Learn to swim before you do a triathlon?

I try to be understanding of people who come from a non-swimming background and want to challenge themselves and do their "first triathlon", but this is idiocy. (This is not a joke) "Ive been running and biking on and off for years so decided to sign up for sprint with some coworkers. I didnt have much time to train for the swim since this race was coming up but I thought, hey its only 400m, how hard could that be. The only time Im in the water I usually have a beer! We went to the lake a couple times before work and I found out just how hard swimming is. It will definately be an effort for me to make the 400m. I plan on doing alot of sidestroke and *** stroke. Im not very good at either one of them but they should get me out of the water. Next week im signing up for swim classes to teach me the crawl. Just figured Id write on here to help with my nerves" And after the race he posts: "Folks I did make it though I won't disagree with the people that said maybe I shouldn't do it. I was in the water forever but did fine on the bike and run. Saw 3 people wave for the boat to pick them up in the first 100m. I definitely thought about it halfway but just keep at it, resting for a bit on the buoys. Was a great time but I won't do another one until I can actually swim. Thanks." And people wonder why there are deaths during the swim leg of a triathlon but rarely during the bike or run.