"Traditional" Sprint vs. "TriOOO" Sprint Distance

The Spirit of Racine announced a change in their format for 2008, when they will become part of the Triathlon One O One series. For people doing the Sprint/shortest distance available, that means the swim will go from 750 meters to a full half mile. The bike will go from 20K to 20 miles and the run will go from 5K to 5 miles.

I was signed up this year, but sliced my foot open the day before and couldn't participate. The organizers were nice enough to allow me to transfer registration to next year's event for only $15, but I have to say, I'm kind of bummed out about the change of format.

I've only been to about a half dozen tris in my life, but I saw more people get yanked out of Lake Michigan during the Sprint race this year, than I've seen at all the other races combined. I know the Sunday race is the big one and draws all the attention, but one would think the Saturday Sprint would generate more interest than the 300+ participants they had. Personally, I think Lake Michigan kept more from participating. It's too cold for many (it was low-60s on race morning), potentially too choppy for others and just downright intimidating in general.

The rest of the course is relatively flat, so I don't think those distances are too bad, but I wondered why the Sprint swim was 750m, when most sprints are significantly shorter and held in signficantly easier conditions? Now they've announced they're going to increase the distances even more for 2008! I'm used to Lake Michigan and although I'd prefer a shorter swim, that doesn't bother me as much as the run. Five miles is a long run for me, when I'm trying to save my knees, ankles and back from too much pounding

I'll do the 25.5 next year, but probably not in future years. It's just too long. I do these to stay in shape and don't have any interest in competing. If I did, I'd probably do the longer distances. I know Sprint races always seem to tinker with the distances and it seems like the TriOOO series is trying to standardize things more, which I suppose is good for a competitor, but as a regular old participant, the shortest distance they came up with just doesn't appeal to me. What do you think about a Sprint that consists of a half mile swim, 20 mile bike ride and five mile run?