Swim (event #1)

The first leg in the TRI! 400 yards of fun in the pool! This year’s event will be a snake swim format. See below for key information on the snake swim. A map of the Bartlett pool area and snake swim format will be available soon.

What is a snake swim?

Snake swim is a format where swimmers all enter the pool from the same lane/start with 20 seconds space between each racer. Racers swim the length of the lane, turn at the wall and then swim back down the same lane on the other side – completing a full lap (50 yards). With the first lap complete, racers then swim under the lane line, entering the next lane and proceed in the same manner as they did in lap one. They will continue snaking up and down the lanes until completing the 400-yard/16 lengths/8 lap/lane snake swim.

Why a snake swim

The snake swim format allows us to manage distancing and other safety requirements throughout the entire swim from on-deck staging prior to entering the water, to the actual swim itself (minimizing the number of times people swim adjacent to each other and crowding when exiting the swim). It also requires less volunteers, resulting in significantly less people in the pool area and keeping people spread out.

GNT has done the snake swim since 2021, and racers shared how much they enjoyed the predictability of the snake swim. Knowing, almost to the minute, when they would actually start their race, and not having long wait times on deck was a huge plus! “Less-stressful” was used numerous times by many of the racers to describe their swim experience last year

What are the rules for snake swimming?

Layout of the snake swim to come. However what you really want to know is, ‘can I pass’ or ‘where do I pass, right?

Yes! You can pass and pretty much anywhere that is safe to do so. Short answer…….be careful. Long answer…….if you are going to pass you MUST look up first to assess no one is coming towards you that you might run into while passing. If it is safe to do so then yes, feel free to pass. If it is not safe to pass, simply tap the person in front of you on the foot signaling to that person they need to pull over when they get to the wall and let you pass.

What if I get tapped? So, if you’re the one that is getting their foot tapped please be respectful and move over at the wall, let that person kick off before you and then slide in to position right behind them.

Get all the information you need about the swim here.