That said Matt, how did you find starting well back in Hamburg?
whoās talking clown shoes, rhino suits and cheating. We are talking that those who want to KQ get to go in front of the masses in a mass start and the rest carry on as now in their sanitised rolling start. And its a fun run now for 90% of athletes. Its not about a time, or beating people, its about beating cut offs and bragging on facebook
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As FP has said:
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I vaguely recall not having the best of swims. being kicked in the face was not an ideal start to my day (and shows that it can still happen even in a wave start with people going off 5 at a time)
When I wrote my post, I didnt notice that it was just 2 mins between starts, so the issues will be pretty much confined to the swim. Bike will be a little busier but normal order will have settled down after 20-30kms
People who will be most pissed off will be the fast women
I think that it is very unfair to say that anyone who is not a KQ propospect is an IMJ type (also pointing out that there are some true triathletes on IMJ as well). However, I agree with @Hammerer that a GFA status could be a good compromise, like in VLM, GFA triathletes would need to qualify. They would have a mass start just after the Proās. Other people can then self seed and start in batches of 5 as per most other Ironmans. A normal starter would still be eligeable to KQ if they get a good enough time
@joex could then self seed, near the front of the batch start, unimpeded by micky mouse
You could still have a situation where a GFA athlete thinks that they have KQād as they were 3rd in their AG accross the line, only to find out later that someone who started later did a faster time, but it would be the exception rather than the norm as most KQ propects would be starting with GFA
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Iād have thought that if youāre going to all the trouble of providing a first past the post type race for the pointy end of each AG, you donāt want to have any chance some quick first timer then KQāing 20 mins later. I would see this as binary, either KQ is first past the post (so only āGFAā people can qualify) or itās done on chip time. Any middle ground seems like a waste of time?
@Hammerer More generally what about people that are interested in say winning the AG but have no interest/finances to get to Kona? Can someone from the fun run pack still win an AG prize? That would seem unfair for them not to.
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Or maybe you make Ironman be Run > Bike > Swim. That would sort this problem out. Although means multi lap swims would be more of a nightmare. Different hat each lap?
There would be a lot of drownings I think.
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I think hammerers idea has a lot of merit, split the race between Pro/Racers and a 2nd wave of sportif competitors.
I just donāt see whatās in it for Ironman. Itās been said for a long time they donāt care about the Pros. They probably also donāt care about the KQ amateurs, they want mass participation for the minimum outlay, and that means catering to the completers. Why spend money and effort putting on a parallel race for the other 10%?
Sanitisation of Ironman it might be, but thatās what a Private Equity company want to drive their revenue.
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Pretty much what Outlaw Half does. Enter an Elite wave for those privileges, but be ineligible for AG prizes, or donāt and start in AG waves.
I chose not to enter the Elite wave, despite having a qualifying time, as I couldnāt really see the point in having it shown just how mediocre I really am 
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Defo AG wave for me at Bowood Outlaw.
Have I missed something with people dying in the swim? Is it a big problem or statistically any bigger than any other mass participation event?
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This defeats the purpose for me as then the first across the line arent always the winners which is the issue with rolling starts. May as well stay as we are.
And saying fun run or IMJ types isnt meant to be derogatory , it means people not interested in Kona, not interested in racing others for a win or place but doing a TT, ie Sportive or VLM. Iād do that as Iām after being the best me not racing others. I like rolling start, just not to decide the race results.
I would say no as you are not racing someone. Itās a bit unfair if you win by 10 seconds having started 20mins later and missed the high winds or flown under the radar. You race, or you TT . You can be the best 40year old in the TT event, more winners
Youāve not been sub 4:30 in the past season have you, though, so itās a moot point 
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The problem with that is that youād need to do 2 x IM before being eligible for Kona (one to get a GFA and one to qualify)ā¦ can see Wanda being quite enthusiastic about that idea!
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Hey, break it to me gently, Mr softskills 
More DNFs but I suspect less drownings.
Yes, you are significantly more likely to die in the first twenty minutes of an Ironman swim.
This risk is regardless of experience, how fast you are, or the water conditions.
Thereās isnāt enough known about the problem to know if rolling swim starts are a significant risk mitigation.
It is known that elites are as affected as novices.
How many Elites have died in the swim? In fact how many deaths of anyone in last 5 years.
How many deaths did it take in F1 for them to make changes? Event organisers donāt want to be done for corporate manslaughter, because they ignored the signs.