Tragic death of fellow competitor in Philly Sprint Tri

Derek Valentino, a 40 year old father of two and first-time triathlete died during the swim portion of the Philly Sprint Triathlon Race.  This is a tragic event for his wife, his two teenage boys, and their extended family and I wanted to express my personal condolences as a fellow participant.

As a fellow first-time triathlete in the same race, this hits pretty close to home.  His wave started just a few minutes after mine, meaning I was likely still in the water when he ran into trouble.  Given how slow I was, he could have been quite close by indeed.  I found the large number in our wave and the close spacing of the waves meant you were constantly bumping into someone through pretty much the entire distance.

On the other hand, I remember feeling that there were quite a large number of boats, kayaks and individuals on floating platforms watching over the swimmers and saw one swimmer who was in difficulty receive quick assistance, so I have no reason to suspect that there was any failure on the part of the organizers of the race.  Indeed, the very rare occurrence of fatalities (1.5 per 100,000) during Triathlon tend to occur during the swim, and most due to heart related problems, some due to overexertion and others due to unidentified pre-existing conditions.  Like anyone who has competed in a mass swim start, I can vouch for the extreme stress involved in the start and the chaotic nature of swimming with so many others.

The Philly Tri organizers were appropriately cautious and cancelled the swim in the Olympic length race the next day.  I can imagine that competitors in that race must have felt ambivalent about this decision, on the one hand sympathy and caution and on the other a desire to complete the race for which you spent months or years preparing.

Regardless of the cause of death, this is a somber reminder to all to push ourselves within reasonable limits and listen to our bodies and to pay attention to the welfare of fellow athletes.  For the vast majority of triathletes, this is an amateur pursuit, one to be pursued with zeal but also within reason.