It's kind of disappointing to see these people in the water mainly due to the lottery system. I'm sure someone that could complete the race without a problem would love to have this person's spot. While I'm all for new people in the sport, it's a shame to see this happen. Maybe race webpages need to start putting a big warning on the front page of any race over a sprint that says something like "Open Water Swimming can extremely dangerous, difficult and scary for the first timer. You may be swam over, hit on the back and kicked in the face. It is STRONGLY recommended that you complete at least one sprint triathlon before attempting a longer distance race." Maybe I've missed that on race pages? (Does anyone read the waiver?) Or just require that you submit a time from an OWS sprint tri...

At the DC Oly Tri in June, I saw several people being pulled from the water in the first 100 meters and too many people holding kayaks in the first couple hundred. If you have trouble with the first hundred how the hell do you expect to make the next 1400? I wish my phone wasn't in transition so I could have some video of it.

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I was in one of the late waves - 37 to be specific, way back toward the end. Watched the yellow transition in full...

I saw several people calling for help, and I was reasonably close to where this video was filmed. Anyone who's calling for help within the first 200-300 yards really, really shouldn't be there. Especially with reasonably good water conditions... temperature was fine, current was in swimmer's favor, and waves were not particularly significant. Maybe 4x in the swim did I have an attempted breath screwed up by a wave... honestly better than in years past, and with the tide turning not long before pros went in, the water was especially brackish (and thus more buoyant than a river would suggest)

And I saw not just pool noodles, but one guy floating backwards with what looked like a lifeguard buoy held just under the water. Not sure where he got that.

You honestly don't see a problem here? We were all newbies at one time, but at some point you have to know when you are/aren't ready to do the swim...especially a river swim with a current like that?

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I don't think you need a noodle to get a free ride on a current.

Current = Free Ride

x2.

And further: Current + wetsuit = free ride

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Maybe USAT (and/or WTC for IM) could rate the various races according to difficulty. Depending on the level of difficulty you may need to post a qualifying time in order to enter. For others perhaps no prior race experience is needed. IM has data about elevation, etc. for each race on their website but a formal grade with standards for entry would perhaps be helpful. Right now anyone can get into any race. Someone who has never completed a 5K can enter an Ironman. Given that three people have died in the last four years during the swim portion of the (OLY) NYC Tri, maybe it is time for USAT to re-think what is required to enter certain of their races.

Korff is proud to point out that his race sold out on-line in 6 minutes. IMNY sold out in like 20 minutes. If you put some basic entrance standards in place I doubt very seriously either race would cease to sell out and doing so just might save a life.

Also, I think Korff needs to tone down the "fastest swim" rhetoric associated with this race. That kind of talk only leads people to underestimate what they are taking on. You still need to be able to swim!! More to the point, in light of the tragedies in recent years it would seem to me the last thing they would want to be telling people about the swim is that it is easy.

yall gonna feel bad if noodle lady turns out to be recovering from a stroke or something.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Three people have died in the 11 year history of the NYC Triathlon. That's 3 out of probably 36,500 athletes - that's .00008% - I'd say they've done a pretty damn good job keeping people safe.

Everything in life bears some risk - it's up to the race director to execute a safe race and provide adequate response in the event of an emergency, but ultimately it's up to the individual to minimize the risk to self and others caused by their inabilities.

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"It's not the will to win that matters - everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters." - Paul "Bear" Bryant

i disagree...there should be a field to check off while you are filling out the application.

Athelete possess common sense and can provide instances where it was applied in daily life: YES or NO

anybody with NO should be banned from doing triathlons...it is very simple you either can swim or not..you cannot hold the RD responsible for peoples' lack of common sence.

I've saw a guy (and more like him) do Kona with one arm, no legs, and no f@cking noodle.

I will sleep just fine if she had a stroke or something. She should be ashamed of herself.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Sigh.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I then would be banned from every race north of the border . Also south, east and west of it. If I had the money to travel to them.

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0.008% , you have to multiply by 100%

I think you responded to the wrong post.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

then be happy god made stupidity a painless condition...not enough pills out in the world to keep people from crying from pain

Good thing I don't take the ones they gave me ;0)

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The point is the sport may be changing with more inexperienced athletes entering the race. Where is triathlon at, in general, when compared to 11 years ago. At that time I didn't know a single person doing the sport.....today I know dozens. It is much more prevalent and therein lies the risk. And while I think they have done a largely good job of staffing the event (lifeguards, kayaks, boats, etc.) there is no defending noodle lady's participation. That was a serious breakdown in their oversight of the event. Lastly, if your point is that 3 deaths out of 36,000 is acceptable I suggest you google Ford Pinto and see how well that worked out for them from a product liability standard.

hahahah cheers!!!

youre actually speaking seriously??? are you freaking out of your mind?? if you need a noodle to get through the swim you have no business jumping into a tri. ...that person has absolutely no business being in that race.

i have an idea, how about taking it seriously and training for the stupid thing rather than not bothering to train one second, as this person has done...you are utterly and completely missing the point of all of this.

i encourage anyone and everyone to do the sport. i have a coworker whos 6'6" and 320 lbs and guess what, he wants to do a tri..so whats the first thing hes doing? hes learning to swim so he doesnt drown in the race...oh my, he actually is using his brain...

this is simply the most ridicuolous post ive ever seen on this site.

Though the thing about swim competency is that while speed correlates to some degree to open water ability, it's not absolute. I live in a place where most swims are open ocean, it's too hot for wetsuits from late May until the end of October, and there are any number of 2:30/100 swimmers on the local circuit that I'd trust implicitly to be able to handle a 1.2 mile swim or less. I actually feel like a lot of them are safer swimmers than some folks in the 1:45 crowd who don't have that same open water experience.

So Olympic = noodles, Ironman = fins!

The trailblazers in the sport alway have the toughest path. Jackie Robinson, Jessie Owens, Finman.

"where you have to be super good or not tri"

It isn't exactly a thin line between super good and not tri. Its pretty simple, if you can't swim the distance don't enter the race.

I don't understand why you feel the need to "come to the rescue" of someone who is blatantly violating a USAT competitive rule. You don't have the authority to bend the rules for anyone regardless of whether you perceive your rule bending to be in some way morally superior. I don't think that anyone competing in a triathlon should expect that noodles be on hand in case they have a heart attack either. You sign your life away when you register for one of these races. You accept that shit may happen, and you agree to abide by the governing rules, or YOU DON'T COMPETE. You and the people you're advocating for are going to be the reason USAT, RD's, and other triathlon organizers get litigated into insolvency.

This video is representative of a much bigger issue. Can we please brainstorm some sort of competency clause to add to every event waiver? Let's take this back to the 1800's, poll test style. There has to be some sort of test we can put people through to make sure that they aren't endangering themselves and others by competing? There are people that are criminally lacking in bike handling abilities as well, and there should be a test for that too.

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