From the New York Times: "... Bill Burke, the race director, said rescuers pulled Neiva from the river about three-quarters of the way through the 1,500-meter swim portion, ...“Other swimmers noticed the gentleman in the water, and they were actually waving and signaling for the nearby jet boats to come assist them,” Burke said.
He added: “We did have life support on the boats that were monitoring the swim course. There’s medical staff on those boats, so if the guy had a situation in the water, he’s getting the best medical care. ...” [Link]
UPDATE: I am still rattled about this. This is happening more and more and it is distressing. I was a triathlete in my 20's but I never mastered any of the three sports involved. I was always too busy going back and forth from one event to the other, doing "bricks" and ultimately to tired to concentrate on technique for any of the events, etc. etc. Ultimately I was just surviving and consequently I felt rushed and I was injured a lot.
I think if you took a poll among triathletes asking them what is their weakest event, I bet more than two-thirds would say the swim. Hence, if you want to be an effective triathlete, you MUST master your weakest event. In fact you should be in such good shape before an event like this that you would feel the need to swim 500 yards or so before the race.
5 comments:
I heard about the jellies and I'm not psyched about it. I was thinking of doing an open water swim this weekend in Long Island. ugh. May not be the best time to test my crappy open water skills. Feel horrible for this guy and his family. Very sad.
This was a distressing story. I am doing my second ever tri in two weeks, and the first one where the swim is in open water (in a lake) I did a practice swim in the lake and it went well. I just can't get over the fact you can't see anything below water.
Swimming is my strongest of the three, but never have done an open water race. Any tips, Tony?
My tip is this: warm up with a nice swim before the race. It will get you use to the water and you will be ready to push it when the horn goes off. (No heart issues or pulled muscles that way.) I need to do at least 400-500 yards to feel settled.
I start out fast and then recover so I can separate out from the pack. I also start at the side of the pack in the beginning.
Swim a little wider at the buoy. People gravitate to it like it is a magnet and it slows you down.
If you catch someone and they don't like it and try to pass you back, that means you are in the top third of the pack.
Spot between 15 and 30 strokes.
Hey Tony
I finished my sprint distance tri yesterday. The open water swim was not as scary as I thought. Water was 77deg, most people were still wearing wetsuits (I would have overheated!) I finished the half mile swim in 14min 20s overall, and my total finish time was 1:38
That is a very respectable time in a triathlon. You have no lane lines, or line to follow yet you average about 1:39 per hundred which I am sure was faster than the average competitor.
I think you are ready for Alcatraz! I kid you not!
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