I'm hoping to swim in open water some day. Just read some articles about what to pay attention to and all sorts of accidents that can happen--losing goggles or cap when the race just started, for example. Some people bring an extra pair of goggles and wear them on their ankles or necks??
It will be interesting to hear what kind of accidents people have actually experienced in OW swimming--goggles/cap accidents, cramps due to cold water, losing direction, animal bites, needing rescue... And if you had the rare chance to see what the inside of the stomach of a shark was like that would be exciting to hear :D
Parents
Former Member
Sorry, but the habit of lying to women in a futile bid to get them to do what I want is too deeply ingrained to stop. It's pure reflex by now. Besides, if you take the number of incidents and divide it by the number of races I've done, it gives you a relatively small ratio. If you also factor in how utterly fearless (a.k.a. stupid) I am, the fact that I've survived this long practically guarantees that you'll never have a serious problem.
Two more incidents I remembered (these are Swimmy's favorites):
10) During an Atlantic City ocean race, getting a jellyfish sting that was so bad it had me bleeding into the water. (Here sharky, sharky, sharky.)
11) At the end of the first hour of the MIMS race, accidentally running arm/head first into a huge stinging jellyfish. It felt like most of my body was on fire. The Court Without Appeal said that my screams could be heard a mile away. Much of my body was numb/burning for the next 1.5-2 hours and I couldn't taste my Accelerade for a bit longer than that. (Yes, I took some stings in the mouth.)
-LBJ
damn lbj, watch out for those lingering pieces of skylab.
Sorry, but the habit of lying to women in a futile bid to get them to do what I want is too deeply ingrained to stop. It's pure reflex by now. Besides, if you take the number of incidents and divide it by the number of races I've done, it gives you a relatively small ratio. If you also factor in how utterly fearless (a.k.a. stupid) I am, the fact that I've survived this long practically guarantees that you'll never have a serious problem.
Two more incidents I remembered (these are Swimmy's favorites):
10) During an Atlantic City ocean race, getting a jellyfish sting that was so bad it had me bleeding into the water. (Here sharky, sharky, sharky.)
11) At the end of the first hour of the MIMS race, accidentally running arm/head first into a huge stinging jellyfish. It felt like most of my body was on fire. The Court Without Appeal said that my screams could be heard a mile away. Much of my body was numb/burning for the next 1.5-2 hours and I couldn't taste my Accelerade for a bit longer than that. (Yes, I took some stings in the mouth.)
-LBJ
damn lbj, watch out for those lingering pieces of skylab.
