we went all through this, first in 2008, then in 2012/13:
first triathlon swim scare article in 2008
interview with WAPO author on spike in triathlon swim deaths
panic attacks during the swim
best practices
USAT swim death study
2013 recap, part 1
2013 recap, part 2
and my feeling about all of this, every time it comes up
triathlon occasionally sees a spike in open water deaths. once a decade or so. something gets posted in WAPO, NYT, sports illustrated. the world freaks. we study it. turns out our sport has about the same number of deaths as marathoning.
my advice?
1. watch free solo. great movie. and then comfort yourself that you're in an exceedingly safe sport, that gives life much more frequently than it takes it.
2. everybody has opinions about things that matter to them; almost nobody's opinions are backed by any investigation. i could say, "read what monty writes about open water swim behavior." this is monty, with whom i first raced in 1980, and we were both in the hawaiian ironman in 1981. he's not dead yet. nor am i. and we'll both be living in wild danger today, engaged in... wait, wait... swimming!
even tho monty has a pacemaker, and even tho my family history is rife with heart disease, and i've already outlived most of my relatives. i could say, "read what monty writes about how to survive and prevail in triathlon, esp in the swim." but you won't. you say you will. you'll lie, and say you have. but you won't.
why? because you'd rather live in your silo of disinformation. that's more fun. and by "you" i don't mean you, jonp9576, or any of you, individually, who're reading this. i'm saying that, in general, it's more satisfying (in a twisted way) to imagine triathlon, or the swim leg, is dangerous than to actually have your behavior guided by fact, reason, science, logic, best practices.
your problem is your proximity to news, near and far. fear of hiking in the mountains because of your proximity to the story that a mountain lion killed someone. the 1 per decade in north america. fear of open water because you read about a shark attack. fear of a triathlon swim because someone died. the 1 in 75,000 race occurrences per year.
your fear of the swim is your fear of the mountain lion and the shark: because it's almost tangibly imaginable, it's palpably scary when you envision it, and because you can't see it coming. you're not in control. no remedial action you can take. you're defenseless.
but you're not defenseless. actually... read... what... monty... says... about open water swimming. about best practices. but if your time is up, if it's your ticket, if you have a heart defect, then switching to pure running or cycling will not save you. switching to judge judy all afternoon in front of the tube may buy you a few extra years.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
first triathlon swim scare article in 2008
interview with WAPO author on spike in triathlon swim deaths
panic attacks during the swim
best practices
USAT swim death study
2013 recap, part 1
2013 recap, part 2
and my feeling about all of this, every time it comes up
triathlon occasionally sees a spike in open water deaths. once a decade or so. something gets posted in WAPO, NYT, sports illustrated. the world freaks. we study it. turns out our sport has about the same number of deaths as marathoning.
my advice?
1. watch free solo. great movie. and then comfort yourself that you're in an exceedingly safe sport, that gives life much more frequently than it takes it.
2. everybody has opinions about things that matter to them; almost nobody's opinions are backed by any investigation. i could say, "read what monty writes about open water swim behavior." this is monty, with whom i first raced in 1980, and we were both in the hawaiian ironman in 1981. he's not dead yet. nor am i. and we'll both be living in wild danger today, engaged in... wait, wait... swimming!
even tho monty has a pacemaker, and even tho my family history is rife with heart disease, and i've already outlived most of my relatives. i could say, "read what monty writes about how to survive and prevail in triathlon, esp in the swim." but you won't. you say you will. you'll lie, and say you have. but you won't.
why? because you'd rather live in your silo of disinformation. that's more fun. and by "you" i don't mean you, jonp9576, or any of you, individually, who're reading this. i'm saying that, in general, it's more satisfying (in a twisted way) to imagine triathlon, or the swim leg, is dangerous than to actually have your behavior guided by fact, reason, science, logic, best practices.
your problem is your proximity to news, near and far. fear of hiking in the mountains because of your proximity to the story that a mountain lion killed someone. the 1 per decade in north america. fear of open water because you read about a shark attack. fear of a triathlon swim because someone died. the 1 in 75,000 race occurrences per year.
your fear of the swim is your fear of the mountain lion and the shark: because it's almost tangibly imaginable, it's palpably scary when you envision it, and because you can't see it coming. you're not in control. no remedial action you can take. you're defenseless.
but you're not defenseless. actually... read... what... monty... says... about open water swimming. about best practices. but if your time is up, if it's your ticket, if you have a heart defect, then switching to pure running or cycling will not save you. switching to judge judy all afternoon in front of the tube may buy you a few extra years.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman