The swim this year was very crowded. The race director put everyone except the women into the same start group. Because of this, I was never really able to break free.
I ended up adding almost 150 extra meters because I chose to swing everything wide

Start right at the front and stay aggressive.

Nothing much to say here. High Point is a small triathlon so the transition area isn't very large. That being said, it was frustrating to deal with so many people taking way more space than they needed. Because I arrived a little later, I was crammed into a spot on the rack and that made it harder for me to get my bike un-racked.

They reversed the course from last year and I think I like this direction better. However, there were some additional turns which stole speed in some spots.

High Point is a fun sprint course and they handle it like a well-oiled machine.

The only complaint was the post race food. This year they only offered yogurt. I don't know about you, but that is not something that I really want to eat after pushing hard for almost 90 minutes.