Wildman Triathlon Festival - Sprint Triathlon : Official Thread

Boom, I hope u r kidding, you should never use a competition, no matter how far behind you want to stay, to learn anything.  The first rule of TRI - you should have practiced EVERYTHING beofre a race, including transitions.

OPEN WATER swimming can be real dangerous, especially in TRIs with mass starts.  People will run you over, kick you, there is a lot of physical contact in the swim. 

Again, I hope that you know how to swim before the race.  You don't need to be fast, but you have to know what you're doing - no tragedies allowed.

SORRY FOR GETTING ON MY SOAPBOX HERE, BUT I DON'T WANT ANY TRAGEDIES

umm, probably too late to teach you anything now to be honest.   i suspect your issue is with breathing.

might wanna really consider not doing the race if you honestly can't swim the distance.   500 or even 750m is a long swim for a beginner.

Can you swim the distance breakstroke?  I've found *almost* anyone can swim a 1/2 mile breaststroke.  Sure it's slow but if you feel confident with it then get out there and go for it.

However I also urge you to try it in the pool first.  If you cant make it in the pool then you are going to have major issues in a lake.

I live near the ocean and I hate swimming in thse lakes.  The consistency and color of blood was my first and only impression.  That said, I stick to ocean swims.  I'll come cheer my friends.

Good luck, and I hope you seriously consider this until you know you can swim the distance before.

To those that have done this one before I'm assuming that the swim start is at the beach...

http://is.gd/msxN

A friend was at Moss Park today and asked the "rangers" about the swim.  They directed him WAY south of the boat dock. Take a look at the map.  To quote his words "I'm not going in there without a gun"..  It was muddy and full of weeds.

I'm assuming the "rangers" were mistaken and it starts at the beach.  Correct?

ya this isn't the first year of this event and i gotta believe the swim would start on the beach...nowhere else would make sense.

i'll be racing Sunday so i'll see how it goes Saturday.

Anyone else doing the myfirst tri event?

I'm doing the myfirstTRI, and I'm from St. Louis.  I'm wondering about the water temp.  I see from the 10 day forecast that the temperature is supposed to be somewhere between 80-83 degrees.

 Experienced racers/Orlando Area Residents: Will a wetsuit be necessary?  How cold will the water actually be if the outside temp is 80ish?

gonna ask tonight during the webinar, but i suspect it'll be in the 70'ish degree area.   it just started warming up here last week and up until then, the water has been pretty chilly.   also, it won't be 80 at the start of the race, more like 50'ish.  

they list it as wetsuit legal and i suspect a wetsuit would very much be appropriate.   however, if it's borderline, i wouldn't wear a wetsuit for a short swim if you can stand it.

I figured it would but thanks for the verification... any other interesting info in the webinar?