Humans kill more sharks than sharks kill humans.

One more reason to stick with the Mass Start!

true, would you say that we should swim when there are man eating sharks in the water because humans kill sharks?

Serious question: is a shark on the course a rare event? I would have thought that there were often sharks in those waters this time of year.

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

At the half in May they closed the beach and pulled swimmers out the water. Not sure where the tough guy mentality is coming from on the net where people are talking about it being soft.

These are sharks and in WA big bad nasty shark (noting the one in may was 2.5 metres)

It used to be a rare event, but now there are drones, helicopters and paddlers looking for them not so rare. It seems the policy is to cancel the swim regardless of the shark size. They have all been small. The last three long course triathlons in Perth have all had the swims cancelled.

Wasn't the half Ironman there in may cancelled due to a shark also?

now there is a fire on the bike course.

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Yeh there was- I was in the drink both times, in may and today.
I remember in May the helicopter getting real low and I did a head check to see what was going on and boats end c were scrambling. We were about 300m from finishing so they let us go. It was more the ones out deep they picked up.
Today was a self seeded wave start. I did about 600m at most. Was surprisingly choppy. Anyway I heard that chopper get real low again and I had a hunch what was gonna happen. Next head check, and boats/skis were scrambling. They all were pointing to the ladders that were near the jetty.
Then it was on, a mad scramble for the ladders. Women and children be damned, every man for yourselves hahaha.

I’m hearing the bike leg was cut short for some people due to the fire. Everyone at Ironman live has gone home and the tracking has gone haywire so who knows ? I have friends that disappeared between 130-150km into the bike and have now turned up 9 km into the run.

There was a fire by the bike course and at some stage they closed part of the bike course so some but not all athletes had a short bike leg. It happened not long after I went through.

They were also out of water bottles at the last two aid stations on the bike. A bunch of us had to take turns filling our bottles from melted ice in eskies at the last aid station. I think it was about 36c/97f out there. I pulled out after the bike because I felt I was being smited by... something. And bitter because I did a lot of swim training.

I also heard there's a chance of thunderstorm tonight.

Sounds shocking for all. Just saw that sunny coast in Queensland want it

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sorry to hear. Yeh the tri gods were not giving us good ju-ju today. Out of water is rough on a day like today. A lot of folk walking, even on the half. I think people just didnt care anymore. Not sure if this event will keep going with the amount of sharks and cancelled swims now occuring

Well, I did it last year as and it was fantastic- one of my favorite triathlon experiences, I think today was just a bit of a perfect storm. The jetty swim is lovely, the bike course is nice when it's not this hot, the run course gets plenty of support.

Sometimes it's just not meant to be.

What a bad luck day ! Last Ironman I ever did was in 2006 in nz when most of the race was cancelled due to the weather. It is incredibly disappointing, hard to be positive and finish what you are given as a revised course. My wife felt smited and did not finish that day. The guy I know out there tonight has 4 small kids and took 4 months leave from work to train, I am not sure if he will get another chance again. A shark and then a fire ! You could not make it up, hope he does not get struck by lightning tonight.

If you were to play it by the numbers of what actually poses a risk to athletes, they'd cancel any race where a car was spotted on the course. That poses a hell of a lot more risk to you than a shark. Cars regularly kill triathletes during training and racing, but I've never heard of a single instance of a shark doing so.

I think the news here said they were more concerned about athletes panicking in the water after seeing the shark than they were about the actual shark. Which I think is kind of fair enough. I think that could probably turn very chaotic very fast.

It's still disappointing though.

Was he trying to go pro?
Is his company hiring?

No, no, no. You have it all wrong!

What you need to find is a job with a company who's CEO does triathlons. THEN, make sure your direct boss does them too!


...Thats what I did :)

Well the sharks have always been there. We just have more tech to see them now

Assuming it was a tiger in those waters. A tiger killed a diver last week in Costa Rica. IM probably didn’t know about that but I’d say getting folks out of the water was prudent. And yes I agree it’s probably more dangerous on the bike course with cars. Doesn’t make this the wrong decision IMO

The tigers are not so bad here. It is the white pointers we are scared of. This was one was only 2m so unlikely to be a pointer.

when you see a dorsal fin do you stay in the water when you swim. If I a saw a shark I'd be getting out pronto. Which is probably what the race people thought get a few hundred people madly going for shore.

It's a race....shouldn't everyone be going madly for the shore?

yes, in part because humans are much more efficient about warning other humans about sharks, than sharks are about warning other sharks about humans.

in small part, perhaps, but still.

Someone got taken out by a roo as well. Carnage. Sirens and all. Big one came bounding in front of me too from the side of the road. Towards the latter end of the field bush fires closed part of the bike course too. Bit of a shitshow