Home > News

Breaking news: Ironman Canada swim cancelled due to cold water

Final running of Ironman Canada in Penticton won’t feature a swim

Photo by: Ironman

We’ll have more as the race-day progresses, but it looks like the challenges at Ironman Canada continue today. The final running of Ironman Canada in Penticton won’t feature a swim – the first leg of the race has been cancelled and athletes will head off in a time trial start.

Ironman Canada is done in Penticton

The race announcement on Facebook didn’t specify the water temperature, but some social media posts have said the water is 13 degrees C. Based on the cancellation, it would appear that there must be points where the water temperature is lower than that.

According to World Triathlon rules, a full-distance (3.8 km) swim should be shortened to 1,500 m if the water temperature is between 13 and 13.9 degrees, 750 m if it is between 12 and 12.9 degrees and cancelled if the water temperature is 11.9 degrees or lower. There is also an air-temperature component – since the air temperature was 10 degrees, World Triathlon rules would dictate that the swim would need to be cancelled if the water temperature was 13 degrees.

We’ll continue to monitor the race and provide updates.