Unfortunately there was another death in Wisconsin:
www.jsonline.com/.../53884077.html
There are a couple of questions that come to mind.
What is the death rate per swimmer/mile in USMS sanctioned open water events vs the swim portion of USAT events?
Of the deaths, what percentage are health (e.g., heart attack) vs. "in over your head" issues?
Right now, triathlon related deaths are in the press in Wisconsin, so it may be more an issue of visibility than anything else.
Other than certifying the capability of each swimmer before the race, what can be done to ensure the safety of participants? I'm not an open water swimmer at all - give me a 50 in an 80 degree pool - so I'm probably the worst person to give an opinion on this. USMS has a pretty good track record, so we must either be attracting the right group to our swims, or we have safety measures in place that prevent the drownings.
The folks that are doing USMS open water swims are attracted to it because it is a swim event. Many folks are attracted to the triathlons because they view it as a bike/run event with a swim that have to get through to get to their main event. I'm forever hearing, "I just need to get through the swim." It is kind of like the guy that excels in fly, back, and free and wants to swim a fast I.M., yet never trains breaststroke. He thinks, "I'll just have to get through the breaststroke."
So, think of folks showing up to swim USMS open water swims like breaststrokers showing up to swim breaststroke, and think of triathlons like a swimmer showing up to swim an I.M. who hasn't done any training for breaststroke. Of course, a non-breaststroker won't drown on the breaststroke (although I come fairly close :)) while a non-swimmer who hasn't done any training for the swim runs the risk of drowning on the swim portion to the triathlon.
Still think a qualification process instead of a certification process would be the way to go.
Unfortunately there was another death in Wisconsin:
www.jsonline.com/.../53884077.html
There are a couple of questions that come to mind.
What is the death rate per swimmer/mile in USMS sanctioned open water events vs the swim portion of USAT events?
Of the deaths, what percentage are health (e.g., heart attack) vs. "in over your head" issues?
Right now, triathlon related deaths are in the press in Wisconsin, so it may be more an issue of visibility than anything else.
Other than certifying the capability of each swimmer before the race, what can be done to ensure the safety of participants? I'm not an open water swimmer at all - give me a 50 in an 80 degree pool - so I'm probably the worst person to give an opinion on this. USMS has a pretty good track record, so we must either be attracting the right group to our swims, or we have safety measures in place that prevent the drownings.
The folks that are doing USMS open water swims are attracted to it because it is a swim event. Many folks are attracted to the triathlons because they view it as a bike/run event with a swim that have to get through to get to their main event. I'm forever hearing, "I just need to get through the swim." It is kind of like the guy that excels in fly, back, and free and wants to swim a fast I.M., yet never trains breaststroke. He thinks, "I'll just have to get through the breaststroke."
So, think of folks showing up to swim USMS open water swims like breaststrokers showing up to swim breaststroke, and think of triathlons like a swimmer showing up to swim an I.M. who hasn't done any training for breaststroke. Of course, a non-breaststroker won't drown on the breaststroke (although I come fairly close :)) while a non-swimmer who hasn't done any training for the swim runs the risk of drowning on the swim portion to the triathlon.
Still think a qualification process instead of a certification process would be the way to go.
