At 2nd beach pool today

I saw an elite triathlete at the pool. He was wearing his wetsuit and doing a warm-up. He did about 400 meters, and I think I passed him once. Five minutes later, I do a flip turn and look backwards to see him coming towards me like a bat out of hell. So I stay close to the lane rope to give him lots of passing room. Based on his technique, I figure he's doing some sort of 200 meter sprint or something. As he passes me, I try to be clever and increase my pace to see if I can stay in his draft. Nope, he drops me easily. I guess he was doing about 38-39 seconds per 50 m for about 1000 meters. Watching Olympic swimmers like Hackett or Thorpe, you can see a certain elegance in their stroke. This guy wasn't as graceful, but he could sure keep it going. After about 1000 meters, I see him spring out of the pool and run down the deck. I guess he got on his bike and did a few laps of Stanley drive, but I couldn't see.

So after 3 km, I stop and chat it up with another swimmer (who is wearing a swim cap with the name Hersee on it). Hersee tells me this guy is from Israel. Looking at the elite men's start list (http://www.triathlon.org/zpg/zevt-dtl-prtcpnts_v4.php?call=TVRFdw==&keep=sh&id=ODY3&sh=st&stid=2932#) , I guess it must have been Alterman Ran, since he's the only one from Israel. I thought it was cool sharing a lane with someone at that level. It was a good day at the pool.

By the way, Vancouver Park Board is having a special right now for pool passes. Buy 1 month, get a 2nd month free, it costs $40. There are 16 weekend days from now until Aug 1. So it's a good deal.