All Kinds of Idiots

30 mins to do a 2.4 mile swim?  Who IS this idiot?  duh.

Exactly!  It seems to me that if one was to do just a 4000m swim it could be done in that time frame, and on that point I agreed with him - that 4000m can be swam in 30 minutes, but not if you plan on maintaining the energy and ability to continue for another 8-10 hours.

He just didn't get the point!  I guess he felt he could go all out on each event - moron.

One of his additional comments was that he thought it would be more of a challenge to set something up that was a multi-day event with a like 35-40k swim on day one, followed by a 150 mile bike the next and then close out with a marathon on day three; kind of "in the spirit of the Tour de France, but a triathlon."  I saw where he was going with that one, but didn't have the heart to tell him that Lance used to be a triathlete, and considers the elite Ironman triathletes in the world to be among the most amazing endurance athletes.

Can you tell this guy really pissed me off?  What a moron!!

First, ask to see this guy's stash of Olympic gold medals, because if he can swim 2.4 mi (3862 m) in 30 min, he should have several.  That would be a pace of 46:36/100m.  World record pace for just the short distance of 1500 m is about 58:44/100m.  The top Ironman swimmers in the world swim around 1:10/100m pace.

Perhaps Ultraman would be more to his liking.

http://www.ultramanworlds.com/

Day 1:  6.2 mi swim plus 90 mi bike

Day 2:  171.4 mi bike

Day 3:  52.4 mi run.

Perhaps he'd find that more of a challenge.  No, that swim's still probably too short.  Maybe a double, triple, or heck, that sounds too easy...how 'bout a decaironman.  That starts with a refreshing 24 mile swim...in a pool.

I seems to me the guy doesn't even know anything about the one thing he professes to know about.  You know?  Idiots abound.  Just send him a link to register for an Ironman, and then forget about it.

-Steve

Drugs, like EPO, or drugs like heroin because he's delusional?

I've really only run into one cranially-deficient individual, but I already knew that person was a kook. If anyone suggested to me that they could easily handle a triathlon, I'd invite them to come train with me...and make sure I was doing a nice, easy 40k ride followed by an invigorating 10k run...on the worst hills I could find...

Well, the swim is disproportionately shorter than the other events in the ironman.  If it were to be a truly fair and equal test of the three sports, it should probably be longer. However,  a big part of the ironman is tradition. 

The Ironman was started by John Collins who came up with the idea for an ultimate endurance event combining the skills of the swimmer, cyclist and runner.  The standard he used was  the Hawaiaan Islands' longest distance races in each sport at the time - the Waikiki Rough Water Swim (2.4 miles), the Around Oahu Bike Race (112 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles).  What a great idea it was!

The know-it-all might try doing a 2.4 mile open water swim to see how easy it is.  Better yet, tell him to try to swim 20 laps at his local pool and see how he feels! 

That's funny that it took 20-something posts for someone to update us on the history.  The fact is that the swim distance was already set when the Ironman triathlon was born.  There is no doubt whatsoever that the race is an extreme test.  However, the swim leg is the shortest and the least influential.  Maybe you should point out to your buddy that the Olympic length race has a swim that is proportionally longer... 

Two more things:  There is a reprint of an article from Sports Illustrated in this month's Triathlete magazine.  It is the coverage of the 1978 Ironman.  16 people raced.  I only read the first little bit, but it looked amazing.  Second, the Around Oahu Bike Race was a two-day event...

I agree...me included as I've never completed one!

Same here, I've never completed an Ironman either (not even a sprint for that matter), but we at least have some appreciation of what it does take - not like this boob, "That doesn't sound difficult"