From the Editor: Better Safe Than Sorry

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In July we saw two tragedies in our area during triathlons only one week apart. First there was the death of a 32-year-old man in the New York City Triathlon on July 20. The following week 52-year-old John Hobgood of Princeton Junction, N.J., died in the New Jersey State Triathlon. Both men died during the swim portions of the race. As the New York Times reported in an article on July 28, all of the triathlon deaths recorded by USA Triathlon at its sanctioned events in the last two years happened during the swim. 

These deaths are causing a lot of people to wonder if triathlons are dangerous, if bigger races should be closed to beginners and if the sport should be more regulated. It’s important to remember that safety is everyone’s responsibility—especially the racers. Pre-race briefings exist for that very reason and triathletes of all levels should plan to attend them to understand the lay of the land and where help can be found if needed. It’s important to train properly, use equipment in good condition and always be prepared.

John Korff, head of Korff Enterprises (which puts on the NYC Triathlon) told us that they had three times the required safety out on the water during this year’s race, and that while tragic, some events are beyond our control. “Part of our business is to ensure the athlete is safe from start to finish,” said Korff. “At the end of the day it’s up to the the athlete to be prepared, as we are, for an event. Triathletes have respect for the difficulty of the challenge and respect for the distance. There is always risk in sport, but with proper preparation we can reduce that risk to almost nothing.”

We had quite a few concerned folks ask us about the safety of triathlon and coaches who emailed to reassure them in their pursuit of the sport and their race goals, so I wanted to share their opinions here.

Jonathan Cane of Citycoach wrote:

“Ultimately, it is the athlete’s responsibility to understand the inherent risks of the sport in general, and the hazards of the swim in particular. If an athlete is worried about the contact that comes with a swim start, then he/she should choose a smaller race (though the wave sizes in NYC are relatively small), start at the back, or take more extreme precautions such as a race with a time trial start or a pool swim.

“While I encourage and applaud the sport’s growth, more and more the starting lines at triathlons look like the Corporate Challenge: undertrained, unaware weekend warriors deciding that triathlon is their “next thing.” As we know, if you can’t keep running you walk. If you can’t keep swimming, you’re in trouble. Perhaps Korff Enterprises should tone down its “fastest swim in triathlon” rhetoric because while it may be true for certain swim starts, others have little or no benefit from the tide. Promoting it as such a fast swim gives people the mistaken impression that they can float their way safely downstream. (The 1+ hour swim times for the later waves indicates that some folks who have little or no swim ability planned to do just that).

“While the death of Mr. Neira is tragic, to blame the sport in general or the race in particular seems unfair, and to date there is no suggestion that his death was the race’s fault. As athletes and adults, we are responsible for ourselves. If an underprepared newbie enters the race he bears the responsibility. If someone doesn’t know or adhere to the rules he bears the responsibility. And if someone chooses to enter a race without having been cleared by a physician, he bears the responsibility. If we over-regulate the sport it will make races prohibitively expensive and discourage participation. That will result in a lack of promoters and races. Personally, I prefer the option to choose what races I do.”

Neil Cook of Asphalt Green wrote:

“While any death is a troubling and upsetting thing, triathlon is a very safe sport, and the deaths should be viewed in the context of the number of participants and the total fatalities—which is extremely low. The cause of death, while not completely identified, does not appear to be from drowning—which is what most people unfoundedly fear.

“Swimming is the inherent risk, adding open water (can’t see the bottom, no wall 25 yards away) and the chaos of a triathlon start are the problems. And, there aren’t enough people that can truly help these swimmers. Race organizers seem to be doing everything possible. The waiver that everyone at the NYC Tri had to sign before they were given their race packet, stated that the swim was dangerous and that they could die. I’d be interested in knowing how many people signed that waiver and never read or thought about what it said, or simply said to themselves that they could swim, ignoring all the signs that they could not swim well in a triathlon. This is in fact a secondary issue —the death, I believe, was not due directly to the triathlon, but to the fear, stress and anxiety people experience during a triathlon swim can and needs to be addressed.

“Apart from requiring a swim test prior to entry into the event (and I think that that would be logistically impossible), I don’t know what else event organizers could do. There were kayakers, jet skis with EMT and equipment, NYPD and FDNY boats along the course.”

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