Image courtesy of NBCOlympics.com of the Olympic triathlon in Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
No man’s land is a term adapted from the military. In open water swimming, no man’s land is an area between packs of swimmers in an open water swimming event.
For a competitive swimmer to be in a position between packs in no man’s land swimming solo, it is difficult because the swimmer cannot draft off of the faster pack and is at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the slower pack. Or they have to make a choice between swimming to the left, right or staying right in the middle [see above photo from Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
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