Bootlegging open water events
I was wondering if any race directors out there ever had swimmers participate in their events without registering?
Were they discovered before the start? What action did you take?
What would you do (if anything) as a swimmer participating in a race where you knew someone who was planning to swim without paying?
I noticed there isn't much on this topic, and would like to read opinions and experiences.
Were they discovered before the start? What action did you take?
What would you do (if anything) as a swimmer participating in a race where you knew someone who was planning to swim without paying?
I noticed there isn't much on this topic, and would like to read opinions and experiences.
Tagged:
Comments
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2012/08/what-is-pirate-swimmer.html?m=1
http://dailynews.openwaterswimming.com/2013/04/respecting-attempts-of-unprecedented.html?m=1
Steven Munatones
www.worldopenwaterswimmingassociation.com
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.A.
http://santabarbarachannelswim.org/news/news110907.html#bootlegging
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
It is not hard to imagine scenarios where the pilot coverage for a swim is compromised because:
a) The bootleggers are decreasing the ratio of swimmers to pilots
b) The bootleggers did not attend safety briefings and make poor choices resulting in the need for pilot intervention.
c) the bootlegger decides to withdraw mid event, or otherwise not finish in the prescribed manner and does not follow protocols for withdrawal (e.g. swims out of event area) triggering intervention by pilots
If the bootlegger is not wearing the correct cap for the event you could argue that the pilots don't need to intervene, but the reality is for many events (e.g. an Alcatraz crossing) the pilots are going to assume *anyone* in the water is under their duty of care (and if the bootlegger is clearly in distress one would hope they would assist).
If the bootlegger is trying to appear as a participant (wearing at least a similar coloured cap, possibly fake markings), then they could possibly compromise other safety protocols based around swimmer counts.
Putting the safety of others at risk is ultimately a selfish action in my opinion.
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
www.WaterGirl.co
AZ Open Water Swimming on Facebook
The second person may not be doing what is best for the marathon swimming community but they are not stealing like the other one is. The assumption is that this person is trying to save money. How do we know this? They may end up spending more money. They may not want to do things the same way the organization does, they may not care for their qualifying swim policy, they may not want to get the medical form done or they just may not like the head of the organization.
If everyone thought the official swimming organizations of these long swims did a perfect job, why would the English Channel need two? That is not a knock on either or any swim organization but obviously there may be reasons other than associated costs that would make swimmers want to go outside of the organization.
"I never met a shark I didn't like"