The demand for workshops is picking up nicely and many who are registering seem to be people who have taken up a dare to either compete in Iron Man or Iron Man 70.3.  Most haven’t swum for years or have realised that the swimming part is not going to be so easy. Is this just a South African phenomenon – that people decide to take up triathlons and especially the big ones because they were dared to do so? What are the implications of this? These are some that I can think of :-

1. The decision has been made on the spur of the moment without much thought as to what needs to be done in order to achieve the goal.

2. Once they get started the realisation that a lot of hard work lies ahead especially with regard to the swimming side of things suddenly kicks in

3. They contact Total Immersion in the hopes that we will be the answer to their prayers.

4. Fortunately in South Africa and especially amongst the males, pride plays a huge role in the psyche and so they are pretty determined to do what needs to be done in order not to fail.

5. For some the goal is definitely within their reach if they work at it. For others who actually have limited swimming ability and therefore have to first really learn how to swim, it seems that a goal like competing in a short distance triathlon within a year would be more realistic and that to compete in a 70.3 or full Iron Man should possibly be a more long-term goal.

6. Should we as TI coaches try to adjust their goals to more realistic ones or do we allow them to have the belief that nothing is impossible?

I would welcome other TI coaches and TI swimmers thoughts on this.