To be clear - this is a horrible tragedy.
My position is from a race directors point of view: the water (currents, temp, etc) in the SF Bay are much different on March 3rd than on a date in June. In my opinion, there were many factors that were overlooked by the race director. These oversights lead to death and several swimmers in a distressed situation who needed to be rescued.
Yes, participants should be training for the conditions they may encounter on the day of the race. However, when conditions are drastically different from prior years/attempts/reports, the race director/event director must address additional safety concerns. Head first starts vs running starts, wet suit recommendations, warm-up times, water currents, temperatures, etc. should be addressed by the event director. To that end participants rely on the race director to provide a SAFE environment for all.
As reported, the event is open to anyone, the newbie to the seasoned pro, and is a bucket list item (either "this is a cool thing to accomplish" or "I have a mission to do as many Tri's as possible", etc.). The event director has a duty to consider the SAFETY of all . . . even the "lowest common denominator" (as someone used in another thread on another forum on the topic).
Insurance companies issue insurance policies under the premise that the event is safe and incidents of occurrence are minimized. When an accident occurs, all aspects of the accident and event are analyzed and premiums increase (directly proportional to the magnitude of the occurrence). This is where I have an issue. There were enough recent incidents/occurrences for the USMS insurance premium to skyrocket. There were several accidents/deaths that could have been avoided with proper safety considerations and unfortunately some that could not (organ defects, health issues, and the like).
The safety guidelines are still in the developing stage. To my knowledge, USMS is working very hard to come up with a solution and a best "one size fits all" guideline. Race directors, who are most knowledgeable of the nuances of their event, have a DUTY to go above and beyond the safety guidelines.
In my opinion, the Escape from Alcatraz race director was irresponsible with respect to the swim portion of the event. Incidents like the ones that occurred in this event have directly affected my safe, little swim on the little Allegheny River in little Pittsburgh, PA. I can't help but be annoyed.
Yes, chaos, I could investigate other insurance providers however, this little event is sponsored by the LMSC for USMS members. I am both the LMSC Chair and Event Director. This event was a benefit to USMS membership and encouraged USMS membership. Now what do I do? Hold the event with another insurance provider and jump ship from USMS? Pass the event to another organization?
As of the time of this posting, the event is not scheduled for 2013 due to the $1,000 insurance bill from USMS for USMS sanction/insurance coverage. We are a small LMSC with limited resources and the event is a small event (approx. 50 swimmers for the past three years each year).
To be clear - this is a horrible tragedy.
My position is from a race directors point of view: the water (currents, temp, etc) in the SF Bay are much different on March 3rd than on a date in June. In my opinion, there were many factors that were overlooked by the race director. These oversights lead to death and several swimmers in a distressed situation who needed to be rescued.
Yes, participants should be training for the conditions they may encounter on the day of the race. However, when conditions are drastically different from prior years/attempts/reports, the race director/event director must address additional safety concerns. Head first starts vs running starts, wet suit recommendations, warm-up times, water currents, temperatures, etc. should be addressed by the event director. To that end participants rely on the race director to provide a SAFE environment for all.
As reported, the event is open to anyone, the newbie to the seasoned pro, and is a bucket list item (either "this is a cool thing to accomplish" or "I have a mission to do as many Tri's as possible", etc.). The event director has a duty to consider the SAFETY of all . . . even the "lowest common denominator" (as someone used in another thread on another forum on the topic).
Insurance companies issue insurance policies under the premise that the event is safe and incidents of occurrence are minimized. When an accident occurs, all aspects of the accident and event are analyzed and premiums increase (directly proportional to the magnitude of the occurrence). This is where I have an issue. There were enough recent incidents/occurrences for the USMS insurance premium to skyrocket. There were several accidents/deaths that could have been avoided with proper safety considerations and unfortunately some that could not (organ defects, health issues, and the like).
The safety guidelines are still in the developing stage. To my knowledge, USMS is working very hard to come up with a solution and a best "one size fits all" guideline. Race directors, who are most knowledgeable of the nuances of their event, have a DUTY to go above and beyond the safety guidelines.
In my opinion, the Escape from Alcatraz race director was irresponsible with respect to the swim portion of the event. Incidents like the ones that occurred in this event have directly affected my safe, little swim on the little Allegheny River in little Pittsburgh, PA. I can't help but be annoyed.
Yes, chaos, I could investigate other insurance providers however, this little event is sponsored by the LMSC for USMS members. I am both the LMSC Chair and Event Director. This event was a benefit to USMS membership and encouraged USMS membership. Now what do I do? Hold the event with another insurance provider and jump ship from USMS? Pass the event to another organization?
As of the time of this posting, the event is not scheduled for 2013 due to the $1,000 insurance bill from USMS for USMS sanction/insurance coverage. We are a small LMSC with limited resources and the event is a small event (approx. 50 swimmers for the past three years each year).
