Morning Read 2: Questioning the safety of triathlons
The Lake Placid Ironman is a big part of North Country sport culture, but questions have been raised for years about safety. A lot of the attention has focused on the tumultous, hectic swim start, where dozens of athletes pile into the water at the same time.
The Washington Post has a report up this week looking at the fact that at least nine triathletes have died in the last year, all but one of them during the swim portion of the event.
Whether nine is a complete count of fatalities isn’t known. USA Triathlon, which keeps track of deaths in the 2,500 races it sanctions, won’t provide the numbers. It has, however, recently appointed a panel of three physicians and two race directors to look into them.
All but one of the nine deaths occurred in the swim portion of the races…A similar preponderance was seen in the only rigorous analysis of triathlon deaths, which appeared last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota found 14 deaths from 2006 through 2008. Thirteen occurred in the water.
The big water start is dramatic — it is one of the most audience-friendly moments in a triathlon event — and it’s also popular because it’s egalitarian. For one brief moment, everyone is on the same line.
But perhaps it’s time for the sport to rethink whether the scrum is a safe and smart way to start these contests. Read the full article here.
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“The Lake Placid Ironman is a big part of North Country sport culture, but questions have been raised for years about safety.”
Brian, what are the specific safety questions that have been raised about the LPIM?
I produced this report (see below) in 2002, but I should have been more clear: the questions have been raised about the structure of the sport in general, not the Lake Placid event.
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/3176/20021021/lake-placid-ironman-the-drama-the-danger
The year that I produced the story, one racer was in intensive care in Saranac Lake for eight hours; after another Lake Placid event, a man went temporarily blind perhaps because of an extreme electrolyte imbalance.
The reality is that people are transported to the hospital every year during the Lake Placid event — that’s part of the appeal of the sport, frankly.
But it’s fair, I think, to ask whether there are ways to make it safer.
–Brian, NCPR
Interesting article. Not so sure someone like this should be in a big triathlon (apparently he had never swam in open water even alone):
““He was worried about the swim just because he did feel he was prepared but he’s always been afraid of water,” his sister, Sue Richardson, told a local television station. Richardson, who had come to the race to watch her brother, said he was also taking medicine for high blood pressure.”
Brian, I agree that there are probably ways to make it safer, you can make anything safer. I am just not sure that these statistics show that it isn’t already very very safe.
My read of the statistics is that almost everyone who is dying is dying during one segment of the sport…a fact that bears some thinking about.
–Brian, NCPR
Here we go with a knee jerk reaction! WHAT was the cause of the deaths? Did they have heart attacks? cramps in the legs? MUCH, MUCH more information is needed and required before criticizing the way the swim event starts. If there have been deaths wouldn’t you expect them to occur in the water? I can see this post a year from now, “Should the swim event be eliminated?”
Gary – What knee jerk reaction?
And no, sorry, you can’t criticize a blog post based on what you think might be written a year from now.
That’s not even straw man. That’s, I don’t know — make-believe straw man.
The bottom line is that nine people died.
Asking questions about that is hardly a knee jerk reaction.
I think the Post’s article was a reasonable place to start a conversation.
–Brian, NCPR
A lot of things are dangerous. Driving a car is dangerous. Life is dangerous. Sooner or later everyone dies. At least they died doing what they loved to do.
This morning I was putting up some drapes for my wife. I joked, “Well if I fall and break my neck, at least people will say he died doing what he loved to do.”
I would expect the competitors are aware of the dangers involved prior to starting. Are they required to undergo a physical prior to the event, as with a sport like boxing?
On another note, you can’t consider eliminating the swim portion because then it wouldn’t be a triathlon. It wouldn’t even be a biathlon because that is already taken.
Klein is right. A lot of things are dangerous. What’s life without risks, except longer? You minimize the danger through preparation and conditioning.
Brian: My best guess is that these deaths were caused by heat exhaustion. A wet suit is worn for a variety of reasons, but theyreduce the body’s ability to cool. With the technology we have today each swimmer could and should be equipped with a signaling device should they experience difficulties. Your post goes beyond asking questions, read your last paragraph. Besides don’t I have a right to question your assuptions?
Just to clarify: some triathlons, frequently the shorter distance events, go off in wave starts of dozens of athletes in the water at the same time and these staggered starts are smaller groups, usually determined by age class. Others, like an Ironman (the longest distance triathlon), go off with THOUSANDS of athletes in the water at the same time. Last year’s Lake Placid Ironman had more than 2400 non-professional starters…all in the lake starting enmasse (en-scrum) at the shot of a gun. In the past couple of years the organizers decided to let the pros go off 10 minutes before everyone else. This gives most of them a chance to stay ahead of the crowd.
If heat is the problem, how about we do as the Greeks did by competing in the nude?
Not sure about the safety issue… I do have some thoughts on the sanity of the competitors however :)
I don’t swim very well so I have never done a triathlon, but I do run marathons (pretty slowly). Anyway I have never run in a larger marathon (over 1000) without someone sometimes numerous people depending on the heat and the number of people racing; collapsing and needing a hospital transport. I have run 8 large marathons of which people died in two of them.
I guess I am just wondering about the comparative statistics. You put a bunch of people together doing something very strenuous and the odds are someone will have a physical problem and someone will die. I mean 7 deaths seem very small to me I thought it would be more.
Gary and others if you read the article you will see that the cause of death was drowning.
I have been in many mass start events. If you have these kind of anxiety issues they describe you should put yourself in the back of the pack where it isn’t as scary (or exciting depending on your views).
I am curious what type of water bodies these deaths occurred in? That isn’t in the story. Personally I think swimming in the ocean in these kind of events will be much more stressful for some. Mirror Lake is not as intimidating as swimming out to some marker way out on the ocean. If you have trouble it is easier to just leave the group and head to shore than having to back track through the pack.
Open Ocean = 6
Lakes = 4
Reservior = 2
Rivers = 1