Subject: RE: IMCDA watching thread!LHablas - 2007-06-24 5:08 PM TypeA Girl Pilot - 2007-06-24 8:03 PM What was goofy about the swim??? I just looked at the weather at CdA online, doesn't look like it would have been overly choppy from wind....pleasant temps for riding the bike....BUT it does look like for the peeps out there running after 5pm they'll have a 10% - 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms between 5 and 8 pm.....just a 50% chance of light showers between 8 and 11. GO BTers! Apparently very chilly this AM (40's), a bit windy, choppy - race officials gave the option to do a duathlon for those worried about the conditions. I was out watching this morning, and from my (non-IM) perspective, the swim was insane! There were big swells and a lot of whitecaps out on the lake, and the wind was just howling at the start. It got stronger and stronger before the start, then calmed down an hour or so after the start. It was blowing so hard it made waves on top of the waves. The farther out they went, the bigger the waves got. The kayaks and canoes were dancing all over the place. I swam it yesterday in nicer conditions, and it was still pretty crazy around the turn bouys - when I stopped to tread water and look around, the waves were coming from every direction and breaking over my head - it was actually easier to swim and try to catch a breath at the top of the swell. The course goes straight out into the lake in a narrow rectangle, so the athletes were right in the middle of the big water. And COLD - the water was probably in the low 60s but with the 40's degree temps and the wind, the athletes got really cold. Standing waiting for the start in the wind, especially if they got in the water first, would mean that they started the swim cold. They had a hot tub outside the transition tents, but I didn't see very many people in it, and a friend who worked in the tent said that some womens' hands were shaking so bad they couldn't get their gloves on. The last swimmer got out of the water just a minute or two after the cutoff and they let her continue! Yay for IM! And I guess Sister Madonna Buder (sp?) was working the tent too! BIG BIG props to all the BT athletes, and to everyone out there today! SO cool to see them out there! Edited by c_cic 2007-06-24 7:54 PM
|