Alhandra Sprint - Portugal - June 18th 2017
5th stage of the Portuguese cup
Race reporter Bruno
Now I know can swim without wetsuit but it is not easy....
I've a friend that says triathlon is a sport where consistency is key and only after at least 3/4 years of practice we can have effective results appearing. Of course this applies to the common of mortals and not to super athletes. I fully agree but I'd add that training is key as well... :)
I should assess Sunday's race with this in mind. Being a sprint distance my concerns were the hot (45 degrees the day before and 40 forecasted for Sunday), especially considering that the race should start at 11:18, and the swimming (in Tejo river in an area not considered so clean and where the tide can be tricky..) as a 22' cut-off was defined. Then a third one appears due to the combination of the 2 which was the water temperature. If water was warm enough wetsuit will not be allowed. And Until Sunday I never swim in open waters without suit especially in a Triathlon race and in Tejo river...
These concerns were confirmed when I've arrived to the race location. Water was at 24.5 degrees and therefore wetsuit stayed at the car. After a bike ride to remember the track I've decided to warmup in the water as it was to hot to run... first conclusion was that water was really good and that tide will not help. But at least I was in the water without going down.
Ladies started first and 8' after it was men's time. With a start already inside the water the 2' I was inside seemed never ended... finally the departure was indicated and I tried to swim for 22' at least.... but I took 25' and I got my first DSQ... together with several other guys just waiting all late arrivals to be assembled. Being a strange sensation in the end I could found 2 reasons to be happy. First i confirmed that I can swim and survive to open waters without wetsuit and secondly I've escaped to a 5km run below the hot....
Lessons from today:
- never say you can't do it but without trying it
- practice is key, so try to organize yourself to swim more (cergy Saturday's and sundays to be included in the agenda starting from now, or maybe just after Paris race....
- in case of cut-off criteria assess before inscription if you can respect it! Or do it faster
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