tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post4555902030343568485..comments2024-01-09T08:21:50.409-06:00Comments on Dangle the Carrot ... An Endurance Sports Blog: Is the Triathlon Swim Unsafe?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061773215250783439noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-28852388792584114282011-08-12T12:40:06.510-05:002011-08-12T12:40:06.510-05:00Jeff, my feeling on this is that EVERY athlete reg...Jeff, my feeling on this is that EVERY athlete regardless of fitness—from the newbie who is overweight and underprepared, to the seasoned Ironman veteran—risks dying out on a course every time they put themselves out there. I DO talk about this a lot with my wife. I mean, honestly, say you are a kick ass swimmer and get kneed/elbowed/deliberately smashed in the temple during your swim.... you could drown. Not to mention, many of us know all too well that going light speed down a steep hill on tiny little wheels five to six feet in the air is really, REALLY f-ing dangerous! Sure, you wear a helmet..................<br /><br />All the lawmaking is for political posturing. <br /><br />Jeff, let's stop the insanity. I think we should declare a Jeff/Mark ticket to run as the official Triathlon Party nominees (I sense a future blog post coming on here)... don't stop me... I'm on a roll and caffeined up!Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07837974906193121567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-68496758839159162102011-08-12T07:08:39.624-05:002011-08-12T07:08:39.624-05:00First, my heart goes out to the families of those ...First, my heart goes out to the families of those that died. It is tragic.<br /><br />You know, this reminds me of when there is a death in whitewater rafting. Immediately people chime in and say it is too dangerous and that people shouldn't be doing it and whatnot. You know (at least around here) what people die of on the river? Heart attacks. <br /><br />It is tragic always, but unfortunately, I think the only way to avoid these things is to do a pre-race heart screening. I am NOT recommending that, I am just saying that a swim test wouldn't have prevented these tragic deaths, just like a pre-whitewater test wouldn't have saved the people that died here.<br /><br />The reality is that people have heart attacks. They are most likely to occur when you do things that excite you or stress you out, because the heart gets taxed at those times...<br /><br />I am for people taking responsibility for themselves, not for more regulation. But what we will get is more regulation.Caratunk Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042653100322091843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-9040649770086054382011-08-11T16:59:02.742-05:002011-08-11T16:59:02.742-05:00Hi guys,
Do you want to watch Final Destination 5...Hi guys,<br /><br />Do you want to watch Final Destination 5 movie online? It is not released yet but you can watch it already!<br /><br />Click here to [url=http://watchfinaldestination5-online.com/]watch Final Destination 5[/url]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-22379191677727797752011-08-11T12:19:38.816-05:002011-08-11T12:19:38.816-05:00I think if they had died from drowning it would be...I think if they had died from drowning it would be one thing, but cardiac arrest could have happened on any of the other events as well. I would just like to bring up that one of the women in the swim portion was even using a styrofoam pool noodle along with her wetsuit as she breaststroked her way through the NYC triathlonTRIng to Survivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01848757228376823699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-89348716102774767622011-08-11T06:31:41.277-05:002011-08-11T06:31:41.277-05:00in a cave and under a big rock appparently
had not...in a cave and under a big rock appparently<br />had not even heard of this<br /><br />scary and sad<br /><br />they are safe to me, but I don't feel overwhelmed as a swimmer. For people that do they could just do a delayed start of waves (like some races do anyway) with chip times its all the same?DRoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126561738590093533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-22947237006793780112011-08-11T03:22:03.204-05:002011-08-11T03:22:03.204-05:00My little two cents--people get heart attacks. Som...My little two cents--people get heart attacks. Sometimes, while doing nothing...and sometimes while swimming. Unfortunately, with swimming, they’re more likely to drown. Yes, it’s sad, but from my understanding, these deaths had nothing to do with the sport itself...just the health of the competitors.Pattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11069371008875502190noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-2970352223356945512011-08-11T02:25:27.325-05:002011-08-11T02:25:27.325-05:00Late to the game but with something a little diffe...Late to the game but with something a little different… playing the 'personal responsibillity' card is naive. Plenty of boneheads enter/try shit they really oughtn't, and you can't stop that given the way the system is set up. In rowing, there used to be one national championships regatta…anyone could enter. YOU could enter, never having rowed. And it would waste a lot of people's time…i could expand but since I am typing this on my phone I won't. It was very frustrating as an elite rower to contend with this factor…i'lll call it the bonehead factor. The rowing governing body finally split the regatta…elite nationals in one and everybody else in the other. Could they do that with triathlons? There would be 'practice' races to educate the boneheads as to what they were really getting themselves into. But you wouldn't call them that because people only want to do 'real' races. To enter something like an Ironman, you would have had to have completed one of these feeder races. Would that make sense? I am not a triathlete so you guys tell .meXLMIChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12268964638359962511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-16053586543797097002011-08-10T22:19:55.619-05:002011-08-10T22:19:55.619-05:00I have to agree with Ms Duffy. Its highly likely ...I have to agree with Ms Duffy. Its highly likely that more people died from chronic sedentary cheetos syndrome (CSCS - got a new acronym, I luv it). The benefits to the triathlon lifestyle FAR outweigh the alternatives. Even for the people who haven't done a triathlon yet. I'm sure they run or bike or have some parallel interest that gets them off the easy chair. BTW, BDD thanks for the stats.Sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16084203608270177341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-1248118241292851802011-08-10T20:49:43.805-05:002011-08-10T20:49:43.805-05:00First open water swimming is a MUST when doing a t...First open water swimming is a MUST when doing a triathlon. You cannot expect to spend time in the pool and think you are ready to swim open water. Just not happening. Also what was the medical conditions of these 2 athletes prior to even starting the race?? You cant judge and tell millions races nation wide that they have to come up with a plan to make sure everyone who is doing a tri knows how to swim. Last week I was at Iron Girl in Syracuse and it was Pitiful trying to get around women who had no Idea how to swim at all!!!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16972482949008971248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-3268393804773382672011-08-10T14:45:21.659-05:002011-08-10T14:45:21.659-05:00I don't think OWS gets the credit it deserves....I don't think OWS gets the credit it deserves. It's widely known that running can kill even the fittest of folks, but no one ever mentions swimming. You're using every single muscle in your body while having to efficiently manage O2/Co2 levels. Throw some pre-race jitters, a crowded swim start, and a fast current into the mix and there certaily is the potiental for disaster. My husband and I swim 2-3 mile open water gulf races and it's far more taxing than the 1/2 marathons we run. I physically hurt from head to toe towards the end, typically have a horrid headache from CO2 overload, and the beginnings of heart palpatations from pretty bad dehydration. I expect all this and know what to do if it gets out of control. I think the best thing that can be done is to educate athletes and the public for that matter. As WE all know, this isn't swimming like we did at summer camp...this is serious business. New racers and the public alike need to respect the water and realize just as in running, bad shit can happen anytime/anyplace. Racers need to have a plan if something does happen or if they start to feel "off". Don't tough it out or think it's going to get better....it never gets better...especially in the water!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-81018330471089782142011-08-10T14:37:50.645-05:002011-08-10T14:37:50.645-05:00Simple, completely ban all triathlons except those...Simple, completely ban all triathlons except those in pools.KovasPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03401299101228398072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-3839321456621378012011-08-10T14:37:06.640-05:002011-08-10T14:37:06.640-05:00My first olympic race i had zero OWS practice, onl...My first olympic race i had zero OWS practice, only 4 months of masters practices. Horn sounded and I ran into the water only to get swum over by all the experienced athletes. I totally hyperventilated and barely completed the swim with a dogpaddle/backstroke combo in just under an hour! Afterwards, I berated myself for not doing more OWS training and that next week I committed myself to doing an ocean swim once a week until my next race. I now practice the swim more than the other 3 disciplines because of that mistake in judgement I made. I didn't blame the race director or the USAT guys, just my own poor judgement.<br />I don't get these politicians...is there even anybody asking for more regs on tri races? Or are they just puffing themselves up and creating more regulations and growing our government and growing our debt...who's gonna oversee these new regs and how is it going to be paid for?<br />Same thing happens in CA (where I'm from). An incident occurs and regulations are set in place to "prevent" the incident from happening again but there's NO money to pay to oversee the regs and the taxpayers refuse to vote on tax increases to pay for the regs! Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again getting the same result but expecting a different one.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-5843762253166825512011-08-10T11:38:09.424-05:002011-08-10T11:38:09.424-05:00Oh and 100 people died due to choking on ball poin...Oh and 100 people died due to choking on ball point pens, ban those tooBig Daddy Dieselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07868041775049514011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-38157690684697045542011-08-10T11:36:03.873-05:002011-08-10T11:36:03.873-05:00This has me mad, doesnt take much now a days, So I...This has me mad, doesnt take much now a days, So I did a little research<br /><br />Deaths in:<br />- Triathlon 13, USAT states 1,208,000 did AT LEAST ONE race = 0.001% chance of dying<br />- During liposuction 20<br />- Contact with hot tap water 26<br />- Lightning 47<br />- Bee or wasp stings 66<br />- Falling from a ladder 477<br />- Falling off your bed or couch 899<br /><br />So, to be fair, I need this guy to first ban lipsuction, hot tap water, lightning, elimnate all bees and wasps, ban all ladders and ban all pieces of furniture and beds before he takes on triathlons.Big Daddy Dieselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07868041775049514011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-3328347142583299292011-08-10T10:25:12.155-05:002011-08-10T10:25:12.155-05:00As a few others have said - this has no relation t...As a few others have said - this has no relation to "not being able to swim" - these folks had heart attacks. They may have had the ability to swim a full 3 miles prior to this race. Unfortunately, the human body has its own ideas sometimes, despite a person's abilities. No "proof of swim skill" will do anything to combat heart attacks, leg cramps, stomach bugs, or whatever ailments that put people in danger in the water.Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03575577872803103610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-57279668500828501912011-08-10T10:02:53.659-05:002011-08-10T10:02:53.659-05:00As with most of the deaths in triathlon's swim...As with most of the deaths in triathlon's swims, they were due to cardiac arrest. no amount of "pre-qualification" is going to change this.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14487877166650663607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-77055936204221835282011-08-10T08:22:25.625-05:002011-08-10T08:22:25.625-05:00I saw a shirt at a race that said if triathlons we...I saw a shirt at a race that said if triathlons were easy everyone would do it. I applaud the first timers for giving it a go...I don't mind the kayaks and canoes out to keep it safe. Just attempting is a bonus, but if the swim is too much so be it. Personal responsibility is leaving our society too fast.<br /><br />New York City...if your doing the Ironman Natl Championship there..be ready to wear water wings.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17954023109097497015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-90532046802039248192011-08-10T07:50:53.649-05:002011-08-10T07:50:53.649-05:00This is awesome!
Personal Responsibility ...
Kee...This is awesome! <br /><br />Personal Responsibility ...<br />Keep policy makers out of our sport ...<br />Do not want to pay more ...<br /><br />It sounds like a Tea Party Rally up on in here! Hells Yeah!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07061773215250783439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-61471611241767182132011-08-10T07:41:32.235-05:002011-08-10T07:41:32.235-05:00I will go back and read others opinions but don...I will go back and read others opinions but don't want to be swayed before I put mine out there.<br /><br />I get the idea of proving your swim ability as a first timer but how would you suggest that is setup? Swim 1000m in a pool one day? Swim for 15 minutes in the open water? Take a lifeguard test? And then who pays for it?<br /><br />Do I have to pay to prove I can swim then pay to participate in a triathlon?<br /><br />These are tragic incidents and to me nothing more. They had cardiac arrest in the water, but what if they would have had that on the bike? Would we be calling for bike lessons first? How about the run?<br /><br />I just think this is tragic and adding more bureaucracy to this process doesn't make sense. There were deaths at the Chicago Marathon because of the heat and we didn't stop having marathons or prove that a person could run 20 miles before they entered another marathon did we?Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08914217156791555569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-18895763981560700712011-08-10T07:28:38.972-05:002011-08-10T07:28:38.972-05:00First, thought and prayers go out to the families....First, thought and prayers go out to the families. <br /><br />Second, SSB has the comment of the year <br /><br />Third, 13 people died swimming at triathlons out of the hundreds of thousands of people who did them. They are freak accidents. People who are not in the sport need to leave this alone and let us beBig Daddy Dieselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07868041775049514011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-3869431146159584842011-08-10T06:55:10.059-05:002011-08-10T06:55:10.059-05:00As usual a very debatable post.
F-YOU LAW MAKERS ...As usual a very debatable post.<br /><br />F-YOU LAW MAKERS AND POLITICIANS!<br /><br />My goodness, they must want more obese Americans?<br /><br />In my opinion, when you sign up, you are stating that you are capable of completing the distances. This happened to me over the weekend, they changed the swim "rules" and allowed people to walk the shore "If they wanted". PISSED ME OFF, took me out of podium spots. Why did they do that? to accommodate newbies, sad thing is experienced athletes did this too. I didn't sign up for a NEWBIE race.<br /><br />Now, devils advocate. The other perspective is, either submit previous race times or have a lifeguard sign off that you swam that distance in a pool. Why? So that they never have to "change" the swim rules to accommodate newbies.Matty Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13447270565189789394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-41856189566908164852011-08-10T06:51:36.567-05:002011-08-10T06:51:36.567-05:00I'm going with "tragic accident and not o...I'm going with "tragic accident and not overreact". <br /><br />I'm reminded of a blog post Krista @ Commitment is Liberating did a year ago (I dug it out here: http://www.commitmentisliberating.com/2010/08/thank-your-emergency-responders.html). She, her husband and dad did a 2 mile OWS race. After the finish, her dad was rushed to the hospital and had heart surgery. Thankfully he was on the shore when he began to have problems and the damage was minimal. My point is that this is someone who is/was in great shape and had done the race in the past.<br /><br />It is a tragedy, but no changes please. Let's not react based on emotions.Ironman By Thirtyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01148960105643826347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-70840629063423823132011-08-10T05:12:44.537-05:002011-08-10T05:12:44.537-05:00I'm not a triathlete but we get the same thing...I'm not a triathlete but we get the same thing here in south Africa with the Comrades Marathon. There's been some years where runners die while running and then all non-runners everywhere go over the top about it. So far they have never changed anything because of a runner's death.<br />I personally feel these athletes would have died, probably sooner, if they didn't do sport. That is died because of cardiac arrest as well.Johannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17588120934444485158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-70239496592711841672011-08-10T02:11:48.342-05:002011-08-10T02:11:48.342-05:00I am the type that likes only minimal regulations....I am the type that likes only minimal regulations. However, where safety is involved I would consider it. It depends on how restrictive it is. <br /><br />Anyway, I believe these are isolated incidents and not a frequent occurrence. So I would say just make note of it and continue with the way it is. After all, it was cardiac arrest, not anything that the race caused. Heck, they could have expired during a training swim.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04846136358775915126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4117508586192062017.post-44889536847434386882011-08-10T01:55:43.105-05:002011-08-10T01:55:43.105-05:00I dreamed of doing a triathlon for a long time. I...I dreamed of doing a triathlon for a long time. I was NOT a swimmer. i knew if I was ever going to enter a race, I MUST be able to swim. Enter lessons, masters swimming, and a LOT of work. I did not send in my entry fee until I KNEW I would be able to swim the distance (Oly). Thankfully, I picked it up quickly - from dog paddle to really swimming in about 3 months.<br /><br />That said, it is all of our individual choice as to what we race - people die running marathons, swimming, cycling - it isn't something a city can prevent in a race with more rules.<br /><br />We need to know our own limitations and be responsible for ourselves. Sadly, sometimes that's not even enough.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08013668667235692785noreply@blogger.com