THE TRI-CHRONICLES: Respect the Swim
Respect the swim. Image courtesy of Ryan McVay/Digital Vision/Thinkstock.
When I first got into longer distance triathlons, one of my mentors would repeatedly say, “Respect the distance.”
I took that to mean taking time to prepare well and recognizing it is going to be a long day. Anything can happen.
I didn’t think that involved dying. No, I’m not dead but the risk is real.
The timing of this article is particularly interesting because, as you will read, there have been deaths associated with the sport and it mostly happens during the swim portion of the event. This weekend, I am participating in a long-distance swim around the Venice Beach area.
Yikes!
The topic is also comes close to home. I participated in Ironman Cobra last year. There was a death at its inaugural season the prior year. A relay team had a swimmer who did not make it out of lake and died due to an apparent heart condition.
I knew the cyclist of that relay team. He said because of the craziness during the swim, they didn’t know what happened until after most of the cyclists had left the transition area and they couldn’t find their swimmer.
More recently, there were two triathletes who died at the Nautica New York City Triathlon. There were a number of articles written following that incident. Most the articles pointed to a pre-existing heart conditions as the underlying cause of death. However, both occurred during the swim portion of the event.
Dr. Kevin Harris published a study on triathlon related deaths in the JAMA: The Journal of American Medical Association. He found that out of 2,971 USA Triathlon (USAT) sanctioned events between 2006 and 2008, there were 14 deaths. He also pointed out that 13 of the 14 occurred during the swim leg. One happened during the bike leg.
According to Dr. Grant Morrison, there were a total of 25 deaths that have been recorded by USAT with 20 of those deaths occurring during the swim portion of the event. These statistics do not capture deaths that have occurred in international competition but I would venture to guess that it’s pretty darn close.
Notice the correlation here? So, you might be asking, what is the deal with the swim portion of the triathlon?
I think it makes intuitive sense that the highest risk of death would happen during the swim. The main reason: it is much more difficult to notice if anyone is in trouble and by the time anyone realizes, it’s too late. And, yes, you can drown.
With cycling and running, there are many more opportunities to signal for help and there are many more opportunities to address severe issues.
If you noticed, the one USAT recorded death that occurred during the cycling leg involved a person who blacked out and died because of a heart condition. Along those lines, most of the deaths during the swim involved issues with the heart and drowning.
The stress during the swim makes any pre-existing heart conditions worst.
Participants gather for either a mass start or in smaller groups. In both cases, there is a lot of jostling for position and high risk that one gets kicked, shoved, punched, scratched, and elbowed. Some lose their goggles while others get pushed under water for brief periods of time.
The water temperature is also a consideration particularly in North American events. Cold water increases the risk of over working the heart because the heart works harder to both warm the body and circulate blood into the muscles. Consequently, an underlying condition could be triggered and made worst.
These recent events and statistics serve as a grim and sober reminder that we truly need to be careful out there. So, what can we do to mitigate or avoid the risk of dying during the swim? Other than avoiding the swim altogether, here are some of my thoughts.
For starters, I think we really need to take responsibility for knowing our own personal health condition particularly if it involves issues with the heart. The research of Dr. Kevin Harris showed that 6 of the 13 deaths involved heart conditions.
Having cleared that first hurdle, we do need to train with as much specificity as possible. Granted it’s hard to replicate the mass swim start of an Ironman event but there are some things we can do to prepare.
We can get used to the feeling of being constrained by a wetsuit. We can do regular open-water swims to familiarize ourselves the water temperature and uncertainty of water conditions like waves, sea creatures, etc. We can practice dealing with problems like losing your goggles. We can also make sure that we’ve taken enough nutrients before the event starts.
There are a host of other things we can do to prepare but this one is easier said than done: back-out.
Ain't no shame in stopping if your body can't take it. Image courtesy of Jupiterimages/Comstock/Thinkstock.
This is very hard to do particularly when there is a significant time, money, and emotional investment leading up to an event coupled with the adrenaline rush at the start. Sometimes we don’t recognize something is wrong. Sometimes we’re just too stubborn to care.
I remember a fellow club member who was lectured by the doctor at the med tent at Vineman. He finished the ironman distance event but was severely dehydrated. As the doctor was inserting the ivy into his veins he asked, “What would you do if you felt dizzy or really sick during training, would you stop?”
My friend replied, “Yes.”
The doctor then looked at him sternly and said, “Then why didn’t you stop when you knew something was definitely wrong? You could have died!” He later clarified that a severely dehydrated condition can cause excessive strain on the heart which can cause heart attacks and ultimately death.
Granted this occurred at the run portion of the triathlon. But, I think it drives home the point that sometimes pride and stubbornness can get the better of us even after recognizing there’s a problem.
If you feel things aren’t right before you get in the water or when it starts, it might be a good idea to back out and call it a day.
There’s nothing wrong with deciding to race another time.
There are some serious risks with participating in such a grueling sport like triathlon. The risk of death exists regardless of distance.
I do think we need to take precaution and do those things that are within our control. By doing so, we go into the event well-informed about our physical condition and the environment in which we are getting ourselves into.
Sorry, if this is such a downer but deaths in triathlon are scary. Be careful out there. Respect the distance. Respect the swim.
SamG is a middle-of-the-pack recreational triathlete. Overweight and out of shape, he got into triathlons in 2006, starting with the shorter Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. He has since completed a number of half-iron distance (70.3 miles) and a full-ironman distance triathlon (140.6 mile).
