The Rolling Swim Start for Triathlon

Rolling starts were introduced to the Age Group portion in IRONMAN Triathlons as a way to mitigate congestion and improve safety during the swim portion of the race, however I'm glad that IRONMAN New Zealand has continued with the Mass Start. It's the only IRONMAN race in the world that still has it, and it is one of the things that sets the race apart from all others. IRONMAN New Zealand continues on as the Last Bastion for the Mass Start IRONMAN event. I should mention though, that the IRONMAN 70.3 races in New Zealand use a Rolling Start process, it's just the full IRONMAN that is the Mass Start.

Traditionally, triathlons used a mass start, where all participants would begin the swim portion simultaneously. However, this often led to overcrowding in the water, causing accidents, collisions, and a generally chaotic environment. There was also a suggestion the the Mass Start contributed to large packs forming on the bike, resulting in drafting. To address these issues, Ironman implemented the rolling start format, also known as a wave start, where athletes start the race in smaller groups at regular intervals. Instead of everyone diving into the water at once, participants enter the water in a continuous stream, often based on their estimated swim time. In most races there are 3 or 4 swimmers sent off every 5 seconds. This helps spread out the swimmers and reduces the likelihood of accidents and congestion in the water.

The rolling start format has several effects on the race dynamics. Firstly, it should create a more controlled and safer environment for the athletes, allowing them to swim without constantly jostling for position or encountering congestion. It should also eliminate the traditional "washing machine" effect, where swimmers get caught up in a tangle of arms and legs.

Additionally, the rolling start can impact the overall race result. In a mass start, a strong swimmer who starts in the front of the pack has an advantage, as they can draft off other swimmers and establish an early lead. However, with a rolling start, the swim portion becomes more individually paced, and the outcome depends on each participant's swimming ability, regardless of their starting position. Athletes have the opportunity to swim at their own pace without being influenced by others, potentially resulting in fairer swim times across the board. This is one of the problems I have with the Rolling Start, if you are a stratgic swimmer, and know how to use stronger swimmers around you, then this should be an advantage. In effect the Rolling Start format takes away this strategy and nullifies some of the tactics employed be weaker, but craftier, swimmers.

By now I'm sure you know that it's no secret I'm a big fan of the Mass Start Triathlon, I always have been, and I always will be. I understand that a Mass Start can feel intimidating to some people, but there are simple ways you can approach a Mass Start to get your best and safest experience. One of these is to simply position yourself near the back, or the side of the start group, and wait 5-10 seconds after the start cannon before beginning your swim. You will suddenly find yourself in clear water, with much fewer people around you, and the ones who are there are likely to be thinking the same as you, so are a lot more careful. Some events have adopted a wave style Mass Start where it goes out in Age or Gender Groups, and whilst this has created smaller groups making it a bit less daunting, there are still some problems with this method of starting. But this article isn't talking about the virtues of the Mass Start Triathlon, it's specifically about the Rolling Start Triathlon, and hopefully this article will help you with your planning for upcoming races you do that have a Rolling Start. The Rolling Start is here to stay, so make sure you include it in your race day strategy.

I've raced in a few Rolling Start races now, and as a competitive person, have always started at the front of the race as I've wanted to get in with the fastest swimmers, and give myself the best chance of a fast clean start. I don't like not knowing who I am around in a race, and I always want to know how I am going against my competitiors. With a Rolling Start it's impossible to make an assessment of your position in the race, unless someone on the sideline can tell you. But something that I have often pondered is what if I start further back in the field and work my way through the slower athletes over the course of the day? Will this give me a bit of an advangtage as basically sling shotting my way through slower athletes on the swim and the bike? Given I had raced the IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns a few times, I had a pretty good idea of how that race flows, and I decided that the 2023 race was a good opportunity to change my start strategy. Following are my thoughts on how this strategy played out, and whether or not I will adopt it in future.

• Start Group
  This race was broken up into zones based on your estimated swim time. 
  Zone 1. Under 33 minutes
  Zone 2. Between 33 – 37 minutes
  Zone 3. Between 37 – 41 minutes
  Zone 4. Over 41 minutes
  I went in the Under 33 minute group, and positioned myself right at the back, this was hard to do with my competitive nature, but I dealt with it and resisted shuffling forward. I actually think Zone 1 should be for under 30 minute swimmers. There are a lot of people who swim under 30, and the speed difference between a 27 minute swimmer and a 33 minute swimmer is 20sec/100m. If you have that much difference in the speed between these types of swimmer you can imagine the risk of that faster one coming up on the slower one very quickly, and the problems that may cause. I've swum with plenty of aggressive swimmers around that 27 minute pace, and I can tell you they don't give a stuff who they swim over, if you are in their way they will come through...it's just the nature of the sport, and people around that pace are ok with that style of racing.
  
• The Start
  By my estimation it took about 5 minutes before I was at the start line waiting for the buzzer. I could see a long stream of swimmers in front of me and had a good clear sighting of the turn buoy 100m of the beach.
  Running in I had a clear run at the water and there was no bumping in to people, one quick dolphin dive and I was swimming.
  It took me about 50m before I caught the first of the people who had gone off ahead of me.
  
• First Turn Buoy
  By now I found myself in a fair bit of congestion, but I was navigating well through the crowd and able to quickly round the buoy. Every time I took a sight I could see a mass of swimmers in front, but couldn't really see the next turn buoy. There were a number of intermediate buoys which were good, but unfortnately these were the same colour as the life guards, and I have a feeling a lot of people were getting them confused.
  About 100m past the turn I sensed someone swim up beside me pretty quickly and suddenly felt their hand on the top of my head shoving me down deep. It brought me to a complete stop, this is something I was used to in some mass start races, but I didn't expect to have it happen at the back of the Rolling Start. I was about to shove the guy back but then thought better of it, this wasn't as important a race to me, so didn't need to get into a battle. It really did take me by surprise me though, and I wondered if he did this to me, then who else had he done this to. I would be worried if he dunked someone less confident in the water that it could have been a really scary and dangerous experience for that person. Perhaps this person was one of the 27 minute swimmers I referred to above, and also had the idea of starting at the back and racing through the field. It really made me question if this really is the right way to approach this sort of race.
  
• Swimmers out of position
  One thing I noticed was there were a lot of swimmers that I was catching with cap colours of the slower groups behind. These people were significantly slower, and it made me wonder why if they selected to go in Zone 2 or 3 that they suddenly decided to start in Zone 1, and not even at the back of that Zone. Judging by how far through the race it was before I caught them, and how slow they were going, they must have been quite near the front of Zone 1 at the start. This brings me back to my earlier point about the Zone 1 swim group slower pace being too slow.
• Half Way
  As the swim went on, and I figured I was about halfway through, I was finding mysellf alone frequently, but then coming up on pockets of swimmers. This needed a bit of adjustment in my line to get round them quickly and safely. It didn't really feel like I was getting much of a slingshot from this.
• Final Stretch
  Once I took the turn to the beach and had about 200m to go, it had spread out a bit more and I had a pretty clear line to the swim exit. This was the first time I had a decent stretch of clear water in front of me, and I was able to settle into a good pace.
• Swim Time
  The whole way I was thinking this was going to be a slow swim based on how I was having to alter my line and adjust my pace, but strangely I had a pretty god swim for me, 28:10 and my watch read it as 1908m, which is bang on the correct distance. It was a faster time than when I had raced here last time, however I remeber that was a fairly rough day. I can't help wondering if I would have swum faster if I started nearer the front of the zone with other swimmers around me at the same pace. There would have been more opportunity to draft and less line disruption
• The Bike
  By the time I was on the bike I seemed to be around similarly paced riders, and I certainly wasn't riding through loads of slower riders. There were a few who I went past pretty quickly, but I formed with a pretty good posse of riders who were all of the same speed and we rode as a good clean paceline. A couple of guys got done for drafting, so I was always conscious of keeping out of the draft of the rider in front.

I trawled through the first 50% of the results of my Age Group to see how my swim time and overall time compared to others, relative to the time we strted the race, and interestingly enough there was nothing really rearkable. It didn't look like there was an advantage to starting at the back or the front of the zone. I finished 5th in y AG, and had the 8th fastest swi. It looked like of the 4 in front of me, 3 started ahead of me, and only 1 had a faster swim. I was the 16th in my Age Group across the startline, and there were 8 who had slower swims than me. 3 of these people were slower than the 33 minute bracket, but started ahead of me, so you could say they were in the wrong start zone. So perhaps I did benefit a bit from being back in the field, but it didn't really feel like it, I didnt like the disruption and the fact I was constantly trying to avoid bumping into, or swimming over a slower swimmer.

Based on this experience, I've decided that the next time I race in a Rolling Start event that I will posiiton myself closer to the front as this is going to give me the best chance for a fast even swim, and benefit from the speed of the other swimmers around me. I really think it's worth you doing the same if you feel you are someone who will swim at the faster of the Zone you're in, that way the people behind will have a much less disrupted swim too. And if you are a slower swimmer then I strongly recommend you don't start too far up the Zone with the hope you may get towed along, it doesn't happen that way...all you will get is a shove on the head from Old Mate, and that might be a less than desireable experience for you.

Love or hate it the Rolling Start is here to stay in IRONMAN Triathlon (except for IRONMAN New Zealand fortunately). It's important to employ the right strategy for your best race.

You can listen to a Podcast recording of Coach Rob talking more about this topic.