“The swimming was catastrophic due to wrong distance ”

“Mostly great, however almost every swimmer in the Sprint race swam 1500m and the Olympic race swam a mix of 1500, 2100 and 3000m. This is not acceptable. To make it more disappointing, the results page says we swam 1100m (not 1500m) which makes every persons results incorrect. The race director said swim to the orange bouy so thats what we did. At a minimum, the organisers should send an apology email to all participants and must change the sprint swim to 1500 on results page to be correct. ”

“Adding distance markers for the run would be helpful. ”

“Swim course was messy and run changed last minute… confuse confused confused”

“so many problems this year, like checkin to get the BIB (super long) ; bike checkin (no speficic place for the relay, at least for us), communication for the podium / end race..... quite surprising as we normally love this Triathlon and supersport events. Happy to discuss that further over the phone but we were really disappointed. Adele's fathe.”

“so many problems this year. Swim distance, check in process , communication, podium.... we normally love this Triathlon and Supersports events, but this time it didn't meet our expectations at all. Quite disappointed and very Happy to discuss that further if need be (Maya's dad).”

“The swim course was double the length it should have been and I waited over an hour for awards, but the community was good and the rest of the course was very nice and well organized.”

“The event was brilliant overall. The longer swims for the Olympic and sprint categories where a little frustrating! ”

“The organization did not comply with the regulations. Poor signing and wrong bouys on the second day.”

“Hello after several years participating this year was a bit surprising Very long time at registration , mistake with the buoys distances for the swimming part, less assistance ….”

“Swim was disgraceful. Course was changed but not ”

“The swim was much longer than it was supposed to be, also Zig zaggin run was very confusing, I do not mind doing few laps, but running 500M streches back and forth was very badly managed. Cycling track was very well chosen tho, had a good time on it with good back wind ”

“Wrong swim instructions were given for sprint/olympic? Me and all the other swimmers followed the instruction to turn right at orange bouys and complete 1 lap for sprint but ended up swimming 1,500m”

“You need to ensure the swim course is correct. you can endanger people lives with the errors on course. Also, in the run course, you could have used cones to separate the small loops that needed running to ensure compliance. Overall I loved it. ”

“Slippery stairs towards transition Too far transit to bike Scattered bib pick up, finish line, the run out is at a cross road with the cyclists on coming . Dangerous.”

“felt that the rules were taken lightly. some people ran with earbuds...though it wasnt allowed. ”

“get the swim distances right”

“Was a great event! Started on time, well stocked aid stations. Perhaps place additional cokes in the aid stations. Swim buoys should be accurate to the distance and align to the race route instructions :) cool medal and accurate timing. ”

“The registration fee is expensive. Should be much less for such events ”

“as always, Warren and team did a great job organizing. only issue this year was the swim course on Sunday was 1.5km instead of the standard 750m distance. ”

“Always an amazing informal family event”

“Overall I enjoyed the event, but several things could have been done to improve - Swim course was longer (my garmin shows 2 km for olympic, I heard the same from other people) - No toilet/unclear where to find one - Tooo narrow part of the cycling course (the fastest one though), which was unsafe at some point ”

“Very nice event , well organized. Only one thing , please don’t give kids Coca Cola after the race , fresh juice or just water is great ? Thanks you ”

“Awful organization, it was a disgrace. This is a competition, the minimum expectations is for the distances to be accurate, the map course to be correct, and for people not to cheat or to be disqualified in that case…well none of the above happened. To swim course was not has per the map shared and the distance was wrong by 500meters. On the timings swim and bike distance are wrong so average pace also wrong, and people cheated in swim and run without being disqualified. ”

“Swim distance was wrongly calculated and the team in the sea was totally useless and wasn’t helpful or were aware of the mistake and were eager to correct the mistake. I was doing sprint and ended up doing 1500m swim and my friends doing Olympic did 2500m or so of swim only.This could cost someone’s life”

“It was great, thanks I think the swimmers had a bit of a confusion and ended up doing more than they signed up for. Cycling track was perfect. ”

“the swimming was a real frustration ; we swam 2.1km instead of 1.5km and lots of people took a shortcut. Distance should be checked before letting the triathlets go”

“The swim was far too long. ”

“The swim course was incorrectly marked”

“Very well organized. It was my first triathlon and I enjoyed it so much! Hope to see more events like this for kids.”

“The swim distance was not correct measured. So, the briefings for swimming and running were useless. I expect better for the money I pay. Good water support and very good path safety. But below the line nice event. ”

“I had fun at the race! I missed my podium for UAE National, but Warren called me again so I got my trophy. I was in the wrong age group so missed my 2nd place, but I still had lots of fun. ”

“The olympic swim course was really messy and very poorly communicated. What was told in the pre-race course email, was different than what the presenter told us, and different than what we actually had to do. All of my friend swam more than 2000m including me. That is really bad for a race! Also, the run course changed vs what was communicated earlier. We were supposed to do 2 full laps for the olympic distance but changed. So many of the runners were clueless and nobody knew whats going on!”

“Not being able to set the buoys right is the biggest rookie mistake I've ever seen. Loads of sprint participants were not ready for that and a few made it through the 1,500m swim. It didn't only mess up my experience and my performance, it was plain freaking dangerous with participant not prepared for that kind of distance and with a very poor safety and security protocol with just a lifeguard on a padel board at every buoy. People could have died 10 times before anyone noticed or paddle to site”

“the swim course was too long and not clear, i ended up with a 2.1km swim”

“All arrangement were good except the swimming distance for the sprint was nonsense. we did more than 1400 which was supposed to be only 800 max”

“The swim course was longer, I pointed this out to the race director but he chose to ignore it. It should have been in the race start briefing if the course could not be fixed. And no bag drop! Otherwise well run event. ”

“Always Great event. Weekend to bring together the triathlon community for 2 days of SBR”

“One of our favourite races, but the vibe wasn't there this year unfortunately. A few things: Race pack collection took a looooong time Swim course was double the distance!! Sprint turnaround point had a water station 15m ahead, it could have been at the u-turn Prize giving very late, we had to check out of the hotel, so missed it Many people raced, but didn't come up in the results and were added manually People in wrong age groups! ”

“The swim was way tooo long ”

“Great but not sure about the Sprint swim distance. Can you double check ? Tks !”

“was great race in great location as usual ”

“Bike route was excellent. Support from the volunteers was also excellent.”

“It was inadmissible having such a long swim (2.2 vs 1.5), I guess also a bigger issue for Sprint participants. I think that put in danger athletes and should have not happened.”

“Distances were not precise, swimming was confusing. ”

“The swim course was chaotic. Marshalls on the kayak and race director briefing are contradicting. One big swim chaos. Distance also is above 1500m. Bike distance was 42.3. Run course was another chaos on its own. Too many loops and laps that all on pavement. Not even on Asphalt. ”

“The course marking on the run was a disaster and very confusing. The buoys on the swim course were in the wrong location and hence the swim was almost double distance.”

“Good organisation… swim course was incorrectly marked and swimmers had to do a significantly longer swim ”

“Great event however major error on swim course doubling distance for sprint and Olympic. Basic issue that should have been checked before start”

“Unfortunately I’m quite disappointed with the race. I was one of the people disqualified due to the swim. I was behind the front pack and as I got to the turn around bouy my watch said 1300m, I asked the lifeguard and he told me to swim in. As soon as the race finished I went to officials and told them I had only done one lap and the response was pretty rude. There was no ownership taken for the mistake or announcement. It’s dangerous ”

“A very poor setup this year, and disappointing for my boys and us. Unlike 2024 event, this setup seemed poorly organized, staffed with inexperienced guides creating obstacles and danger on all routes from onlookers, cars and all! , confusion with distances 1.1km swim vs 750 sprint swim, and times showing 20mins, hours waiting for awards ceremony. A true mess in our eyes…I do hope that this is rectified for future events. It was a real Successs in 2024, so not sure what happened here….”

“2024 event was a great success, although 2025 was littered with uncoordination, lack of proper supervision, times/ distance mis-calcs, waiting for hour(s) . Very unpleasant experience for our boys and us. My son was poised for coming 1/2nd in under 19 Super sprint, and after running into random spectators walking all over and across the course, Mia guidances for direction and all…he ended up being DQ. Our other son coming 3rd in Sprint under 19, but 1.1km swim for 20 mins?! A mess reall…”

“The swimming course issue put in dangerous less experienced swimmers. Specially people on the sprint who are not used to swim longer distances.”

“A great venue and event. However, the swimming distance incident was definitely a big mistake that led to significant confusion and disappointment for many people. Also, the running course for the Olympic with two half turns along the way was not properly explained in the briefing pack, which simply said two laps. Finally, the prize giving ceremony was delayed by too long without properly informing the participants. ”

“Swim was a disaster and someone could have lost their life. Swim bouys drifted and the swim was extended to 1.5km without enough Marshalls. Could have been avoided with proper communication. Will not do again with super sports. ”

“The cycling tour was not safe! Children were cycling just aside the cars and busses! Not happy a all regarding the safety. There should have been barrier at least; even better to stop completely the cars for the time of the triathlon. ”

“The competition was poorly organized. The Olympic swimming distance was 2 km, but in the standings it was changed to 2.2 km. They didn't change the bike, the distance was 42.5 km. The laps during the run confused the athletes. The toilet was far from the transit zone. ”

“Everything great accept the difference between the briefing and the actual swim course. Causing almost everyone on the Sprint Tri to do 1.5km swim. No apologies either yet from the organisers. ”

“Swimming distance was wrongly briefed and the run was too confusing ”

“Very badly organized Swimming distance totally wrong No security at all on the bike for the outlets ”

“Ive always participated in most events by Premier / Super Sports . Always well organized but this time there were some issues and overlooked 1) Steps from sea running towards transition was slippery n not covered with the red cloth 2) Transition from swim to bike is just too far & already exhausting 3) colletion of bib, start, finish all are scattered 4 )!A very important point !! There should be a category for awards for Under 18 which is 13-15, 16-18. ”

“I need to raise a serious concern regarding the swim portion, which significantly affected my overall experience. As a beginner swimmer, I rely heavily on clear direction and safety measures during events like this. Unfortunately, I was repeatedly misdirected by members of your kayak safety team, causing me to swim nearly *double* the intended distance. This added unnecessary strain and, at times, left me feeling distressed and uncertain about completing the swim. ”

“I enjoyed the event. Overall well organized. The issue is that the swim course was 500m too long for the Olympic distance. Secondly I found the run course very confusing, I had to ask a couple of times where I needed to go. Please avoid adding snake type routes it’s just horrible for a runner”

“The swim course and lack of knowledge and communication from staff. ”

“Swim and run was a little disorganised, marshalls in the kayaks didnt know the course and marshalls on the run didnt know how many of the shorter laps needed to be done on the olympic. The swim ended up being 2.2km instead of the 1.5, this is longer than what the 76/113 should have done the day before. Sea was red flagged part way through the swim but we were told to continue.”

“I did Sprint, with 1.5k swim. Done Olympic in RAK since 2021. The distance between the buoys was terrible. Big mistake. I've done all the distances but this is unacceptable. Imagine for the first-timers? My friend did his first Olympic and had to swim 2.2k.. and I've heard the day before also had issues with the distances on the swim and run. Anyway, here is my feedback and RAK event organizer has to take in consideration that people train based on race distance and make it right. ”