COHASSET, Mass. (AP) – Cohasset’s first triathlon claims its first victim. The Boston Globe reports that a man in his 30s died while swimming in the first leg of the endurance competition Sunday. Geesh… and the swim was only a .25 mile ocean swim. Does anyone have any info on the woman that died at St Anthony’s? Did they find a cause? Are these people getting wacked out there or having heart attacks???
I am an acquaintance of the man who died in Cohasset. At this point, there is no definitive cause for his death, although the current suspect is a heart attack. I believe they are planning on have the coroner perform a full autopsy so it will be a while before the cause is known.
His death is another useless tragedy. He has an eight year-old son who is now fatherless.
Martin
Martin-
Thanks for posting. Can you keep us updated?
Very sad.
This is the same guy in the other thread http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1388616;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread ?
Very sorry to hear about your friend.
clm
This is the same guy in the other thread http://forum.slowtwitch.com/…;;page=unread#unread ?
Yes, same event, same guy
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It is. I swear I looked at 3 pages of threads before posting my thread. Didn’t want to have 2 of the same going. Oh well.
Here’s an update from the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/10/triathlete_died_of_a_heart_attack/
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Thanks for posting.
“I am an acquaintance of the man who died in Cohasset.”
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- Sorry for your loss. Would you say that he was in good health? I somehow expect anyone who enters a triathlon to have done enough training that something like this shouldn’t be possible. 38 is way too young.
Like I had said the other day, I raced and was in the wave after your aquaintance went off. In fact, I swam by the guys on the paddle board (I believe it was him when they pulled him out of the fray). I was really horrified when I heard about what happened. Words simply cannot express the grief that I’m sure the family is feeling right now.
I have been racing triathlons since 1988 in all forms; sprints through Ironman distance. I would guess over 50 races easily. This race was run incredibly well. Believe me, as an inaugural event I was expecting many problems to occur; they never did. The swim was perfect. The conditions were perfect. In fact the water was so clear you could practically see the nine feet to the bottom. Don’t forget that the Boston Triathlon (a.k.a. the Monster Challenge), has always been swum in the Boston Harbor on Labor Day weekend; I would guess the water temps are pretty similar. I would guess the water depths there are far deeper than what was off of Sandy Beach in Cohasset. Regardless, who knows what happened to your relative on Sunday. A quarter mile swim can bring about the same panic inducing fear as a two mile Ironman swim. It doesn’t matter. Most swimmers were probably on in the water for under 10 minutes. Swimming in a triathlon with people all around you, with cold(er) water (remember this was ocean water which is usually cold), and the stress of racing can affect each person differently.
Without knowing this person or anyone else for that matter who was pulled from the water that day I will not cast stones as to why this happened. I will say that typically in these smaller, shorter races you’ll find people who come out thinking that they can race the race simply because it’s there. Well as we all know triathlons are serious events regardless of large or small.
The only reason I write all of this is because I’ve read some threads assuming blame on the race director. From my perspective the race was perfect. There were plenty of lifeguards, police, fire support, etc. Please let’s focus on the healing and forget about laying blame on anyone.
Good points, all. Sounds like a senseless situation where it was simply someone’s time to move on from this existence.
Condolences to his family and friends…