Olympic Distance Triathlon sugestions

Welcome to the fun! 

Having just finished the Hiawassee Summer Sizzler International, the course was a little shorter than an Olympic, 1400 swim (2 laps around an island), 23 bike of rolling hills and a 4 mile (really 3.75 according to Garmin) that was hilly, that was a very low key, low stress race.  About 100 people, very casual, no stress, etc.   Basically can show up 45 minutes before the start and have plenty of time to prepare.   I'd guess the October version would be very similar.  Basically at the start, the race director said, ready, go....

Peachtree Oly in May was a great race.  Close to Atlanta but the roads on the bike course were well controlled with traffic, filled to the 500 slots, flat run course.  Well organized, time trial swim start (2 people every 5 seconds) instead of the big waves, etc.  More serious than Hiawassee but lots of fun.

Heard about Chattanooga in July which is about twice as big as Peachtree.   

I've heard Tugaloo is fairly hilly and I'm not a big fan of hills during the run.  Still debating on that one or not, think I may just do a few more sprints to finish the season.



So depends on what like.  Pros and cons to the small vs big races, waves vs time trial starts.  Read a few race reports or check out if they say about the swim portion. 

Good luck!

Jessie,
Congratulations on completing your first couple triathlons. 

St Anthony's April 25, 2010
My first Olympic was St Anthony's last year and it's definitely an EVENT...  It's one of the largest Olympic Triathlons in the Southeast with nearly 4,000 participants.  The swim is a little intimidating with some waves, but not too difficult.  The thought of swimming in the bay is definitely motivation enough to hit the pool in February and March.  The bike course is an absolutely flat course starting out in downtown St Pete.  Make sure you have your Aero bottle absolutely secured, mine fell off riding on the brick road at the start and I went without water until the bottle stop.  Followed up by a flat run course in Downtown St Petersburg.  Definitely a lot of people at that race to cheer you on to the finish.

The race usually sells out in 1-2 hours every year and the registration is at 9am on December 1st.
http://www.satriathlon.com/

St Anthony's Swim Photo
You can just make out the blue line in the water which is the swimmers.  You never realize how far 9/10ths of a mile is until you see it go all the way across the bay when you are standing on the beach.

Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon July 11, 2010
I also had a great time at the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon last year as well.  It has a beautiful swim in the river.  The bike course could use some improvement being mostly on the very hilly, and not so scenic highways of Chattanooga.  My perception of the bike course was probably skewed since at the time I was in pain from the rain coming down so hard and lightning was hitting all around me.  Hitting bridge expansion joints at 40MPH in a downpour also made it interesting.  It's a challenging bike and you feel like you have accomplished something after completing those hills in a race.  The run is awesome going right along the river.  The main reason I enjoyed that race so much last year was the great turnout we have from members of the North Atlanta Multisport Club cheering everybody on and the club dinner the night before.

GA Multisports
If you want something closer to home all the GA Multisport races are great.  http://www.gamultisports.com/  I have heard good things about the Turtle Crawl but never participated since St Anthony's is usually around the same time.  I did do West Point last year and it was a good local race.  Although the swim course at West Point was confusing last year.  All of their races seem very well organized, which I'm sure you know after participating in the Irongirl. 

We have alot of good races to choose from here in the Southeast.

Justin

Although Justin puts on a GREAT presentation AND St. Anthony's is an EVENT.  It is also a long ways away AND it is also expensive.  I may be wrong, but I think they had to cancel the swim at St. Anthony's this year because of the wind and waves.  Get a look at all the Olympics in the near future and pick the one that you feel suits you best.   While I agree with Kevin that Tugaloo is a nice Oly and it is this fall instead of next spring, I think that Tugaloo is pretty difficult for your first Oly although you can drive there in the morning without an overnight stay.  Kevin is a stud and probably does not think it is very difficult.  I did Tugaloo and most of us mere mortals think it is a pretty tough for a first OLY.  I would agree with Katie (crazyalaskaian) and ATLsbr that the Turtle Crawl is a great place for a first Oly.  There is also one on Mexico Beach in the spring that sounds pretty good, but I have not done it.  I have done the other three and I would highly reccomend the Turtle Crawl.  If you have plenty of money and time and enjoy fighting 5000 people, you may prefer St. Anthony's.  If you are looking for a strenuous first try, you may prefer Tugaloo. 

The reasons that I think the Turtle Crawl is the best of those three is that it is close by, it is a great place to go for the weekend, the current is great and only a couple of hundred people do the race so it is not so crowded.  You swim out a hundred yards or so and then you can float on your back and rest and get a pretty good swim time.  The guy who won the swim last year got a swim time of about 11 minutes.  The world record 1500 meter swim is 14 something.  Needless to say the course is usually a bit short or the current is great or both.  The bike ride is almost pancake flat as opposed to the pretend flat that a lot of events tell you about.  The run is also flat and goes along the beach on the boardwalk although I have hear a couple of people complain about lack of shade on a portion of the run.  I have never done Mexico Beach, but I may do it next spring.  I have done Turtle Crawl twice and I am going to do it again next year because it is my favorite race.

Did you have a camera mounted on your head during the swim?  That is pretty funny.  I wish I had seen that.  I have seen people with cameras mounted on their bike helmets, but I have never seen one on the swim.  I would not mind seeing the video if it is posted somewhere.

Also, I did not know you could stand up during the swim at the Turtle Crawl and I have done it twice.  Did they tell you that it was shallow or did you just try it?