deaths happening in threes?
Scary.

It sounds like the 3 participants all had some experience and traing too.

First of all, I think it kind of makes sense that it always happens during the swim. First of all, it's much most stressful for most people than the other 2 sports. Plus, if you have a serious problem in water, then you drown. If you have problems in the other 2 disciplines, you might die, but chances are you'll just crash/fall over and not necessarily die. I guess if you have a heart attack, there's a good chance that you'll die no matter what. But I think the added stress of open water swimming plus the fact that it really is much easier to die in water, makes it much more likely to die on the first part.

Second of all, I wonder if the increase in the number of deaths has anything to do with the extreme popularity of triathlon. Events are more full, and there's also a higher percentage of inexperienced triathletes.

At any rate, it is really sad. Every one I hear about makes me wonder a little bit if I should switch to duathlon or something. But I think, for now, I'm sticking with triathlon.

The article gives a really good hypothesis that the swim is most dangerous for people with some rare pre-existing heart condition that is exacerbated by act of swimming swim. Bad time to find that one out.

But I think your comment has a lot to do with it: How many posts on Trifuel have we read this season that include some call for help in dealing with the anxiety in the swim? You get people who are enamoured with the idea of doing a tri but really aren't too stoked about doing the training or being adequately prepped for an open-water swim. I'm not trying to be crass or insensitive, but put inexperienced swimmers among 1,000 other people 500 meters from shore and this is what can happen.

+1. And, as the article said, most of the deaths are people who are well trained and experienced. But, you could put the best swimmer in the water with 100 rookies, and it could mess some stuff up. Just a thought.

The liability waiver that you sign when you register for a triathlon is what the insurance company wants to see, as well as the annual or one-day membership to USAT. Accidents and health issues happen on the swim, bike and run. As participants we assume that risk, unless the accident or death is caused by the gross negligence of someone else.

I just went through my photos of NJ State Tri. In one of the frames I counted 13 kayaks and I know there was at least 2 motorized boats that are not in the frame.

Picture attached if you are interested.
Hmmm. picture isn't attaching...
Check it out here
http://tinyurl.com/67x8do
If you look closely there are at least 5 people holding onto Kayaks in this shot. Which is surprising to me, that seems like a bunch.

They man who died at Cache Valley was definitely wearing a wetsuit. They were doing CPR right next to my transition spot, and they had to cut it off him and stuff.

I think that wetsuits give you some buoyancy, but they're not going to keep your head above water. And, when it comes down to it, someone doesn't have to sink to die in the water. Like that guy in Cache Valley, he never actually sunk or anything. He just had a heart attack.

Also, when you have tons of people thrashing around you, it can kind of make you sink more than you would otherwise.

I don't have any statistics on it, but I'm sure many many more people are killed each year while training for the bike leg than die during the swim portion. It's still a scary thought, but I think cycling on the open road is a much more dangerous activity.

I wonder if it has anything to do with health conditions. What if they just got kicked hard in the head in the wrong spot and got knocked out? Nothing to do with health or even newbies. While the swim does bring more anxiety to most it's also the only full contact portion of a race.

Sully - I totally agree with you on the most dangerous aspect of triathlons being the cycling training. I know too many people who had accidents/near accidents (usually with cars, sometimes kamikaze squirrels) on the road. Some escaped with scrapes, others hospital visits, others, unfortunately, worse.

I don't think a swimming certification would help because I don't believe swimming ability, or lack thereof, is what caused the deaths.

My guess (solely a guess) is that the chaos of the swim causes a level of panic that is difficult for some people to handle in addition to the load of physical activity and adrenaline at the beginning of the race.

I say this because I am by far a more competent swimmer than I am cyclist or runner. I have been swimming for years and am relatively comfortable in the open water. In every tri I have done (all four!), It has been a real challenge for me to keep my HR under control during the first 10 minutes or so of the swim. Eventually it calms down, but each time I have feelings that I am not going to be able to finish.

I do wonder if the wetsuit adds to the panic people feel. Even though it certainly increases buoyancy, is it possible that it adds to the cramped/constricted feeling many people (certainly myself) feel during a crowded OW swim leg?

It certainly isn't a sport to take lightly- in any of the legs.

I tend to let the crowds go out infront of me. Swim behind them so I'm not in the washingmachine. HR and breathing is always up the first 5-8 minutes of the swim, then once I'm in a groove it becomes more rythmic and controlled. The wetsuits are tight around the neck so it can give people a clustrophobic feeling which leads to elevated breathing and HR, sometimes panic. Combine this with water you can't see in, a bottom you can't touch, then the mental aspect takes over "sh#t what am I doing here?", Doubting yourself and your abilities. It could be a disaster for some. Or not. It is the combination of experience and health. I have spoke to many first timers who always say "this will be the first time I swam in years" as we're waiting for our wave to kick off, or "these wetsuits will help me float right, cause I'm not a good swimmer". My first tri swim was in Rockaway beach, not ideal. I felt this way for a brief time, then got past it and did ok. We were all rookies at one point....Go to a dr and get checked out. Training is called training for a reason. Train your body to work under unusual, uncomfortable conditions. Other thing are out of our hands ya know...