He began his day dubiously, as this demon-once-on-land followed Matt Chrabot in the swim. Followed? Like eventual winner Jan Frodeno followed Andy Potts, who followed Dylan McNeice? Kind of.

In triathlon's formative years it was determined that close proximity was okay in the swim and run, just not on the bike (and it remains that way today, except for where it's legal to draft, such as in draft-legal road triathlon and in off-road triathlon).

There was an important distinction between Lionel's case and the swimmers further ahead. Lionel was never going to be dropped by Matt Chrabot in the swim because Matt's job during the swim, according to Lionel and to every spectator with a pair of eyes, was to make sure Lionel got out of the water as fast as possible. Is there a difference between what Matt and Lionel were doing versus what Dylan and Andy were doing at the head of the swim field? Yes.