Not sure if someone posted this yet, but a study showed that triathlon is riskier than marathons, with most deaths occurring in the swim. Four out of the 13 who died during the swim had underlying heart problems, with the others with normal looking hearts suffering from a fatal heart rhythm.
I was treated for Ventricular Tachychardia in 2000, before I got into triathlon. I recommend that people see their doctor to check for underlying heart problems before doing a triathlon.
From the article:
"For the study, researchers used records on 922,810 triathletes competing in 2,846 USA Triathlon-sanctioned events between January 2006 and September 2008.
Of the 14 deaths identified, 13 occurred during swimming; the other was a bike crash. Autopsies on six of the victims showed that four had underlying heart problems. Two others had normal-looking hearts, but they may have suffered a fatal heart rhythm problem, Harris said.
A search of the Minneapolis registry and the Internet found four other triathlon-related deaths from 2006 through 2008 beyond those that occurred in the officially sanctioned events.
“While not a large risk, this is not an inconsequential number,” Harris said.
Doctors offer these tips to anyone considering a triathlon:
_Get a checkup to make sure you don’t have hidden heart problems.
_Train adequately long before the event, including open-water swims — not just in pools.
_Acclimate yourself to the water temperature shortly before a race, and wear a wetsuit if it’s too cold.
_Make sure the race has medical staff and defibrillators on site."
_Train adequately long before the event, including open-water swims — not just in pools.
_Acclimate yourself to the water temperature shortly before a race, and wear a wetsuit if it’s too cold.
I am truly amazed whenever I go to a big Ironman triathlon and I am talking to first timers. This is why RD’s are extraordinarily anxious about the swim leg - perhaps more so than at any other time during the race.
Many are relatively new to the sport, yet taking on an IM triathlon after only a year or two of training!!
Many have never swam in open water or with a large group in a mass start situation
Many have limited time swimming in a wetsuit - while overall this is helpful, they are not used to the feeling of swimming in a wetsuit.
It all comes down in my view to too much too soon all at one time.** **But good luck trying to talk these people out of doing their IM.
_Train adequately long before the event, including open-water swims — not just in pools.
_Acclimate yourself to the water temperature shortly before a race, and wear a wetsuit if it’s too cold.
I am truly amazed whenever I go to a big Ironman triathlon and I am talking to first timers. This is why RD’s are extraordinarily anxious about the swim leg - perhaps more so than at any other time during the race.
The N.O. 70.3 has an incredible amount of swim support for this very reason. It's practically a linear swim following a seawall where if you have 25 meters left in you, you can make to water that's knee deep for about 80% of the course. He has 75 lifeguards spaced out along the course, 6 boats, a couple dozen kayaks, & a bunch of sea-doos.
No doubt more competitors died in the swim at a triathlon than a marathon;-) Beyond that the findings are rather suspect … how did they know the person had a cardiac event BEFORE they drowned … just conjecture. Finding "heart abnormalities"at autopsy really doesn’t necessarily mean anything. We would all agree that swim events can be risky for competitors and safety needs to be improved.
Dave
‘We can all agree that swim events can be risky, and safety needs to be improved.’
No offense, but to hell with that. We all need to quit mandating safety. Give me liberty or give me death, damnit.
Take responsibilty for your own safety. The police, fire department, race director, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, can never provide for your safety. It is your responsibility to plan and provide for you own safety and that of your family.
If we wanted to be safe, we woulnd’t participate in sports. If we wanted to be taken care of, we’d move to England or Canada.
I often wonder if the swim deaths have anything to do with the contradictory signals that the heart gets at the start of a race- the bradycardic dive response that you get when your face is immersed in cold water vs. the tachycardia necessary for the initial sprint after the gun. Sounds like a recipe for arrhythmia.
But in the end, I agree that 14 out of a millions sounds like pretty good odds. I’ll take it.
‘We can all agree that swim events can be risky, and safety needs to be improved.’
No offense, but to hell with that. We all need to quit mandating safety. Give me liberty or give me death, damnit.
Take responsibilty for your own safety. The police, fire department, race director, et al, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, can never provide for your safety. It is your responsibility to plan and provide for you own safety and that of your family.
If we wanted to be safe, we woulnd’t participate in sports. If we wanted to be taken care of, we’d move to England or Canada.
I don’t disagree with your basic premise, but from sitting in a kayak at a major IM event … it was scary watching swimmers who obviously weren’t in shape to do the event and they were clearly the focus of attention for water safety people … they shouldn’t have been there … and yes, I know they have responsibility for themselves, but thats only in theory.
For most, the safety issue is what about those who get contact events with loss of consciousness in the water or have some other event … there really are rather loose plans for what happens yet for most once that fresh water ingestion into the lungs occurs it is mostly a done deal for them. I would like to think the standard of care would be better than just letting them wash up on the beach after the event since it was their own fault … I suspect your family would agree???
Dave
But, if you do absolutely nothing what are the risks?
“All-cause SMRs (standardized mortality ratios) were low among the athletes generally, particularly for those with high or medium oxygen uptake (the endurance and mixed sports groups).”
That is what I was trying to say in my previous post in a more diplomatic manner!
At IM Wisco a few years ago - on the windy cold and wet day with choppy and challenging conditions for the swim, I was surprised with the numbers of athletes who pulled out of the race in the first several hundred meters of the swim - but glad that they did, because had they gone on, who knows what might have happened.
So to your point and to mine - clearly these folks were under-prepared. I am all for people taking on a challenge, but I think that it may have gone a bit too far.
Would it be too much work for someone to be mandated to have at least finished an Oly or Half prior to being able to register for a Full 140.6 triathlon ? Ideally a sprint prior to an Oly or half and a half prior to an IM. These make for great training races and help a atlete learn thier race pace and logistics. I realize confirmation may be too difficult ( although with posted results online not all that time consuming) but at least requiring someone to fill in a previously completed shorter event may spur the person to think twice before doing a longer distance as thier first triathlon, which I assume would lead to more chances for medical distress.
I’ve read many of your posts and think you make a good point about people jumping into IM straight away without adequate preparation. Taking aside the health risk to themselves I read a good article yesterday where the coach was suggesting to his atheletes that they do eactly what you have suggested, build up to IM and enjoy the progressively better feeling of reward as you go along.
Sort of, do a tri, get better, do an Olympic get better, and so on, do some 70.3 and realise that once you go over Olympic its a different beast. He was of the view that yes his guys could probably all complete the IM, but would thye find it that satisfying in the cold and dark when they are walking their way to a 16 hour IM.
This was not based on an elite view that people who go 16 hours have no place, but based on the view that while the athelte would get the satisfaction of completing the race, the experience would not be hugely enjoyable and thus they might tick the box and drop out of the sport.
Whiel there is nothing wrong with that approach if it works for said person, I think that the coach and from your posts yourself advocate a staged approach that would be more enjoyable for the atheletes
oh im not saying they shouldn’t have kayakers out there. just that we shouldn’t dumb down triathlons because 14 people die out of a million.
I don’t disagree with your basic premise, but from sitting in a kayak at a major IM event … it was scary watching swimmers who obviously weren’t in shape to do the event and they were clearly the focus of attention for water safety people … they shouldn’t have been there … and yes, I know they have responsibility for themselves, but thats only in theory.
For most, the safety issue is what about those who get contact events with loss of consciousness in the water or have some other event … there really are rather loose plans for what happens yet for most once that fresh water ingestion into the lungs occurs it is mostly a done deal for them. I would like to think the standard of care would be better than just letting them wash up on the beach after the event since it was their own fault … I suspect your family would agree???
Dave
