The swim leg of triathlons is the killer, literally. According to researchers at the Minneapolis Heart Institute who studied statistics from 922,810 triathletes competing in 2,846 USA Triathlon-sanctioned events between January 2006 and September 2008, the risk of death from a heart-related event during a triathlon is about 15 in one million. That is low, the researchers admit, but not insignificant. For marathoners, the researchers found, the risk is far less– only four to eight in a million. Boston.com reports on the study, which found that almost all of the triathlon deaths occurred during the swimming competition.
The paper offers these tips to anyone considering a triathlon:
–Get a checkup to make sure you don’t have hidden heart problems.
–Train adequately long before the event, including open-water swims — not just in pools.
–Acclimate yourself to the water temperature shortly before a race, and wear a wetsuit if it’s too cold.
–Make sure the race has medical staff and defibrillators on site.
In the one “tri for fun” we did, the problem in the swimming leg had nothing to do with the heart; it was all about not ending up on the bottom of the lake. We re-named the event “tri not to die.”