Hopefully this is the guy you heard about. From the comments...

Quote:

He was not found unconscious, he called out for help and then went under the water and water safety immediately pulled him up from the water and transported him on a jet ski.

Article in the national paper here in Canada:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/...lon/article23760785/

And this

http://business.financialpost.com/...-in-hawaii-triathlon

He had been recovering but unfortunately passed away. he suffered a heart attack and was unconscious and beneath the surface of the water when rescued. He was on shore with no pulse and not breathing by 8 am HST on Sunday and was revived at that time.

His swim wave started 5 minutes before mine. I saw nothing and know only what i was told at the race by swim course officials that I know. Wherever on the course he was, he was behind me as at 8 am I was quite close to shore.

It's a sad thing regardless of why.

Aloha a hui hou.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

very sad. condolences to his family and friends.

It is very sad. I must admit, I get a little anxious at the start of every race. I'm 49.

Argh how do I not die from a race....

Certainly it is sad.

OTOH, at the risk of seeming whatever, if we assume that the guy actually loved triathlon, then he died doing what he loved. Can't think of a better way to go myself. At the USMS short course nationals a few years ago, a 73 yr old guy died during his 400 IM and the results book was dedicated to him. His wife was vacationing elsewhere but she was quoted as saying he died doing what he loved doing. The guy was pretty quick too as IIRC he was seeded 2nd or 3rd in his AG in the 400 IM.

"Better to die out in the heat of some passion than to fade and wither with age" -- James Joyce, The Dead, 1914.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Reynolds began his race on Waikoloa Beach at 7:30 a.m. Sunday with dozens of other participants in his age group of 44 to 54. Emergency crews were called to assist him at 7:50 a.m., or about 20 minutes after the start of the Olympic-distance triathlon in Anaeho’omalu Bay on Hawaii’s biggest island.
Reynolds, competing three days after his 52nd birthday, was about half-way through the 1,500-metre swim when one of race patrol paddlers who follow the swimmers heard him say, “Help me,” Rott said.
When rescuers arrived nine minutes after the emergency call, they found him unconscious in the water. He was taken to shore by jet ski, treated and revived before being transported to the North Hawaii Community Hospital in Kamuela, according to a report from the Hawaii County Fire Department.
The Lavaman is an Olympic-distance triathlon, and includes a 1.5 kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike ride, and 10-kilometre run, according to its website. Reynolds completed the race last year in a time of 3 hours, 38 minutes, according to the race results.
Daviau said Reynolds talked about his triathlons all the time and was always running, swimming and biking to get ready.
“This wasn’t some big fat guy jumping in the water and dying of a heart attack, that’s not what this was, to be crystal clear,” he said. “This guy had done this race already,” and invited other partners and Bay Street friends to join him.
Men between the ages of 40 to 60 are most at risk of cardiac arrest caused by the vigorous exercise associated with triathlons, research has shown. The death rate for triathlons is about twice that of marathons due to the increased intensity of the competition, according to a 2012 study published last year in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The swimming portion is especially treacherous, research shows. The bulk of triathlon fatalities have occurred during the swim event and USA Triathlon has estimated the odds of death are 1 in about 76,000 participants.
Open-water racing triggers a “fight or flight” response from physical exertion, cold water temperature or anxiety. That can speed up the heart rate which can cause hyperventilation as the body tries to slow the heart to conserve oxygen with water entering the nose, mouth and throat, according to researchers at the U.K.’s University of Portsmouth.
Reynolds, born March 26, 1963, is survived by his wife and four children.
More on thestar.com

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+1. Always extremely sad for the family and friends, but if it happens to me, the ST community will know that I my last thoughts will be a) about my family, b) damned, dnf!

Condolences for the family

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

Seems like 99% of deaths occur during the swim.

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Proud Representative of Slowtwitch Anti-Atheists Society.

Upper body workout is harder for people with cardiovascular risks. In cardiac rehabilitation patients are not encouraged to go swimming due to the water pressure on thoracic cage and upper limbs effort increases heart workload.

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

Ya, hopefully if i die while racing that will be my one and only DNF ever, i.e., no DNFs in races yet, though i have DNF'd a few bike rides due to crashes:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

very sad. I was in that race, same age group.
I didn't know anything was wrong until the emergency vehicles were coming as I was headed out of T1.

The ocean conditions were very calm, clear and decent temp. Fairly uncongested swim as triathlons go.

Lavaman changed their swim start a couple of years ago. That has made the swim a much less congested and less body contact swim. There is the usual jostling at the start but honestly it's one of the better swim experiences I've had since they've changed it.

Water temperatures were USAT wetsuit legal at around 76 F. It was a smooth swim start for that wave with very little chop and an extremely light breeze. And bright, very bright.

I'm in the old guys division (55+) which was the next wave. If he was being pulled onto a SUP at 7:50, it may have been a bit before the first buoy turn (That is a bit over 1/2 distance wise). Saw some water patrol folks getting someone onto a board and having a hard time of it, I just presumed it was one of the backstroke swimmers that had been heading across the course towards the water patrol people.

Swimming as a discipline never gets the respect it's due. Nobody knows why this happened, but being prepared for the swim is as essential to an enjoyable experience as being prepared for the run or bike. Aloha a hui hou.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Very interesting, I have not read/heard this before. This reinforces my idea that swimming is really the hardest of all aerobic sports including cross-country skiing, although as a lifetime swimmer who swam his first 25 at age 5, I am obv biased in my viewpoint:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

+100 on this, you gotta be fully prepared and comfortable in the water, which generally only comes after spending quite a few hrs in the water:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Wait. Is this true? Is there data on this?

Andy

Very sorry for the family and friends. As a 52 yo who is now training for my first full IM I always cringe when I read such articles. I however, take it nice and slow during the swim part, mainly because of the stuff I read. I go to the back of my wave and ease into my swim very slowly. Good luck everyone and stay safe.

Firstly, my condolences to his family :(


However I would like to know how the statistics on MIs/VSAs at triathlons compare to the general population. My husband is a first responder, he sees 4-5 VSAs a week, and about half as many again "shortness of breath/chest pain" calls. He's acutely aware that the vast majority of these are people in their late 40's and 50's - guys his age, but with underlying health issues: high BP, type 2 diabetes, overweight. All things that fitness helps to prevent.

Yes, we hear a lot in the media about these awful events during triathlon. We don't hear about the number of this same demographic that are dying in their home, cars and offices.

Yes. My wife is a cardiac rehab instructor. I don't have papers in hand to support it. but this is the policy they apply and the rationale behind.

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

I wonder if this might be due mainly b/c most people are not used to using their upper body for endurance. I would think that a life-long swimmer would not have this problem, but then he/she would prob not be in cardiac rehab, although obv i would imagine even well conditioned, life-long swimmers occasionally have heart attacks, but i would think it is pretty rare.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Quick google search supports what you say about cardiac rehab guidelines.

But quick pubmed search comes up empty.

I'm not trying to argue with you. I'm a sports medicine physician, but cardiac rehab is outside of my areas of expertise. If there really is data that UE work carries higher cardiac risk, I might counsel some of my older or post-MI patients differently.

Thanks for bringing this up. I'm going to circle back with some of my preventative cardiology colleagues.

Andy

Fair point. I will see if my wife has some decent evidence-based papers. No argument there, let's try to find out! ;)

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com