Rainfall cancels swim portion of Iron Man competition in Tempe on Sunday
Oct 15, 2022, 7:23 PM
(Facebook Photo / Tempe Town Lake)
(Facebook Photo / Tempe Town Lake)
PHOENIX — The swim portion of the Ironman 70.3 Arizona competition scheduled to take place in Tempe this weekend was canceled due to rainfall, event organizers said.
The event had been set to take place at Tempe Town Lake at 6:50 a.m. Sunday, but was axed from the plan after more than .2 inches of rain fell in the area, Tempe said in a tweet.
When just under a quarter of an inch falls into the artificial lake, the city closes it to test the water to ensure it is safe, Iron Man said. The process takes 24 hours to complete.
“We know this is not the news you want to hear. It is not the news we want to share. At the same time, we must respect the process by the city of Tempe to ensure the water is safe to swim,” Iron Man event organizers said in a statement.
Event organizers said a bike time trial at the bike mount line will start the race in place of the swim portion.
Due to using the bike time trial, athletes can arrive later than 6:30 a.m. when the transition begins.
The running portion of the competition was unaffected.
