IMNY Fatality: Additional Insight on Victim and his High Level of Fitness. (Page 3)

There are far more deaths during marathon races and even half marathons. You just don't hear about it as much. But when it happens during a triathlon event it seems to generate more news coverage.

I prefer not to get clobbered

As I agree with several other posters, there are plenty of deaths in marathons and other sporting events as well.  I have no idea what the cause was in this case, but many have been Heart related.  As someone who lost an uncle who was a runner and died during a training run for a marathon, these things do just happen to seemingly healthy people.  

Also as I agree that mass starts can be dangerous, in this case, it was a time trial start.  It wasn't your normal mass crazy start.  I think we will have to wait to find out what really happened.  If it turns out that this person was hit or kicked and died that is one thing, but if it was cardiac arrest, then the options to prevent such a thing may be completely different.

Hard not to jump to conclusion that offer no help to mitigate the situation.

What would that accomplish?

Millions of people participate in triathlons worldwide. We obviously don't have the whole picture but if we can assume 1 death per month (during races) as a guess then statistically it isn't significant enough to warrant changes to the sport.

Any death is hughly tragic and detrimental to the image of triathlon but to try to completely mitigate the risk of it occurring is counter-intuitive. We don't know the underlying medical issues of every competitor, we don't know the swimming/biking/running experience of every competitor, I would suggest that medically we don't know the stresses that triathlon places on the human body, but I for one welcome the challenge of not knowing how far I can push myself and how far I can challenge my body. If my body can't take it then that is a point I accept as soon as I decide to compete in any event not just triathlon.

I believe triathlon is the most physically exhausting sport anyone can do whether you are a novice or world class. No one wants to see/hear of deaths in our sport but unfortunately we aren't going to be able to completely remove the possibility. Even in duathlons there will be deaths, even aquathlons there will be deaths, even in marathons there will be deaths. I'm not trying to detract from the undeniable heartache that a loss of life causes but we have to accept that it is cruel fact of life that in any activity, regardless of safety measures, deaths can (and will) happen.

I don't think it is ever too early to suggest Health Screenings. My wife wanted me to do a 7 step heart check (blood pressure, BMI, Cholesterol, ECG, Stroke Screening, Aortic Ultrasound, and Artery Disease Screening)  before I did my HIM last year. While we don't know what happened in this accident, you hear stories frequently of High Schoolers or young adults dying during sporting events due to heart issues. I don't think we are to that point to make it mandatory, but I think to suggest it is very wise.   

I don't think it is particularly wise.  And the moment triathlon races started mandating health screens (it's very difficult for me to imagine this happening) would be the moment I become a pure runner.

Here is ST article about some precautions we can take .

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Opinion/Limiting_Deaths_in_Triathlon_2986.html

Also, does anyone know some more statistics when these deaths occur? I am guessing within the first 100-600 yards.

I agree that more awareness needs to be brought to this, although I am not sure that a pre-race swim will necessarily prevent most occurances.  Knowledge of what to do if it starts to happen to you is the key.

This is the best solution I have come across and totally agree with a mandatory pre race swim. Set up a side course with a bouy a hundred meters out and make everyone swim a few laps. Not all at once but maybe you get a check mark on your hand or something showing that you did the warm up.

From what I have read, this tends to occur more with HIM and IM swims (from wikipedia), not shorter ones, so I am not sure a 5 - 10 min pre-race swim would benefit much.

Tom Demerly. - 2012-08-14 12:02 PM This discussion has stayed constructive and I appreciate that guys.

I think the pre-race swim warm up would be a great idea. It looks like SIPE could be a culprit with some of the issues that are out there. Take it with a grain of salt - From WIKI, SIPE affects 1.4% of triathletes, that is a big population of racers. I'm sure not all result in death, but it could severely impact the individuals for the remainder of the race. 

And BOOM goes the dynamite for Tom:

Correct to one degree but more importantly people need to know the knowledge of why it occurs. Once it happens it MIGHT be too late but IMO the more you know about it the more you might be able to avoid it all together and detect if and when it starts to happen.

A quick background on myself I am 51 and i get a physical along with complete blood work and an EKG every year and I pass my physical with flying colors each and every year. I also do not have high blood pressure.  

SIPE happened to me in a sprint race..Twice. Once was really bad and once it felt like more of a major anxiety attack than a heart attack. Being an engineer and a Type A personality I set my sights on finding out exactly what happened to me. So I did a ton of research and I almost got in on the test study they were starting down at Duke University. I spoke to the doctor who was running the test several times explaining my situation. I just could not get down to the University to get included in the test.

SIPE is believed to occur form a combination of factors that creates what can be thought of as a "perfect Storm" that leads to capillary leak. Here is a link that does a decent job of outlining the situation and this site also has several additional resource articles on the left side of the page that you can jump to to find out more info. http://www.endurancetriathletes.com/sipe.html

But in a short lay-mens terms here are some of the items that can contribute to SIPE.When you look at these items you can see how easy this perfect storm can happen. Note they are not necessary in specific order.

• Pre Race Anxiety we all get them some more than others
• Tight constrictive wet suit.
• Over heating in the wet suit waiting for the race to start.
• Going out too fast at the start and causing a Very rapid Heart Rate rise. A HR "Spike" if you will.  Hence the reason to do a pre swim is to get your HR elevated. Now this can be accomplished in a pre race run or bike but it does not address the next element
• Rapid body temp change as the athlete enters the cold water at the start of the race. If you do a pre swim your body has a chance to acclimate with the water temp and you also should let some water into the wet suit. If your body is at a normal 98.7 degrees not including any rise in temp due to wearing a wet suit in 80+ degree weather for 15 to 20 or more mins. Then you jump into the water that is for example 70 Degrees and you are talking an instantainous 30 degree temp difference. your body needs a chance to adapt. Warm up swim, warm up swim, I can't say it enough do a warm up swim!!!!!!
•  Not breathing properly. When you bike or run you breath when ever and how ever you want but in the swim you must be in sync! I like to think of it as a dance. If you are not in a rhythm you are going to have a problem. If you are not breathing correctly you could be exhaling and inhaling when you turn your head for a breath. We all know that you must exhale in the water and take in new air when you turn your head.  That rapid exhale and inhale at the same time will cause hyperventilation and that leads to an anxiety attack.

Several studies also call out excess fluids; fish oil suppliments and asprin as being part of the factors that can lead to SIPE. I never took Fish oil or asprin pre race but i have cut back on my pre race fluids and save it for when i get to the bike.

After all of my reasearch I modified my pre race routine to avoid or eliminate as many  or all of the contributing factors listed above.  I have done 10 -12 races from sprints to Oly since and this issue has not come back at all. Not even a little. Naturally I am very happy for that. I just hope that more and more people find out about this so one day soon it can be eliminated.

Thanks. this actually makes sense to me.  I always feel the same way during a warm-up, even worse during a COLD swim.  I can't breath, my hr goes up. I know if I get in a good warm-up, I'll be fine, if not, I suck it up and just deal with a very slow first 3-5 mine.  When I run or bike, I get the same thing.  My breathing is rough, my HR is higher and I'm going very slow.  for me, the warm up is truly important.  After about 10 min, I settle down.  I've just had to accept it as the way it goes.  Very interesting.