Last night, I swam a mile at the YMCA as I try to do at least 3 times each week. A fellow attorney, Mike Wong, was swimming in the lane next to me. I asked Mike how the Waikiki Rough Water 2.4 mile swim went on Labor Day. Mike said that he was pleased with his swim, but was more interested in telling me about a relay that his team had swum in the Molokai Chanel. He described the rough water and then, said with an apparent twinkle in his goggle covered eye that “one of our colleagues showed up”. It didn’t take long before I caught on. “You mean a shark?” I asked. “Yes, a 14 foot….” He replied. I didn’t catch the make and model of the shark as I was so amused by his reference to the shark as our colleague.

A few years ago, I was appalled to hear that my former triathlon training buddy was severely injured playing volleyball. I’m sure that you are thinking that she probably twisted her knee or somehow messed up her shoulder. It was nothing as ordinary and commonplace as that. She dove for a ball, crashing head on into a concrete barrier located a few feet outside of the sand volleyball court. Her injuries were so serious that she landed in ICU and she is still suffering the effects of those injuries today, because of the negligence of the volleyball tournament directors and possibly others.
Lessons can surely be learned from this horrible accident.

Triathlon race directors must necessarily put a tremendous amount of effort in risk management in planning a triathlon. By the same token, each triathlete should have his or her own risk management plan with every training ride, swim or run and every race. Afterall, it is the athlete that has to endure the outcome of any injury or accident, which will certainly impact his or her ability to continue training and racing. This is part 1 of a series of blogs on triathlon risk management. The following are some guidelines for triathletes who wish to manage their risk in training and competing in the swim portion of the event.