From: James Peters <peters@convex.COM>
Subject: Re: Farmers Branch Triathlon
Originator: peters@mikey.convex.com
Keywords: swimming triathlon farmers branch
Reply-To: peters@convex.COM (James Peters)
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Distribution: world 
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:00:46 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In article <1992Jul21.212940.25546@chpc.utexas.edu> apas614@chpc.utexas.edu (Andy Heekin) writes:
>In article <1992Jul21.191142.23048@den.mmc.com>, jpringle@den.mmc.com (James E. Pringle) writes:
>> 
>> I heard a rumor last week that there might have been a drowning
>> at the "Farmers Branch Triathlon" held July 11 (or was it 12th)
>> in Farmers Branch, Texas.  Does anyone have any info on this?
>
>I was in that triathlon.  In fact, that guy was in my wave.  There were
>about 1500 participants in about 9 or 10 waves.  OUr wave was the 30-34
>male which was I think the 7th wave.  I never saw the guy, but several
>friends of mine who were in later waves saw what happened.  the guy
>was in his first triathlon and apparently got disoriented  and/or paniced
>He started swimming in semi-circles somewhere between 100 and 200 yards
>out into the 1K swim.  A guy I know got the announcers attention and
>kayakers were ordered over to where he was immediately.  The foulup
>occurred when the race starter sent the next wave off before they
>got to him.  This was a large womens wave.  Several women immediately
>got into trouble and grabbed on to the responding kayakers.  In all
>the confusion, they lost sight of the guy and assumed he had continued.
>Only after all the bikes were gone but his, did anyone start to get
>suspicious.  I think the people he came with,  though, knew something
>was wrong and reported him missing.  When they  tallied up the 
>results, they knew for sure that one person entered the lake, but
>did not leave.  I understand that a race of this size is difficult
>to put on, but this was kind of crazy.  Many first time people.  

this was truly a sad news. the swim course was a dog leg and looked something
like this:
		---------------------------------
		|				|
		|				|
		|	*	*	*	|
		|			 	|
		|			*	|
		|			 	|
		|	 *	|----------------
		|		|	^
		|		|     start
		|	  *	|
		|		|			S
	  wind	|		|			|
	  _.	|	    *	|		      E-+-W
	  /|	|		|			|
	 /	|	      *	|< finish		N
	/	|		|
		-----------------

			HOTEL

the water was warm but a strong breeze made it very choppy. this can be
real trouble for folks not used to open water. the buoys were hard to see
until about 20' from them. the wind also pushed the buoys from being 
straight lines so if you stuck to the marked course you probably swam 150m
farther then if you navigated from landmarks on the shore. the doubletree
hotel made a good landmark to aim for when turning north on the course.
the wind probably made the support kayaks work much too hard to stay in
close approximity to the course. i do not recall seeing a single kayak,
i breath exclusively on my left, in the middle of the course only on the 
outside perimeter. 

i also believe that first time triathletes should attend a mandatory meeting
explaining rules and how to request assistance from support volunteers.
i do not believe a swimming competency test should be required before com-
peting though. a simple orientation session and possibly swimming the course
the day before the event would be nice additions. the heat ordering should
place all first time triathletes together instead of throwing them into
a massive age-group pack. the farmer's branch started elite, youngsters and
old folks, 25-29M etc. the newbies should probably go first with 20 minutes
lead on the next wave. my heat 25-29 was held back from its scheduled time
by the starter 10 minutes to let the previous wave get to the middle of the
course, a good call. why this was not done for the 30-34 i do not know.
this months issue of Runner has a good article discussing open water swimming
basics. 

>I was weaving like crazy in and out of traffic. I ended up with a broken 
>collarbone 5 miles into the bike and was carted away in an ambulance. 
>That's the story that I heard, anyway.

sorry to hear about your injury. i saw more than one biker rider hit pave-
ment. the course had a few sharp turns but nothing extreme. i believe the
wind contributed to these crashes especially when going from blowing in your
face to blowing your tail.

overall i enjoyed the farmers branch triathlon. i was annoyed that wetsuits
were allowed given the water temperature was in the high 70's. the folks in
the transition area were a bit overzealous harping 'slow down' when entering
on bike. i coasted in but was reminded by half a dozen folk to 'slow down',
sorry but i was coasting as slow as i could. i do not believe the mile marks
for the run were correct. 

should anyone be interested in sundays dallas morning news article on this
i will fax it out.

regards and tri harder,
james, peters@convex.com