Tonight at the open water technical committee meeting, final details were discussed for Sunday’s open water races at the 2014 Jr. Pan Pac Championships in Maui, Hawaii.
The junior races to determine the 2014 Jr. Pan Pac standings will be swum simultaneously with the senior races that were rescheduled from last week’s regular Pan Pac Championships that were cancelled because of poor water quality in Southport.
The men will begin their 10 km race first, with the women going off 10 minutes later.
The medalists will be counted separately and awarded on separate podiums despite racing together.
The course will be 6 loops of a 1.66 kilometer course that is laid out in as a triangle. No feed sticks are being allowed because of the tight turn at the feed station. The races begin at 8AM Hawaii time.
Could the same swim count for both Juniors and Seniors?
Jim C – no. Only a few are relevant there (like Becca Mann), but results are totally separate.
I wonder if this means that the race will be more physical, or less, than the usual international open water race. It could be more, because a bigger crowd means more crowding around the buoys, which leads to “accidental” punching. Then again, it could be less, because it would look bad for a senior swimmer to punch a younger one, even “accidentally” and a younger swimmer will be unlikely to want to punch someone who’s 10 or more kilos heavier.
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How about you give this comment an UP vote for MORE punching, and a DOWN vote for LESS punching?
Certainly gives an advantage to the fastest juniors as they can likely lead the junior pack AND still be able to draft off some of the seniors. Without the seniors they would need to worry about swimming in lead on their own or staying with a junior lead pack to conserve for the finish.