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The awesome spectacle of the missing water at the main boat ramp at Lake San Antonio did not quite live up to sci-fi horror movie scenarios. "I was imagining desolate desert sand and dying fish smelling up the whole valley," said Sean Watkins, husband of two-time defending champion Heather Jackson. "But actually, there seems to be some beautiful green grass down there and the air is fresh." According to some triathletes who attended the recent USA Triathlon Collegiate Nationals in Tempe, Arizona, by contrast to Wildflower, low water levels in Tempe Town Lake gave off a malodorous aroma.
Catastrophe at Wildflower? Not quite. And not enough to wipe out the swim at Wildflower, although adjustments had to be made.
Catastrophe at Wildflower? Not quite. And not enough to wipe out the swim at Wildflower, although adjustments had to be made.
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Fortunately, there remains a pocket of water two miles away, next to the San Antonio Dam, at the lowest section of Lake San Antonio, known as Harris Creek. While the water level there was not high enough to use a nearby recreational boat ramp as a swim exit, the Tri-California crew fabricated a temporary ramp and cut a trail to a new run course on a sand path along the shoreline that used to be under water. That new section will stretch two miles and will serve as the route for swimmers to come back to the regular transition. Weak runners need not fear unfairly long run distances -- Wildflower workers cut out 2 miles of the final leg to make the total run a regulation 13.1 miles.
Wildflower race director Terry Davis, who has been on scene even before the inaugural Wildflower long course event in 1983, gave the background of this unusual situation in an interview at race headquarters.
Slowtwitch: When did you start to get concerned about water levels?
Terry Davis In October the lakes were down. But normally they come back in January. And so we were anticipating we might need to take some action.. Through the end of February we waited to see what was going on.
ST: When did you know something had to be done?'
Terry: Two months into the year, we decided before that it didn’t make any difference what we did -- we could make a decision in two months. So we decided not to pre plan but wait - and pray. In March we started working on the alternate plan. So from the beginning we knew we weren't going to have the situation where we were going to have a duathlon. We knew that we had enough water in the Harris Creek area to hold a swim.
ST: What part of the lake is Harris Creek?
Terry: It is the southeast part of the lake toward Paso Robles. It is next to the San Antonio Dam, which is why they had an accumulation of water there. So we knew we would be able to swim.
ST: Any other variables at that time?
Terry: The second option was praying it would come up enough that we would be able to use the launch ramp down there. But it didn't come up quite that far enough.
Wildflower race director Terry Davis, who has been on scene even before the inaugural Wildflower long course event in 1983, gave the background of this unusual situation in an interview at race headquarters.
Slowtwitch: When did you start to get concerned about water levels?
Terry Davis In October the lakes were down. But normally they come back in January. And so we were anticipating we might need to take some action.. Through the end of February we waited to see what was going on.
ST: When did you know something had to be done?'
Terry: Two months into the year, we decided before that it didn’t make any difference what we did -- we could make a decision in two months. So we decided not to pre plan but wait - and pray. In March we started working on the alternate plan. So from the beginning we knew we weren't going to have the situation where we were going to have a duathlon. We knew that we had enough water in the Harris Creek area to hold a swim.
ST: What part of the lake is Harris Creek?
Terry: It is the southeast part of the lake toward Paso Robles. It is next to the San Antonio Dam, which is why they had an accumulation of water there. So we knew we would be able to swim.
ST: Any other variables at that time?
Terry: The second option was praying it would come up enough that we would be able to use the launch ramp down there. But it didn't come up quite that far enough.
