More training with swim lead/rope

For the last 2x training sessions my SwimRun Buddy and I have been trying out a swim lead/rope connected between us. There appear to be more positives than negatives so we will most likely be using it on race day. More training needed but we certainly feel it is the way to go..

Positives:

- Places me neatly behind the feet/fins of my SwimRun Buddy (stronger swimmer) so benefit from his draft

- Less stress of losing pace and being dropped (and worse disqualified for being more than 10m apart)

- My swimming was generally no slower and fortunately my partner didn't notice any slowing/pulling him back

Negatives:

- The rope does move quite a bit in the water (especially in the sea) so you can easily hit it with padddles (at back) or feet (at front) - it is elasticated but it can sometimes be a nuisance. The best position is a very slight pull, which keeps it tight and straighter in the water. As the rear swimmer (so the rope is in front of me) I find it easiest to rotate my arms either side of the rope.

- You obviously have to carry the rope, which I generally wrap around my waist, for the entire race. There is also that extra step in transition - clipping ourselves in/out and re-wrapping/un-wrappring the rope.

By the way I saw a large jellyfish in Brighton yesterday, which swam by me within inches of my hands - it looked reasonably big, I would say 40-50cm in length!