So sad….
IRONMAN officials confirmed an athlete died after competing in a Muncie triathlon over the weekend.
The swimming portion of the IRONMAN 70.3 Muncie triathlon took place Saturday, July 12 at Prairie Creek Reservoir in Selma, Indiana.
Really sad. 43 year old family practice physician with 3 kids. Full article e behind paywall. Former Iolan dies following triathlon - The Iola Register
That is sad! From what I’ve heard that race wouldn’t have been a wetsuit swim and actually was probably quite warm in the mid 80s so doesn’t fit the “SWIPE” profile that we read so often about on here.
pre-race, they said the water was 80 degrees.
On the IM Muncie Facebook page, they had an announcement saying that it was 80 degrees, and the swim was wetsuit legal. Nothing about not eligible for age group awards etc.
I couldn’t see the whole article behind the paywall, but in what looks like a pre-race pic, the athlete was wearing a full sleeve wetsuit, standing next to his son. (heartbreaking really)
Obviously we don’t know what happened, but I have to wonder if doing a half IM swim in a full suit in 80+ degree water might have played a role. That just seems like it would be so hot.
I know it’ like a running joke that RDs will find a way to make the swims wetsuit legal, re-measuring until they find a cold spot etc., but perhaps the threshold should be lowered… Anybody have any actual expertise or science on this? I’m have no medical training.
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Super sad. Similar situation last year at Indian Wells 70.3 we were at. I never found out whether it was a result of could water or just a heart issue but middle aged man passed away during the swim.
I’ve used a wetsuit many times in high 70 degrees water. I never felt it was horrible but that was always a sleeveless suit too.
I think a lot of athletes like the boyancy (I know I do) and feel much safer in a wetsuit. Wonder if they could or should modify rules to allow boyancy shorts or or a shorty suit in those types of situations where temps are so warm.
I know some swim pros out there would probably disagree with that, but it could be a reasonable middle ground for the MOP athletes.
Anytime you can wear a wetsuit legally, you can wear those garments you mentioned too. And if it is over the limit, you can still wear those things, they are just considered wetsuits for award purposes…
Sadly an athlete died at Swansea 70.3 on Sunday too, was pulled from the water but later passed away in hospital
Jesus, what is going on there 
Yep I do know and understand that. Was thinking more a long the lines of still making those shorter or smaller items still ‘legal’ from a awards/placing or roll down qualifying standpoint when waters are warm.
undiagnosed cardiac issues ar more common than people realize.
And in my experience, annoyingly hard to get doctors to take them seriously.
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Sad but true! After being on this forum for over 20 years I’ve come to expect to read every season of at least one person dying competing in triathlon. And, its usually the swim and almost always a middle age to older male. The fact that it was a warm swim seems unusual to me.
There’s even a Wikipedia page for it. More than expected
Why would that be? I think it hardly matters what the temp of the water is in all these water related deaths, pretty much spreads across all the spectrums of tempetkres. I’m not even sure having a wetsuit on or not is a factor, suppose pros and cons wearing them…But yes, it is mostly older males getting caught up with these tragedies, although not exclusive..
Muncie was wetsuit optional, not wetsuit legal. It got up to 90 degrees on the run, but it wasn’t that hot at 6:30 when the race started. It was pretty choppy though and the first half was worse than the second half so you were into the worst of it right away. The conditions weren’t brutal, but I think they were probably very stressful for people who aren’t comfortable in open water. My girlfriend said she saw several people swim to the first kayak and call it quits. I don’t know if any of that played a role, but if I had to guess I’d guess the stress of the conditions played a bigger role than temperature.
And that list is not anywhere near complete either. I find it a bit funny that in a lot of the swim deaths, they call it drowning, and others are heart events or strokes. My guess that virtually all of the swim deaths are due to a medical event first. But like Whitney Huston drowning in a few inches of water in her bath tub, the real reasons for whatever reason are not forthcoming.
I mean especially in a wetsuit swim, it would be virtually impossible to drown(as the primary cause) without some event first incapacitating someone first.
I’m a preventive cardiologist and have been a triathlete for 23 seasons but am 38 years old now. Planning to continue lifelong but I’ll do a first stress test age 40 years and then either every 5 years thereafter or potentially even annually pre-season.
No evidence basis for it. Just a personal choice.
I’ve had I think 6-8 cardiac arrests and 4-6 deaths in races that I’ve personally been in over the years.
RIP.
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I started my preventative interventions at age 50 which coincided with having a bout of a-fib. I did a cardioversion to get out of a-fib. I had an echo-stress and calcium score done. Fast forward to last October post Kona and I came down with a-fib again and again converted out. I have an enlarged right ventricle. Getting additional cardiac work done this coming November.
Dr. Eric Wolfe, a physician with the Jordan Valley Health Community Clinic in Hollister, passed away on July 12.
Wolfe, a native of Kansas, practiced medicine in Kansas before relocating to Branson and joining the Jordan Valley Health Community, caring for patients in both Springfield and Hollister. Wolfe was known for truly listening to his patients, and had a deep desire to serve his community and his fellow man.
Wolfe was also a gifted and skilled athlete, who often competed in marathons. He passed away while participating in a half-Ironman Triathlon in Indiana.
A dedicated family man, Dr. Wolfe leaves behind his wife Casiee, who was his high school sweetheart, and their three children - Lynna, Evan and Faith.
So I’m finally ready to talk about this as it hit me very hard. I’ve posted before about how I lost my brother-in-law, a gifted runner, who had a suffered a cardiac arrest after finishing a 10k. I’ve also commented on swim deaths and have followed various studies on the subject. I’ll add my observations. Why? Because I was with this gentleman at the start of the swim, and he was either ahead of me, with me, or behind me during the swim. I was probably the last person to ever talk to him.
I heard of a death at Muncie on the following Monday. There was no talk about it after the race, and it came as a surprise. I didn’t know who it was until the picture of him and his son was posted, then I lost it. Note that the picture of him and his son was taken in front of the main transition entrance, transition closed at 6:15 so he had his wetsuit on at least since then and we did not get into the water until about 7am. I was also in the wetsuit wave but only wore bottoms. Water temp was 80f. There was a pre swim available, which I did and when you exited you had to work your way around the beach house, spectators, and everyone lining up for the swim start, that’s where I first encountered Dr. Wolfe at about 6:25. He did not appear to be wet, so maybe he didn’t do the pre swim. The wetsuit wave was quite large, some had their suits half way off, others did not. The announcer stated that they wanted to get everyone in the water by 7. Dr. Wolfe showed no signs of discomfort or anxiety, or anything. I don’t recall him fidgeting with his wetsuit, breathing abnormally, or anything, just standing there with his goggles in hand ready to line up. They paused us for two minutes to allow a gap and we lined up. We smiled and nodded to each other and said something like ‘let’s go’. We started three abreast, swimmers were spaced out fairly well but it didn’t take long to start overtaking swimmers. There was some wind and having swam in this reservoir many times, it was the worse chop I’ve encountered. Again, I only wore bottoms but the water temp seemed fine. My wife estimated that I may have passed 200 to 300 people on the swim. I would encounter people stopped just treading water, some breaststrokes, some backstrokes so I took a line wide of the first leg buoys. Now I don’t know at what part of the swim the incident occurred, the news reports say it was not a cardiac arrest but gave no further information. When you made the turn for the return leg the sun was right in your face on the right. The chop was heavy now and I took in more water than typical and was having difficulty siting the bouys, This portion I stayed right on the buoy line. At about the third bouy, around 1500 meters in, I noticed a kayak ‘frantically’ moving through the water obviously heading somewhere fast. As I was making the final turn in, there was an ambulance with lights flashing at the swim exit (thought this was just done to assist with siting the exit, not thinking anyone needed it). Thoughts. So SIPE is typically a cold water concern, so not in this situation. It has been reported that it was not a sudden cardiac event, the water was a little rough but nothing an experienced swimmer would find the least challenging, overheating in the wetsuit is a definite possibility, contact with another swimmer is also a definite possibility (although for the most part there was plenty of swim space), or some type of medical event. We never seem to get much information after these. In my own experience with my brother in law, my sister (who was a nurse) decided not to have an autopsy done, so we don’t really know what caused his event (he recently had a perfect physical, no family history of heart issues, no reason to ever think that could happen).
Rest in peace Eric, I’ll think about you and say a prayer at every swim start.
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