “good” for your age and gender, as well as what it takes to make it in Kona and as a specialist swimmer. I know where my weaknesses have been for the past 2-3 years of triathlon so I’ll be working on that in the next few months. Many of the swimmers that race at Masters World Championships swim 5+ times a week. Let’s take a look. A triathletes training hours (and energy) has to be split between three disciplines. CSS is the pace at which you can swim a 1500m time trial. Assuming max swim time that leaves 4 Hours and 10 Minutes to complete bike. If you can ride and run well, you’re in the money. My goal in this post is to put age group triathlon swimming standards into context for you, the Age Group Triathlete. That would awesome. Very rarely does anyone lead a race wire to wire. Kona is the only race on my list that is always non wetsuit legal and the only one with a mass start in water start. All potentially based on hearsay and misconstrued facts. All IM races are mass starts of 1,000 to 1,800 athletes or more. Balance is different. By: TGB Below is a chart of swim paces for a variety of common triathlon distances. In this guide I will show you what it takes to be better than average as an age group triathlon swimmer in every AG. Rory, I’m a 64 years old age grouper that only learned how to swim 4 years ago. So what are those goals? The similarity in pace between the IM and 70.3 swims is interesting. Sounds fast you tire, the cumulative fatigue from the the run in particular swim! 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