Open Water with Sharks

I've heard they're attracted to yellow...don't know if that's true, but why chance it?

Don't swim with raw meat in your pockets...

Too follow up on what Dave said...

While I haven't done the research, I'd guess that you're probably more likely to be in a car accident on the way to an open water swim than you are to be attacked by a shark if you follow the necessary precautions.

Along with his warnings:

- Avoid particularly murky water

- Don't wear shiny jewelery

- Don't swim with open wounds

I lived in Destin, Fl for a number of years and swam on the beaches regularly.  While there were a number of shark attacks during this time, using all the precautions you've heard I never had any problem.  The fact that I was swimming actually helped me once.  Since my face is in the water most of the time the one instance I saw a shark I seemed aware of it before it paid any attention to me (and I did one of the fastest half backstrokes/sidestrokes that you ever did see heading for shore while trying to keep my eye on it).

Here's a few stats for you to help ease you mind:

There are roughly 15-20 fatalities from shark attacks annually.

30-40 people die in that same time period skydiving.

Meanwhile, 75-85 people die annually from lightning strikes.

And more than 42,000 people are killed every year in traffic-related incidents.

If you think about it that way, you're probably actually safer in the water

bts

No.

It doesn't matter. If you saw one coming, it's not like you could out run it.

Yes.

From 1882-2006, there were 13 deaths from shark attacks in Florida, and 544 attacks. There were 7/92 in California. I have no idea what that means with respect to your question, maybe Florida swimmers are tastier.  But compare that to the 30,000,000 tourists a year in Florida... that means you have a 0.000014 % chance of being attacked by a shark.

You positively will not need to worry about a shark attack during your tri. My only advice is to listen to something other than the Jaws theme on your IPod before the race.

Also... I watched a show the other night saying that sharks can tell how much nutrition a food source has just by taking one bite. Sharks love fat. That's why seals are such a good food source for them... lots of yummy blubber!!

Since you aspire to IMs, it is likely that you don't have a lot of body fat. So even if the shark did take a bite of you, it would probably just move on, since you don't have the fat content it needs. Heck, you might even be able to finish the swim afterwards.

Nothing to fear out there:  

Seriously though, no one is more freaked out by sharks than me (I am convinced swim DNF's are really race director code for eaten by shark/lake monster) and I manage to get in the water every time.  A couple hundred/thousand people splashing around probably spooks anything that might be there.  Also, like said above, there has never been a reported shark attack during a tri...

So that means the first one is just waiting to happen. It's only a matter of time, now .

You'll be fine! No worries . There are much scarier things in the sea anyway - like jellyfish and horseshoe crabs.

I'm also afraid of sharks.  I know it's irrational but I can't seem to convince my brin of that when I'm in the ocean.  I live in Florida a little less than a mile from the beach so I don't have many choices when it comes to tris.  Lakes in Florida are even scarier than the ocean! 

Somehow I convinced myself to sign up for an ocean swim tri this year - and guess what - I made it!  The waves were so rought that day that I didn't have time to think about sharks - I was just worried about finishing the swim at all.  It also helped that a girl next to me was super afraid out there and kept grabbing onto the lifeguards surfboards.  I decided to try to help her out by telling her it would be OK and that kind of stuff.  It worked!  It kept my mind off things until the last turn.

Then again, this was a sprint tri.  I would be petrified to do an IM swim up in the gulf.    

Triathletes/swimmers have been bitten.  There is a pro woman, can't remember who, that was bitten.  So yes, it happens.  But it is like hitting the lottery ...... chances are slim to none in most cases.

If you are really freaked out about it, then opt for IMCDA (lake swim), IMLP (lake swim) or IMKY (river swim).  All you have to worry about there is other swimmers making you drown as the field beats the crap out of each other .....

Check out this Bull caught about a mile from the St. Ants swim.  (courtesy of Betsy)

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/photos/show-album.asp?albumid=4430&photoid=36084

LOL! I am a child of the Jaws era too. It's my all time fave book/movie in fact. Anyhow, along the lines of that story of the swimmer attacked, I can't imagine a shark trying to bite a huge pack of swimmers. In a sharks mind, it probably looks like a pack of porpoise (natural enemy) - at least we can hope.

Funny thing about OWS for me is that I let the shark irrational fear creep me out even in lakes! But then again, the Loch Ness Monster lives in a lake

I actually get more paranoid in lakes... I can dismiss the possibility of shark attacks, but the movie Lake Placid has ruined me for serene morning swims on a peaceful lake.

bts