Racing Tremblant so much had me naively thinking there were divers in the water for all IM races
Of course, that’s a small chance, but at least a possibility. It’s why we don’t have as many deaths on the bike and runs, people get that chance to stop, collect themesleves, and get immediate help from on course medical. It’s just in the water even with a wetsuit, it is usually minutes before someone notices someone floating face down. And then the added time to get to medical on shore is a big ask to bring someone back. We found in the best of circumstances that AED’s were about 30% effective of getting a rhythm, CPR less than 10%. These are the worst of circumstances, so any mitigation has to be before the event, not after..
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ITU requires pros to do medical screenings with heart rate data (I once had an itu athlete who’s heart data actually got her flagged to seek more testing), so I wonder if that’ll ever translate to AG (doubtful). But it seems more and more these aren’t “drowning” deaths, they are some medical episode that then leads to “drowning” which can be really really hard to help in an water environment.
From her Instagram it looks like she’s done Kona before. So she’s at least pretty experienced with stress and non wetsuit swims. Really sad.
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Not saying it’s right, wrong, or otherwise; but the volunteers were stopping anyone who had a float and requiring it to be removed at the swim start. The swimmer I saw get told was starting at the very front (first ~15 people or so) so I’m guessing they self-seeded radically wrong or were used to races (like Oceanman apparently) that allow/require floats.
this is incredibly sad. what a shame.
related to the point about floats, i’ve wondered if allowing pull buoys might help too, as it would disincentive wearing wetsuits when its actually too hot to wear one safely. so mandatory that you pull a float or use a pull buoy.
I could see allowing pull buoys becoming problematic. It would be relatively easy to have them become “disengaged” from between one’s legs and wind up floating around loose in the body of water and/or, as the person is trying to grab it and put it back in between their legs, them becoming an obstacle to those around them.
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People dog paddling, back stroking or sinking or grabbing on to anything nearby are also an obstacle. Just something to consider.
I actually think the pull buoy like they need to use in swim run races is a fantastic idea and should be required.
Who cares if it’s not “hardcore” enough. Too many people are dying and the chance this helps cut back on that stress induced reaction that escalates to a cardiac event is worth it.
I’d rather allow neoprene jammers rather than pullbuoys: same buoyancy and zero chance of losing them mid swim
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Question on tow buoys - how to use them properly so that they don’t slow-down a swimmer?
Personally, I have a strong negative buoyancy - I sink and can sit at the bottom of a pool with my lungs full of air. I don’t float. I have a few video recordings if you don’t believe 
So for me it’ll always be “swim or sink”, there’s no pause.
At the same time, every time I attach a tow buoy, I notice a detrimental impact on my pace, 2-4s per 100m.
Advice?
No advice, that sounds about right.
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Let’s make sure we understand how and why they are dying before we start making things “required” because said requirement may not solve “swim deaths” as easily as you are suggesting.
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Doesn’t matter in an event if everyone has to wear one. And if you’re not racing but swimming OW alone, better to be visible and 2-4 sec slower.
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Yeah, this will likely be an underlying health issue as opposed to drowning due to inability to swim. Wet suits and buoyancy shorts can help keep a distressed person floating but it’s not clear earlier interventions would save the person.
Sure.
But what I’m asking is: is there a perfect way to use a tow buoy, so that it minimises the pace drop? Long vs short cord, weight center in the upper or lower part, different buoy shape etc?
Wouldn’t we run the risk of these buoys getting tangled up in a mass swim? I think buoyancy shorts are a better option
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My question was competition agnostic, not specific to an IM washing machine issue.
Edit: tow buoy also play a role of visibility, which buoyancy shorts do not serve. Plus, there’re no buoyancy shorts on the market that would make me stay on the surface
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Have the bouy on a very small leash around your waist so it sits just above the small of your back. That way it isnt dragging in the water , it doesn’t get affected by body roll as it is now effectively part if your body and the leash doesn’t get tangled up with other swimmers.
For me though,as someone very comfortable in any open water,I prefer a longer leash for training swims and dont care about the extra drag. I often put stuff inside the bouy like fuids, food,money sunblock, hand paddles ,etc,etc and go for long destinations swims. The long leash makes accessing the bouy easier.
One issue with lots of swim bouys in open water event is slighting. Instead of being able to look up quickly to see a big orange or red turning bouy, your eyes take much longer to figure out what is a turn bouy in a sea of swim bouys.
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WT requires all professionals to submit a health screening with a heart EKG. To the point that one of my athletes got flagged and wasn’t cleared until further heart tests were done to eventually clear her. If we are talking about solving swim deaths, those are the types of steps your sport would likely need to add in addition to whatever in water safety aids you wanted to add. Not that that would ever be required in the real world, but if we are talking about solving an issue- medical induced drownings are the issue to be solved imo.
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Yeah I don’t think an events marketing company bears that responsibility.