Sounds like safety was not a concern…
Officials from the Cohasset Fire Department said paramedics treated six people for unspecified injuries from the race. They took three people in advanced life support ambulances to South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth
“Sounds like safety was not a concern…”
You are drawing the conclusions the bias of the article wants you to, but there are
no facts in that article to support your statement.
I specifically liked the “advanced life support ambulances” statement. Are there other
kind of ambulances?
Very strange.
At first I assumed there were no lifeguards, since the manager had refused to provide them. However, we don’t know if the RD provided any.
Bizarre how a lifeguard can refuse to do their job, simply because it’s hard. Far out.
On the other hand, maybe this is what America has come to. Greed has fed the litigous society, such that it is now getting to the point where nothing can be done, because the risk of litigation is too high.
I think we are seeing the beginning of the downfall of the American Empire IMHO. Glad I’m not there.
sounds like a race director problem.
He/she should secure the proper lifegaurds. If the beach is a public beach then the RD should (in advance) have an arrangement with the local government officials. If the beach is private (article doesn’t really say), then the RD should hire the appropiate lifegaurds for the event.
To me it’s clear, the RD is responsible for providing a reasonabily safe race venue. I’ve had race swim’s cancelled for dirty water.
This was definitely NOT a race director problem. I raced this morning and was in the second heat. Going into today I was expecting problems as this was inaugural race but surprisingly saw none. The race was great and everything went off without a hitch. My guess is that this guy:
a) Figured that this was a sprint triathlon and could do it without training.
b) Became freaked out by a mass swim and the cold water.
c) Had a previous heart condition.
d) Any or all of the above.
I believe the guy was on the guard’s surfboard as I rounded the second buoy heading for shore; they were in the process of giving him cpr. There were life guards there. There was an ambulance there. There were police there. This is a tragic event but one that might occur at every triathlon. Mass swims are not easy for many people. We’ve all experienced the fear at one time or another. When panic sets in, who knows how an individual heart will react. Don’t be so quick to judge the race director or management of this event.
From what I’ve heard from many others they too agreed that this was a great race.
The race is a private event held on public land with a permit. You have to provide your own lifeguards/water patrol/police/race crew, etc. When they say that the lifeguards declined the event it means that they declined to be hired or declined to volunteer. Hopefully the RD provided adequate water support and this was a pure unfortunate accident.
The article does sublty seem a bit biased against the race, although I’m that the first reaction of anyone not knowing much about triathlons to a death attributed to the race would be to blame the race organizers. 700 athletes on a 400m swim is a bit tight but if started right shouldn’t be an issue.
There are some things you just can’t control, all you can do is prepare well, execute well and pray that there are no major accidents. Horrible that the guy died but at least he passed away doing something he wanted to do. You enter a race well knowing the risks and it really is your responsibility to survey what’s going on and make the final decision if you’re going to race or not and if you need to give any extra caution due to dangerous circumstances. This might be a dumb analogy but in a cycling crit, if the RD forgets to sweep one of the corners and you spot it on a preride, you don’t go bombing into the corner and blame the RD for the crash, you back off a bit and take the corner easy. Of course in this case there aren’t hundreds of crazy other cyclists beating you over the head with their arms and legs while you’re inhaling half water, half air…
Lots of talk with little info.
A friend was at the race and he mentioned there were lifeguards and there was one incident related to a heart attack (don’t know if the person mentioned on the article though) maybe he’ll post more about it…
Even if you have 100 lifeguards, you are never going to be able to make an open water swim 100% safe. Until
you know the facts, it is unfair to blame the RD. Ultimately, it is the competitor’s responsibility to race or not.
Obviously, this was a tragic incident, but the only way to guarantee nobody gets hurt in a triathlon is to never
have them. If the second someone gets hurt at an event people start pointing at the RD before looking at the
actual facts, we are going to have a shortage of RDs in the future.
“700 athletes on a 400m swim is a bit tight”
The article didn’t mention that there were 5 starting waves.
exactly what i meant by “if it’s started right it shouldn’t be an issue.” thanks for the clarification though. I’ve only put on a few small races but I always get a bit freaked out when a bad accident happens at a race a friend of mine is putting on. Last TT a high school kid went through the rear window of a car, I was standing by the RD when the call came in and man those next few steps sure don’t look like much fun to undertake. Thank god we have some great race directors out there.
I was there too this morning and second BTT-Boston. The swim was perfectly safe, i personally saw at least 4-5 guards in red w/ rescue tubes, 4-5 kayaks in the water, and 21 ft gradywhite (either harbormaster or CG), ambulance on site before the race… multiple MD’s on the beach (off duty)…honestly what more could you ask for?
Bill the RD put on a great race, the whole town came out and really supported the racers all day. This is truly a tragedy, but as BTT said it could have happened at any Tri anywhere (and will continue to happen unfortunately with increasing frequency as this sport grows)
“Sounds like safety was not a concern…”
You are drawing the conclusions the bias of the article wants you to, but there are
no facts in that article to support your statement.
I specifically liked the “advanced life support ambulances” statement. Are there other
kind of ambulances?
Yes. Basic life support ambulances cover many communites.
Sir,
What is the difference, and which would be appropriate for a triathlon if an RD was concerned about safety?
Advanced Life support units carry the full spectrum of drugs and a defibrillator, usually a 12 lead ECG. And they are staffed with at least one, and sometimes two paramedics. Paramedic training is now 2 years long.
Basic life support units carry a limited supply of drugs and ususally no defibrillator. The are staffed by Basic EMT’s who go to school for one semester.
I think all communities should be staffed by an advanced life support ambulance…especially stand by for a triathlon.
EVERYONE: please read the article…NOWHERE does it mention that there were NO life guards, only that the private beach declined to provide them. IN ADDITION, there were 700 athletes…there were 5 waves with this. Sometimes, unfortunately, tragic things happen despite the best intentions and organ
My thoughts and prayers go out to the athlete who perished and his family. It’s truly tragic. But, it doesn’t always mean that someone was to blame.
I was there too and there were lifeguards, as others have said… plenty of safety on the swim. From what I’ve heard, they pulled 6 people out of the water, treated 3 on-scene and 3 went to a local hospital. That said, it was disconcerting to hear people yelling for help as I exited the water.
The water was damn cold yesterday (~62 deg.) and there were a surprisingly large number of people without wetsuits - still can’t believe that. It was a really well run event and this is certainly a tragedy, but not the RD’s fault. Unfortunately, I can’t see the town supporting this event again next year… shame.
I agree. I have a friend who would be alive if an ambulance with a defibrullator had been there and gotten to him in less than 30 minutes at a half marathon in Seaside. When the emts did get there, they had no defibrullator and even at 30 minutes after he went down, wouldn’t have been much they could do. He was 30 or 31. My hubby lost one of his training buddies that day. In that case, the RD should have had more medical support there. It is a big race.
thanks for this accurate info.
Unfortunately the press LIKES to print and publish articles that are not accuarte but also misleading in their selfish effort to sell papers and create controversy, thus resulting in more sales.
I, like others, fell for their BS story of misleading info.
This is a tragic event for the family. It sounds like the RD had a great race plan in place.
Boston.com has updated/amended the previous story. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/09/collapse_is_fatal_to_swimmer_in_race/
God Bless Ellis and his family
He died doing something he loved…
But 30 years old is too young to die.