Unfortunate Death at Spudman
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diva_mom posted 18 weeks ago.
Ditto. That's sad.
Where's ChunkyB this morning?
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left
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beads1985 posted 18 weeks ago.
That makes 2 in the same week. NYC Tri had a death in the swim.
Nothing to it, but to do it
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jsk85 posted 18 weeks ago.
yeah, I am either paying a lot more attention to race reports around the country, or this is starting to happen more frequently. Very sad...I'm wondering if a side effect of the increased popularity is added risk of these events happening.
BTW, ChunkyB is listed as a DNS on the race site...waiting for the report, maybe the new baby called off the race for him...priorities, priorities
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ChunkyB posted 18 weeks ago.
jsk85 wrote:
BTW, ChunkyB is listed as a DNS on the race site...waiting for the report, maybe the new baby called off the race for him...priorities, priorities
You got it.
Sorry for the delayed race report (or lack thereof).
Basically, I missed about 2 weeks of training due to the little guy, and I didn't want to leave my wife alone for 2 days with the baby. So, yeah, I didn't race, and I don't regret it a bit.
So, the race director (or someone similar) sent out an email about the whole incident, and basically only talked about how hard it was to decide if he would let the rest of the waves do the swim. They ended up not swimming, I think. But, it kind of just glossed over the fact that the guy died, with the only real mention of it being that it took 40 minutes for them to find the body.
Then, one of the participants sent a pretty biting email about how they only had one motorboat (WTF!) and no kayaks or anything, and they aren't USAT sanctioned, and there was tons of drafting and ipods on the bike. It sounds like it was a pretty unsafe race in general.
Also, I'm waiting for Callco to weigh in on this. He did the race.
And, in a total cruel coincidence, someone died at a race that Callco and I did earlier in the year too (Cache Valley Classic Triathlon). So, apparently, either he or I are jinxed.
Best wishes to his family, and I hope everyone else made it home safely.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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Tamara posted 18 weeks ago.
Re: the death in New Jersey. This had to have been a sanctioned race -- it was the USAT Midatlantic Club Championship, so I'd be shocked if it wasn't a USAT race.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--triathlondeat...
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ChunkyB posted 18 weeks ago.
Tamara wrote:
This had to have been a sanctioned race -- it was the USAT Midatlantic Club Championship, so I'd be shocked if it wasn't a USAT race.
I don't doubt that the NJ one was USAT sanctioned. And, of course, having the sanction doesn't mean everyone's safe. The race I did in June where someone died was also USAT sanctioned and had plenty of staff. It was just unfortunate.
But Spudman was not USAT sanctioned, and it sounds like they may have been able to save this man if they had been. Of course that's total speculation, but it sounds like they didn't much emergency staff at all.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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Tamara posted 18 weeks ago.
Oh, sorry. When you said it wasn't sanctioned, I thought you were referencing NJ, not Spudman. Sorry. Sadly, too many deaths at too many races recently and I got them confused.
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big 3 posted 18 weeks ago.
beads1985 wrote:
That makes 2 in the same week. NYC Tri had a death in the swim.
Actually make it 3...NJ State Triathlon on Sunday
http://www.trentonian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid
=19874287&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
Paste those 2 lines together for the story.
I need to learn some HTML coding. Here's the link
http://tinyurl.com/5fcqnp
Followup
http://tinyurl.com/5eat4c
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beads1985 posted 18 weeks ago.
Well the NYC tri was USAT sanctioned and so was the NJ state tri.
The USAT sanctioning won't guarantee someone won't die, but it will guarantee that specific safety precautions are in place for the safety of the competitor.
In non-USAT sanctioned races it can be hit or miss.
Nothing to it, but to do it
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beads1985 posted 18 weeks ago.
PS Glad you are OK Chunky.
Spending time with the new baby is worth a DNS
Nothing to it, but to do it
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big 3 posted 18 weeks ago.
I was at the NJ State Tri, not as a participant. I just took photos.
My wife commented to me that she was amazed at how many of the swimmers during the sprint waves (10 waves) were swimming to the first kayak, stopping to rest, swimming to the next, stopping to rest... I was at the exit of the swim taking pictures and some people were being "towed" in.
So the support crew certainly had their hands full. More than usual it seemed.
I have to say, I'm always wondering what happened. Just so might avoid a similar fate somehow.
It's very sad.
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jonovision_man posted 18 weeks ago.
Very sad.
I'm curious, though... do these people who drown tend to have wetsuits on? I would think the buoyancy would act almost like a life preserver to at least keep you at the surface until they can get to you. The fact that he sunk to the bottom suggests not?
I don't want to minimize it, I just want to pretend it can't happen to me. :P
jono
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callco posted 18 weeks ago.
I am undoubtedly jinxed. For everyone else's safety and well being I think it's time for me to quit this sport. :)
Now, as for Spudman, I loved the race. It's not typical, and maybe that's what makes it fun. The very things that make it unique and fun might prevent USAT sanctioning, I don't know. For example:
1) Can you hold a USAT sanctioned event on a river? It seems to me that this would skew the USAT standings because the typical racer's swim time goes down by about 30% in this event due to the river's current.
2) Can a kayaker patrol an event on a flowing river? I don't think they could paddle upstream fast enough to help anyone. This makes motors a requirement (and for the record, by my count there were about six or eight motor boats patrolling the course).
I haven't written a race report, but I hope to. It will include some of the typical USAT no nos I encountered. All in all it was a lot of fun. My only gripe was that there were SOO many people (nearly 2,000 racers, each attracting probably 3-4 spectators on average). It was a tad congested.
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tri-ac posted 18 weeks ago.
callco wrote:
I am undoubtedly jinxed. For everyone else's safety and well being I think it's time for me to quit this sport. :)Now, as for Spudman, I loved the race. It's not typical, and maybe that's what makes it fun. The very things that make it unique and fun might prevent USAT sanctioning, I don't know. For example:
1) Can you hold a USAT sanctioned event on a river? It seems to me that this would skew the USAT standings because the typical racer's swim time goes down by about 30% in this event due to the river's current.
2) Can a kayaker patrol an event on a flowing river? I don't think they could paddle upstream fast enough to help anyone. This makes motors a requirement (and for the record, by my count there were about six or eight motor boats patrolling the course).I haven't written a race report, but I hope to. It will include some of the typical USAT no nos I encountered. All in all it was a lot of fun. My only gripe was that there were SOO many people (nearly 2,000 racers, each attracting probably 3-4 spectators on average). It was a tad congested.
there are definitely USAT events on rivers
Adam
Tri-ac
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ChunkyB posted 18 weeks ago.
callco wrote:
All in all it was a lot of fun. My only gripe was that there were SOO many people (nearly 2,000 racers, each attracting probably 3-4 spectators on average). It was a tad congested.
That's what amazes me. It filled up in about 10 minutes, and there were so many people racing.
So, what is it about the race that makes it so popular? I know it looks really bad now that they're not USAT sanctioned, because someone died. But, the more I think about it, the more I think that might even add a little bit to the race. Maybe it makes it seem more natural or something. Maybe it's more fun to some people to not have all the rules and stuff.
Anyways, in your opinion, what is it that makes this race so popular. Because there's no denying that it's one of the most popular events around.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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ChunkyB posted 18 weeks ago.
I figured I'd do a little follow up and perhaps apology for jumping to conclusions. Based on emails sent since yesterday, as well as Callco's comments, it sounds like Spudman was actually a really well organized event. It certainly sounds like it was crowded, but I think the person who was complaining about the race is in the minority. It's good to hear that most people had a great race. And it's still so sad about the man who died.
Anyways, sorry if I started the anti-Spudman mob. It sounds like I was in the wrong.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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annamarie2103 posted 18 weeks ago.
I was at this race (although not participating since i had a baby a few weeks ago) with my husband (who was racing on a team) and just so happend to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got a call from him as I was heading to meet him, telling me they had held back wave 7 because a swimmer was missing, so I stopped in my tracks to talk to him. Little did I know I stopped right where the body was located , so I ended up watchign them pull the body out of the water and try to revive him. What a heartwrencihng experience! To be honest, I had trouble sleeping the first night because it was hard not to see that image. My heart broke for his family. It was my first open water swim today since Spudman and it took me a moment to get my head on straight and not feel a little apprehensive in the water.
I do think the race is well run and circumstances just made it impossible for them to save him. Here is a link to the article in the local paper which tells a little more about why they couldn't reach him.
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/07/27/news/local_state/141165.t...
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diva_mom posted 18 weeks ago.
thanks CB - tragic.
Don't be so easy on yourself 'cause this one might be all that you have left
Thoughts and Prayers
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