Posted on: Monday, July 19, 2004

Controversy shakes up men's division in Tinman

By Pam Ching
Special to The Advertiser

Two rulings — including a controversial disqualification — gave Maui's Jeff Sanders the men's title at the Tinman Triathlon yesterday.

In an unprecedented move, race officials disqualified elite triathlete James Cotter in the 750-meter swim, 38-kilometer bike and 19-kilometer run. Cotter, a Big Island resident who had won the previous two Tinmans, led yesterday's race the entire way.

He learned later he was disqualified for failing to turn in his swim tag, a mandatory practice that enables officials to keep track of racers.

Cotter was noticeably distraught.

"I just lost my ticket on the swim. I tucked it into the leg of my shorts and it fell out," he said. "It's too bad they didn't tell me I was DQ'd until the end."

Asked about the discretion she used to make the technical ruling, race director Olga Caldwell said: "He did the event, he did come in first, but in the rules section I think it's mentioned at least twice you have to turn in your swim tag when you get out of the water and run through the chute. He didn't do that. It's a difficult thing to (rule on)."

In another twist, 25-year-old Tai Blechta of Honolulu, who battled Sanders for much of the bike and run, was assessed a 3-minute drafting penalty and finished in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 5 seconds. Sanders, the self-professed old guy at age 35, came in at 1:38:22, winning a closely fought race where second and third places were traded more than once.

"It was a great race. I've done a lot of Tinmans but this was the closest one that I've seen," Sanders said. "I came in right behind Tai. Usually it's not that close, so it was an exciting race."

Asked what he thought of Cotter's disqualification, Sanders said: "The concern is that it's dark, the race starts at 5:30, and they (the race officials) want to get the swim tags because they're scared that somebody might cut the course. However, I saw James and he was about 20 seconds ahead of us and I watched him the whole time because that was the guy to try and stay with, so I know for a fact that he did the swim course. I don't make the rules and I don't like winning this way."

The question begs how much leniency should be built into rules that are clearly stated in the rule book, but not always adhered to during the race. Caldwell stressed the necessity for rules that ensure safety.

"We want to make sure that everyone who comes in, if someone is missing, we want to know who it is," Caldwell said. "And that's not James' case because he's a good triathlete, but do we bend the rules for the elite triathletes versus everyone else?"

Chris Gardner, head of the swimming portion of the race, said: "(Cotter) didn't do something dangerous, or illegal, or cheat. He just lost his swim tag. And the rules state you have to have your swim tag this year. It could happen to anybody. They're sticking to the rules this year."

Gardner also emphasized the need for the timing chip technology that is prevalent at many of the triathlons and open-ocean swimming events. The bands are worn on the racers' ankle and efficiently log their event splits as they cross a sensor threshold. The Tinman triathlon remains one of the few local competitions that does not use timing chips.

Honolulu's Jenna Yancey won the women's race in 1:48:26, more than 12 minutes faster than her third-place finish last year.

"I had a really good bike," she said. "I had to go to the Mainland for a funeral and I had to take a whole week off and I was all worried coming into the race. I wasn't sure I'd be ready but sometimes more rest does you good."

Yancey surprised herself, outrunning two-time winner and 38-year-old Katherine Nichols, also of Honolulu, by 31 seconds.

"I just couldn't believe that I was as far ahead so I was just enjoying it," Yancey said. "I was really excited and I've been dreaming about winning Tinman since I began. It was just surreal. I kept looking back and there was no one there."

This year's race began and ended at Kapi'olani Park. Previous Tinmans started at Magic Island, but because of a scheduling conflict, the swim portion was moved to Waikiki this year.