Always sad to hear but in all reality you cannot always tell how healthy someone is on the inside by looking at the outside. She could have been 100lbs lighter and had the same result. I worked in the cardiology field and they come in all shapes and sized - both on the inside and outside. Btw, on the BMI scale I am always right on the boardline of being overweight, yet nobody would ever classify me that way. It is good for every athlete to get a cardiac workup regardless of weight, and it might be nice if organizers did not more to ensure that this is 1) not the racers first open water swim 2) are fit enough to swim the distance comfortable. But to speculate on this particular case is just that, speculation.

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Posts like this pop up whenever someone suffers a sudden cardiac event at a tri, and quite frankly I find them disgusting. We all have risk factors (some of them severe, some of them not), and it's impossible for us to tell what exactly happened and why. Someone could be in the best shape a human can be, and people on here will still be trawling the web for photos of the person sporting a belly or smoking a cigar.

Basically, sure, let's discuss entry requirements, risk factors, best practices for RD's, but to discuss them with respect to one specific tragic event is irresponsible, disrespectful and distasteful.

sad to hear. I had a buddy have a heart attack at a 70.3. Not obese, has completed many triathlons and did more than any distance required for this race. Was easily going to be a 5:45'er. Doctor had no clue how or why it happened. He got few miles onto the bike, started feeling weird. So he stopped and was sitting down. Cop came over to ask how he felt, the cop called ambulance and as soon as he got into the ambulance, he went v-fib which is highly dangerous as far as coming back from it. He is fine now. just one of those things.

I can't even begin to say how much I disagree with this statement. Post incident analysis is EXACTLY what should be done every single time something happens. It is completely irresponsible not to do so.

I was in the stands watching the event this morning. I have friends who were on the pool deck trying to help this woman. And I absolutely can say that this woman should have been pulled out of the water long before she reached this point. This has nothing to do with level of fitness. As you said, someone can appear to be in the best shape possible. That was not the case with this person, but that's not really relevant. What is relevant was that it was quite clear to me, and every single person around me watching her in the pool that she was in severe distress. At the beginning of the sixth length, she was struggling so much that they let someone get in the water to help her cross the pool. Which I will add she had to do by pulling herself on the lane lines every single length. If someone is having that much trouble, you pull them out of the water.

Well, perhaps I was too general. Post incident analysis by USAT and RD's, in consultation with medical professionals is indeed essential. USAT should also include members in these discussions. "Post incident analysis" by random people who were there and not there is not essential or appropriate.

Fair enough. I'm not a big proponent of the "what if" type internet arguments that arise whenever something like this happens. But eye witness accounts are critical and all too often are not asked for. I'm not sure that an analysis of what may have gone wrong should be overseen by USAT and I certainly don't think it should be driven by the RD. There is far too much conflict of interest. I don't know who the investigating party should be but I know it should not be the organizer of the race who has a very strong vested interest in not having their race appear to have been at fault. Please understand, I'm not suggesting that the organizers would do anything improper. I don't know them personally but I know many people who do and I know they truly care about their events and the safety of the participants. But it's human nature to try and find the most positive spin when being introspective.

I also want to add that I feel like this event in general, and this incident specifically, should be looked at differently. This was not an open water swim in a competitive triathlon. I've been fairly vocal in my local community that I feel that the St. Anthony's race has been too conservative in the past about cutting the swim short or cancelling it in the open water race in deference to weaker swimmers. Meek and Mighty is the complete opposite of that type of event. The entire point of the M&M is to provide a triathlon experience for people who are inexperienced, not in shape, are young, whatever it may be. It's terrible any time something like this happens but to have it happen in an event marketed as a beginner event in a controlled environment (a pool) is catastrophic. Even worse when there were many spectators questioning what was going on even before she needed to be pulled out of the water.

After I typed that, I thought to myself why exactly I was responding. Because I'm really not trying to argue about it. I don't think YTS and I are in disagreement, at least generally speaking. So I guess it boils down to this. I'm a very experienced swimmer. I guess I'm an experienced triathlete (been competing for a few years, maybe 10-12 races from sprint through 70.3). I've been on pool decks and in open water where there were incidents that occurred, most with good outcomes, unfortunately a couple with not so good outcomes.

Today, as I was waiting for my 9 year old son to get in the pool to race (not his first), he and I and the people around us watched a woman die on the pool deck in what I firmly believe was an avoidable incident. USAT, the St. Anthony's race organizers, and the life guard staff on that pool deck owe an honest explanation to me, you, and everyone else who saw this take place. Even if that means admitting fault. Especially if that means admitting fault. At one point after the woman was placed in the ambulance I seriously considered whether I was going to allow my son to get in that pool because I did not have confidence that proper safety decisions had been made. If I don't hear an explanation as to why she was allowed to continue in the pool after being in considerable distress, neither I, nor anyone in my family will ever take part in or support another St. Anthony event.

It was her decision to get in the pool. It should have been a guards decision to remove her from it.

"post incident analysis"? Oh...us that what I did, gave an analysis? I did not realize that. Apologies.

I was there. It was a traumatic experience for all that were there. And I feel strongly it could have been avoided.

Sorry Matt G....that was directed to yts.

^^^^^This.

Sincerest condolences to her family and loved ones.

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Apparently she did not make it. My friends kid raced this and watched as she was apparently in the first wave.

http://www.tampabay.com/...ty-triathlon/2227021

This is really sad. Also, I'm so surprised that this happened at a pool swim.

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Very sad, but ultimately she's accountable. Tough to hold organizers accountable. I'm technically overweight (albeit not obese) and would be extremely offended if at packet pick up organizers singled me out and asked if I was sure I wanted to do this. If it did indeed take her 25 minutes to go 150 yards, maybe medical should have pulled her. I'm sure it looked like she struggled from the beginning though, so when do you make that call?

In my mind there is a very clear answer to that. At the beginning of the 6th length they decided she was struggling so much that someone needed to get in the water with her and swim along side her. That was the wrong decision. She should have been pulled out of the race at that point. That is what needs to be learned from this incident. If you're concerned enough to want someone in the water helping a participant along them you should be concerned enough to realize that the participant be to be removed. That is the key point mind.

I understand the woman probably wanted to continue and didn't want to seem like she "failed". I understand that the people on the pool deck wanted to help her meet her goal. But that was not their primary responsibility. Safeguarding the participants was.

Agreed. Many, many very fit 20-year olds have huge plaques in their coronary arteries. Being lean on the outside is no assurance of the same in the blood vessels. Especially if the diet is bad. Or genes. Or both.

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You are correct in that we are not, at least generally speaking, in disagreement. Also, this case does seem to differ from ones that were discussed here previously in that it was clear to everyone that she was seriously struggling before she had the heart attack (or while she was having it?). As such, I back down a bit from my statement that a discussion by us is completely inappropriate. What a tragedy this was!

I had 3 kids there 2 participating and as i think there were a ton of people helping her but i don't understand with such a massive triathlon(set up for beginners) and title sponsored by a Hospital, why wasn't there an ambulance on site at the race?

There was no ambulance at the race? I have been to many races where we were not allowed to start until the ambulance was on site and in position.

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