Why Is Swimming the Most Deadly Leg of a Triathlon?

Quote:  "First, knowledge of risk of the race for the competitors will be helpful and hopefully allow people to take training seriously, especially for the swim."

Just musing, how many times do I read on this and other forums threads where people say "ah the swim is such a short part of the day, swim once a week and run the rest....."

Or the other ever popular quote "I've got a race in 4 weeks and I can't swim more than 100m without having to gasp for breath...help?"

John

The article mentions adrenalin rush but I think it overlooks the panic factor.

It would not suprise me at all to find out that these cardiac events were triggered by the panic that hits many first time OWS, or first time racers.

Maybe instead of Tom's suggested mandatory swim training we should just all recite a mantra after the anthem.  "I will stay calm in the water, I will not drown, if I feel like I'm going to panic I will calm down in the shallow area".

Seriously though.... I'm not sure I would be opposed to people dragging one of those emergency OWS safety devices behind them if they were DQed for using it.... though I'm not sure how big or intrusive those things are..... then again I ran into a Kayak this weekend.

The biggest issue is that if you have an arrhythmia in the water,  you are face down in water when you pass out -> more distress/drowning.

if you have an arrhythmia on bike or run you pass out but can still breathe.

Going with this I have read threads/RR's where very good pool swimmers who have panic in open water.  It isn't always those who haven't trained enough.

If they didn't train in any open water then isn't that the definition of not training enough?

Agreed, I think they are suppose to be short enough to float over the small of your back, but it might still be too long.  Just a thought.

This is what I've always thought. And not just for arrhythmia, for any medical issue that arises, you're surrounded by water, not air, which just makes the situation that much worse.

But you aren't moving at 20+ mph either.   To me loss of control on the bike sounds a lot more painful.

ETA: If less deadly.

Races vs. training is very different.  During an race with an OWS, you're swimming with many other people, can get kicked, punched, or swam over.  Not likely to happen during training.  During training on the bike...you're often riding on open roads that are not closed or coned off to traffic.  Most bike accidents involve cars, or other cyclists in a paceline.  Since car traffic is usually controlled during a race, and drafting is illegal in triathlon...this greatly reduces the chances of a bike accident.

From everything I've read, I think you are pretty much very wrong in your assumption.  Just to cite one source (of several which all support each other), USAT found 18 of 23 deaths during tri's between 2004 and 2009 were during the swim.

I haven't had time to read the whole article, but I'm curious if they studied "reverse triathlons."  I guess it would be similar to how many die from cardiac problems during 10k or marathons.  Just a thought.

Definitely not comparable to marathons:  Reverse tri's are almost always sprint tris (with short pool swims).  For elite competitors, a typical reverse tri would take less than 40% of the time to complete as a marathon.

Maybe comparable to 10Ks, but even that might be a stretch for a lot of them.

I've mentioned this on forums before- and been quite handily shouted down.

On the bike race directors require the use of a helmet. On a swim... best of luck to you. Hope you are fit enough to live through the swim.

I've proposed the concept of some type of "swim certification" and been open ended about what something like that may look like. People don't like that idea. Mandatory EKG before Ironman? Ha! terrible idea.

In fact, when I competed in the Marathon des Sables, an ultra-distance running race, they did require me to get and provide an EKG print out prior to the event.

I don't like the idea either. Fewer rules and less regulation is truly better (within reason) in my book. But, the sport is growing, and with it the concerns over participant safety.

Althoughit it is a 3 year old article, I thought this had an interesting take on it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/fashion/28fitness.html

I do know how important it is do some OWS swims before a race but I do all my training in a pool.   I do not have the time or a lake near by that i would feel comfortable swimming in.    I live about 30 mins from Chicago but i would never consider doing a tri in Lake Michigan.    I don't think i am that good of a swimmer.

Question:   Does anybody train with this theory.   How many pool yards equal 1 lake yard?  My first tri  i swam 1/4 mile before i signed up i had to swim at least 1/2 mile without stopping.   Yes i know 1/2 mile isn't a lot that is why i will only swim a short distance in a nice calm lake instead of lake Michigan.