What Are Triathletes Such Tightwads About Drafting?

You do know you can swim in a pack without drafting, right? Drafting while swimming implies purposefully staying on the toes of a particular swimmer.

If you are arguing that pack swimming is dangerous because it is hard to see all of the swimmers, then yes, you would be right.

But that isn't what you have been saying. You have been saying that drafting on a TT bike off of a non-teammate is not as dangerous as drafting a swimmer, and that is completely idiotic.

Penced my Pants wrote:

You do know you can swim in a pack without drafting, right? Drafting while swimming implies purposefully staying on the toes of a particular swimmer.

If you are arguing that pack swimming is dangerous because it is hard to see all of the swimmers, then yes, you would be right.

But that isn't what you have been saying. You have been saying that drafting on a TT bike off of a non-teammate is not as dangerous as drafting a swimmer, and that is completely idiotic.

1. You logic makes George Bush look smart.

2. If you are in a pack in the swim, you are drafting. The draft advantage doesn't just magically disappear at the toes of a particular swimmer. As that swim study shows, the avatar is in all directions and for quote a distance. And what kind of idiotic thinking it's going on in your head to think that you can only take advantage of the swim draft by staying on the toes of ONE swimmer? Do you even draft, bro?

3. Drafting in a group or a single swimmer in triathlons is dangerous. You can't see anything and the officials can't see how many of you there are our if you drown because of all the wave action and churn. Tell me why there are so many preventable drowning deaths in triathlons?

Before you say anything, autocorrect sucks.

The problem with drafting is that it changes the race.

The race becomes "who can get out of the water with the first pack"

Because basically you are stuck with whatever pack you get out of the water with. And, worse, if you are first out of the water, and alone, then you'll probably be caught if drafting is allowed.

If drafting is not allowed, then you race all three legs, and can have more strategy. Such as "I'm going to go a little slower in the swim cause I can make it up later".

With drafting, you MUST get out of the water with the first big group, or you'll be at a huge disadvantage.

Why did you spell triathletes "triathletes" in the title and "tryathletes" in the message?

Wise one, you are not as wise as you think you are. Time is your missing variable here.

Dial it up wrote:

Wise one, you are not as wise as you think you are. Time is your missing variable here.

Actually, I've been proven right by everything posted by people here in that triathletes draft in the swim where they save enormous amounts of energy and are hypocrites about drafting. The scientific evidence is firmly in my favor.

Eleven wrote:

Why did you spell triathletes "triathletes" in the title and "tryathletes" in the message?

Because they "try" to be athletes in the 3 sports but are instead laughing stocks as shown in this thread.

drafting changes everything wrote:

The problem with drafting is that it changes the race.

The race becomes "who can get out of the water with the first pack"

Because basically you are stuck with whatever pack you get out of the water with. And, worse, if you are first out of the water, and alone, then you'll probably be caught if drafting is allowed.

If drafting is not allowed, then you race all three legs, and can have more strategy. Such as "I'm going to go a little slower in the swim cause I can make it up later".

With drafting, you MUST get out of the water with the first big group, or you'll be at a huge disadvantage.

This again? So why do all the tryathletes draft in the swim leg where you save pretty much the same amount of staff as in the bike leg? Why don't they just race the bike leg like they race the swim leg?

Fun Fact: Duathletes have been known to DU Weak One's mom and finish on her back, painting the map of Hawaii there. Hahahahaha.....

Dial it up wrote:

Wise one, you are not as wise as you think you are. Time is your missing variable here.

Not arguing with your point on there being drafting benefits to swimming.

The reason drafting is the focus on the bike segment is not due to hypocrisy. It is due to the amount of time spent on the bike vs the amount of time in the water. Drafting in the water is negligible when it comes to impact on the race overall and almost impossible to enforce. However in an iron man, contestants spend over 5 hours on the bike. Some much more than that.

Wise One wrote:

Before you say anything, autocorrect sucks.

Lol

Here is where your logic breaks down.

The man that drowned in the swim would have gone under whether he was by himself or in a pack. He may have been SEEN easier if he were by himself, but nothing about the action of swimming in a pack is more dangerous than the action of swimming by yourself.

By contrast, riding on a TT/Tri bike in a pack of competitors is exponentially more dangerous than riding a TT bike by yourself or riding a road bike by yourself. Riding TT bikes in a pack actually contributes to the danger of crashing (as it is much less stable and you don't have immediate access to your brakes), whereas swimming in a pack doesn't make the action of swimming any more dangerous.

The swimmer was going to go down regardless (although he may have been saved). The crash doesn't happen, and it doesn't take out 20 folks around the culprit, if they don't ride in packs. (This also explains your original question: good cyclists don't want to get taken out and wreck their bike/body because of the actions of a less experienced cyclist doing something that is illegal in the first place.)

What you are saying is akin to "why do they let multiple people into waterparks at the same time? It would be safer if only one person could be in the lazy river at a time."

incompetence wrote:

I would guess that triathletes just aren't as technically proficient as pure cyclists, so they don't like drafting because they aren't good at that type of riding.

Guess again.

Dial it up wrote:

Dial it up wrote:

Wise one, you are not as wise as you think you are. Time is your missing variable here.

Not arguing with your point on there being drafting benefits to swimming.

The reason drafting is the focus on the bike segment is not due to hypocrisy. It is due to the amount of time spent on the bike vs the amount of time in the water. Drafting in the water is negligible when it comes to impact on the race overall and almost impossible to enforce. However in an iron man, contestants spend over 5 hours on the bike. Some much more than that.

You are wrong. Why even have the swim leg if you think it doesn't affect the race? You save at least 20% of the drag on the swim by drafting. Over the average 80 minute swim time in an Ironman, that translates to a time savings of around 16 minutes or more. Hardly "negligible". I call this hypocrisy.

And it is not hard to have a no draft swim. In fact, it is way easier to ensure no drafting on the swim than on the bike. You just divide up the swim leg into wide lanes with plastic wave guards like indoor pools and each wave starts at 5 minute intervals like in real time trials. This way, nobody gets a draft in the swim and it is much safer because the officials can clearly track everyone and make sure they get out if the water instead of letting them drown. Your swim time would be your chip time like in a marathon.

It has the effect of nullifying the bike part. It's so much easier to just "hang" with a group than go it alone. So if you get out of the water with a "good, leading group" then you can hang with them even if you are a lesser cyclist.

Everybody then in the bike part will want to conserve energy for the run.

So the game becomes, "hang with the main group for the swim" so you can get out of the water with them, then it becomes "hang on to the lead group" on the bike leg (which is demonstrably easier if you suck a wheel). Then it all comes down to the run.

Personally, that would favor me cause I happen to be a relatively strong runner.

But surely you can see why drafting can be such a game-changer on the strategy. If you can draft you are going to change your game for that. If you can't draft, you are going to change your game for that.

And some folk don't have the depth to change their game-plan as they don't have enough strength in all three sports.

And, to me, the idea of a triathlon is to be competitive at all three sports.

You know how folk whine about sit-and-kick. This is basically the same argument. Cause it's a TON easier to "sit and kick" (focus on the run leg) if drafting is allowed.

I think, overall, it's a discussion about "what is this sport". Because if triathlon is a sport about three disciplines, then let it be as equally as possible about all three disciplines.

Of course, the big problem is enforcing drafting rules.

So, that's why there's such a huge discussion around this. That's why they are such "tightwads" about drafting. Because 20% is nothing to laugh at and it changes the whole sport whether it's allowed or not.

See, this is what I'm at getting at. If you just want a time trial for each leg, why is drafting allowed in the swim where you save 20% or more in drag and why is it all a mass start instead of time trial style starts?

The Overexplainer wrote:

incompetence wrote:

I would guess that triathletes just aren't as technically proficient as pure cyclists, so they don't like drafting because they aren't good at that type of riding.

Guess again.

Ever seen a tryathlete try to ride a criterium?

What exactly am I wrong about? There is no debate on which leg of an ironman is MUCH longer than another. There is no debate that drafting nearly nullifies the bike leg, but does not do the same for the swim. You cannot put lane lines in the ocean. The answer to your initial question is that it is against the rules and shows low integrity. These are facts.

Before I go any further, how many triathlons have you won?