Swim Wave timing logic?

Meh...people study this stuff and figure out what order of swim waves is likely to create the least clogging on the bike.  At least, that's what they say.  Personally I think they just use darts and whatever order they throw in is what happens. :D

It's stupid doing it by AG anyway.  There are fast and slow people in every AG.  I am faster than 75% of the Men's AG's in any tri...but the men always think I should go after them.  It's really a big crapshoot....

I would maintain there is no apparent logic in this start order, but as others have said don't dwell on it.

How big a race is this that it takes two hours to get everyone in the water? A single wave just for M 37? Multiple two-year waves? Six minutes apart? Crazy stuff here.

Being in the 55+ group and in my last 2 HIM races I started right behind the women pro's.  I didn;t like it that much as it was kind of lonely out of the course. Yea some people passed me and I passed a couple but I wasn't catching the pros.   Run was fine as they were both multiple loops.

For New Orleans 70.3 I start way back in wave 11 of a TT swim start.  Why the change?  No idea.  I don't like waiting until 8:430 - 8:45 to start but the race itself will be much more fun for me.  I like to be around people, pass them get passed, etc.  Just more fun around a lot of people. 

the last two waves are ridiculous. In my opinion it's dangerous to start the *generally* fast M30-35 guys so far back. It happened to me that way at IMAugusta last year and I felt it was very dangerous for both guys like me that were hitting waves of struggling swimmers in front of us and on the bike where less confident athletes were often weaving in and out of line.

Maybe I'm just bitter though.

x2...what race is this.

It's crazy to think that I could be 34, and my buddy could be 35.  We could both do a 5 hour HIM, except when I START my run, he'd already be in line for his 2nd beer.

No, I agree completely. I did an OWS with a tri group locally and I arrived at the dock late, hopped in and started swimming the course. I bumped into a few swimmers, stopped for a few seconds and made sure they were alright and kept going. However the swimmers that were really weak that I passed and didn't notice I hit or went so close by that the wave threw them off, made them panic (it was shallow enough to stand, no big). I even got approached after the swim about it. Granted this was a training OWS so it was much more lax--in a race I'd be much more aggressive about getting from point A to point B. I can only imagine some similar-level swimmers getting congested around the buoys and some men/women in the back that want to pass causing panic like a bowling ball hitting a bunch of pins. Dangerous and frustrating for everyone.

I mean its not like we're butterfly stroking over people, but still.

On the other hand it closes the course faster, so I can see the logical need for it.

As for cycling, I feel there's more of a benefit than detriment. Just swing wide for the wobblers and you get a really nice slingshot effect if its a large race.

However that Vineman lineup looks like a drunk game of darts.

Well..

1.) Drafting lines (which are rampant at larger events) are NOT safe to pass in an aero tuck. Halfway up the line, if someone pulls over to pass somebody else, you are in a dangerous position, especially when you consider...

2.) Most bike courses only close 1 lane of the road. Swinging out over the yellow line is often grounds for an automatic DQ (besides being terribly unsafe)

All I'm saying is that it's terribly unsafe for a strong biker who's going to be averaging 20+ mph over a long course in an aero tuck to be running up on slower bikers from behind.

I agree.  Few things during a race make me as nervous as passing groups of considerably slower riders.  Sometimes you're coming up on them so quickly that you face the choice of giving them very short notice that you're there, or reducing your pace for the sake of safety.