Triathalon swim deaths 2008 rising. What is going on?

I've been doing triathlons since 2004, and OW swims since 2005, was a NCAA Div. I water polo player, so am pretty comfortable in the scrum, these are just random thoughts from having been in both OW swims (i.e. pier to piers with 800+ swimmers) as well as one IM swim start and 20 + other wave starts of one kind or another. I agree that most triathletes are poor swimmers. Not all, of course, but many most come from a running or biking background and add the swim on as an afterthought, thinking a 1/4 OW swim is equivalent to a 1/4 pool swim. Wetsuits - I am in California, so wetsuits and heating aren't an issue, if it's legal (and it always is) i wear it. For most OW swims, I don't. But people do rely on the wetsuit as a flotation device. A very tight fitting flotation device that can lead to panic itself. And anyone wearing a wetsuit in 80 degree water is asking for trouble. OWS vs. Tri swims. Frankly, I see no difference in behaviors in OW swims vs. tri swims (except for my placing, I am front of the pack tri swimmer, fast middle of the pack OW swimmer). I see the same flailing people in OW swims as I do in tri swims. The only time I was really challenged was in an OW swim, not a tri. The front of the pack is also the same, and as described, organized and disciplined. Jumping to conclusions - It is an assumption to say the people that passed away were underprepared. Perhaps they were, perhpas they were not. But there is no way to know, because as we all know OW swimming is unforgiving. You can coast on the bike. You can't coast the swim, and bad stuff happens to good swimmers. I was on my way to a close to sub 1:00 IM swim when I got an acute, completely disabling and unforeseen vertigo episode and had to be pulled from the water. I've got 800 scuba dives all over the world in all sorts of hairy conditions, lots of open ocean swims, this was the first time I seriously thought I was going to drown. It can happen, and if you don't think it can happen to you, you are mistaken. Regulations - We have a couple OW swims in Cal. that you have to "qualify", either submit proof of a certain time for a 3 miler ("proof" is used loosely), or a 500 yard checkout swim for a 2 miler, but in general I am against any "regulation." We have already lost a few OW swims in Cal. due to the requirements that there be a certain lifeguard to swimmer ratio (i have heard, this was before I started OWS). I would be against any regulations or requirements that places the responsibility to be ready for a tri on anyone but the triathlete. Perhaps this sounds callous, but as others have mentioned the ratio of deaths to participants is very low. The more people that do this, the more will get hurt, plain and simple. In California we do our swims in the open ocean, sometimes with pounding surf. I do note that none of the deaths have come from here, thank God. My condolences to the families. Having been pulled from the water in an IM and taken to medical, I can relate to the fear and worry of the family waiting on shore for news of the swimmer.

I've been doing triathlons since 2004, and OW swims since 2005, was a NCAA Div. I water polo player, so am pretty comfortable in the scrum, these are just random thoughts from having been in both OW swims (i.e. pier to piers with 800+ swimmers) as well as one IM swim start and 20 + other wave starts of one kind or another. I agree that most triathletes are poor swimmers. Not all, of course, but many most come from a running or biking background and add the swim on as an afterthought, thinking a 1/4 OW swim is equivalent to a 1/4 pool swim. Wetsuits - I am in California, so wetsuits and heating aren't an issue, if it's legal (and it always is) i wear it. For most OW swims, I don't. But people do rely on the wetsuit as a flotation device. A very tight fitting flotation device that can lead to panic itself. And anyone wearing a wetsuit in 80 degree water is asking for trouble. OWS vs. Tri swims. Frankly, I see no difference in behaviors in OW swims vs. tri swims (except for my placing, I am front of the pack tri swimmer, fast middle of the pack OW swimmer). I see the same flailing people in OW swims as I do in tri swims. The only time I was really challenged was in an OW swim, not a tri. The front of the pack is also the same, and as described, organized and disciplined. Jumping to conclusions - It is an assumption to say the people that passed away were underprepared. Perhaps they were, perhpas they were not. But there is no way to know, because as we all know OW swimming is unforgiving. You can coast on the bike. You can't coast the swim, and bad stuff happens to good swimmers. I was on my way to a close to sub 1:00 IM swim when I got an acute, completely disabling and unforeseen vertigo episode and had to be pulled from the water. I've got 800 scuba dives all over the world in all sorts of hairy conditions, lots of open ocean swims, this was the first time I seriously thought I was going to drown. It can happen, and if you don't think it can happen to you, you are mistaken. Regulations - We have a couple OW swims in Cal. that you have to "qualify", either submit proof of a certain time for a 3 miler ("proof" is used loosely), or a 500 yard checkout swim for a 2 miler, but in general I am against any "regulation." We have already lost a few OW swims in Cal. due to the requirements that there be a certain lifeguard to swimmer ratio (i have heard, this was before I started OWS). I would be against any regulations or requirements that places the responsibility to be ready for a tri on anyone but the triathlete. Perhaps this sounds callous, but as others have mentioned the ratio of deaths to participants is very low. The more people that do this, the more will get hurt, plain and simple. In California we do our swims in the open ocean, sometimes with pounding surf. I do note that none of the deaths have come from here, thank God. My condolences to the families. Having been pulled from the water in an IM and taken to medical, I can relate to the fear and worry of the family waiting on shore for news of the swimmer.