The Dam Triathlon: My Near-Death Experience

I had been debating whether to do this one for the past few weeks. Sue and I have both been in a low-energy state for the past few weeks, and my shoulders have been really sore for the past week as well. But I wasn't going to get another chance at a tri until next summer, so I decided on Saturday afternoon to do it. Sue thought I was crazy, and in retrospect she may have been correct.

I was struggling early on in the swim: it seemed so easy, but I was still moving so slowly. Then, about 200 yards in, disaster. I was crawling along behind some people, and suddenly I got kicked in the stomach. The air was instantly gone from my lungs, and I couldn't get any back in. If that had happened about 20 yards before then, the water was still shallow enough to stand. But right there it was over my head. In my gasping I got a couple of huge mouthfuls of water.

Fortunately, I was right by a buoy, so I grabbed onto it for a second until I was breathing again. After about 30 seconds I felt better, so I started off again. After about 20 strokes I knew I was in trouble. It hurt to reach out my arm, and it hurt worse to breathe in deeply. Worst of all was that after swallowing that water, I felt like I was going to puke at any second. But now I was well past a buoy, and too far from the next one. My only option was to swam for shore, about 50 yards away.

I frantically clawed at the water to get there: I couldn't put my head down because I couldn't breath, so that made swimming much harder. There were honestly a few seconds there where I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. In a panic now, I but everything I had into getting those 20 or so yards. The guy in the kayak got to me with about 5 yards to go, when I could stand up, and helped me onto the shore. I was doubled over in pain, unable to breathe, and unsteady on my feet.

I didn't want to sit though, I wanted to get back out there. So I stood there with Sue and the woman who was coordinating the event. But when my hands started to feel tingly, I knew I was done. I made my way over to the First Aid station, got an Oxygen mask, and just tried to relax. After about 10 or 15 minutes, I felt better. And believe it or not, I was considering trying to finish the race. But once I got back on my feet, and felt how unsteady they were, and how hard it was to breathe, I made the decision to go home.

It still hurts this morning where I got kicked, so my breathing is a little shallow today. But getting kicked is part of the sport: I'm sure the person who did it has no idea it happened, and would be very sorry about it if he did. But my two triathlon experiences have taught me that before the next one, I need to improve my swimming to the point where I can swim near the front. It's way better to make people pass me than for me to come up on people and get kicked or boxed in.

After my marathon, I'm going to find a Total Immersion Swimming instructor to help me.