A Taste of the Sharp End
Swim - Calm, Cool, Enjoy
I am standing waist deep in choppy water. I look down at my heart rate monitor and smile as it blinks a steady 115 at me - nothing beats the adrenaline charge of an IM start. Looking out at support vessels bouncing in the choppy water, I try to cheer myself up. I think, "Well, at least it's not raining and there don't appear to be any whitecaps." Beside me is a woman who looks even colder than I am. I try to reassure her by saying that I always race well when it's cold at the start. We are both shivering and eager for our day to begin. Off to my left I see that a number of competitors are strung out down the beach. Running a little geometry in my head, I figure that they are getting an edge. I head over to the far left of the start area.
The cannon sounds and we are off. The water is shallow and, while I am swimming, most of those around me are walking. Soon we are all swimming and the start is surprisingly civil. I swim straight out and don't worry about picking up a draft. After about 400m I look around and see two main packs have formed. One pack is far inside me and the other is just to my left. I am being bounced around by the chop but can deal with it. I notice the rapid strokes of those around me and this calms me further as I know I am operating inside my comfort zone.
I pick up a marginal draft alongside an older guy. Somehow, he manages to knee me in the groin or stomach on each breath. I decide to drop back and draft him rather than waiting for him to connect. Once I am behind him a female racer appears and starts swimming on my hip. She is plastered to my hip, hitting me in the head on each stroke. Fortunately, she's not too strong so it is more of an irritation than anything serious. I figure that she's drafting the old boy and move left to yield. She comes along. Further left, she comes along. A little more left, she comes along. Now, we have lost the other guy and are off course. I try to get us back on course and she really starts to hit me in the head. I can't figure out what is going on. Then I realise, she is drafting me by riding my hip. I have a quick internal debate about clocking her and getting her off my hip. Deciding that it wasn't the right thing to do, I slow, roll to my right and head back on line.