Are triathletes really in danger?
By Nan Kappeler
May 1, 2008 -- During the swim leg of a Daytona Beach, Fla. Triathlon in 1989, Mark Montgomery felt several hard taps on his feet. After the third tap, he turned over to yell at the person tapping his toes—but nobody was there. After an even harder knock on his back, he realized the tapping wasn’t coming from a competitor, but a shark.
“My brain began working a million times faster. The shore was 500 yards away and there were no lead boats or lifeguards nearby,” said Montgomery, a former professional triathlete and Los Angeles County lifeguard. “My experience and instinct kicked in. I need to give this shark a choice, so I swam back to the pack and got in the middle and stayed there.” He later found out the shark bumped two other racers, former pro Wendy Ingram and Mike Garcia.
Ingram remembers seeing a shadow to her side, then feeling something bump her feet. She turned around, and like Montgomery, didn’t see anyone, so she continued swimming towards the next buoy. Just moments later, she felt a second, much harder thump on her leg. “I began to freak out, then a nearby paddler told me to go back to the pack,” she said.
Montgomery believes they had swum into the area of the very territorial hammerhead shark. “Their M.O. is to ram a victim until they go unconscious, then they come back for the kill. I thought I was going to die,” said Montgomery.
After the 1989 event, Montgomery said he never had a problem re-entering the water. “The chances of being bit are astronomical. You have more chances being killed on your bike or running.”
Even today, Ingram remains not quite as confident. “I always go in with someone, but I’m a big chicken. It’s the ocean, and animals live there.” She now believes swimming by dolphins is the best sign no sharks aren’t around.
Ingram isn’t the only one concerned about what’s lurking below the water’s surface. For as long as triathlons have held swims in the ocean, racers, and even experienced ocean swimmers have been on edge about the freak chance of meeting a shark.
Last Friday, April 25, every swimmer’s worst fears were confirmed with the news of the horrific fatal attack of Triathlon Club of San Diego member David Martin in Solana Beach, Calif. Marine biologists identified the attacker as a 12-17-foot Great White shark.
The Shark Research Committee, a non-profit scientific research group who documents shark attacks on the Pacific Coast of North America, reports only six swimming fatalities since 1952 along the entire coastline of California. But suddenly, the possibility of a shark lurking in the waters near us is very real.
California State University Long Beach marine biology professor and shark specialist Dr. Chris Lowe said he was surprised to hear of the recent shark attack, especially one that resulted in a fatality. “Humans are not the number one item on a sharks menu and generally [sharks] don’t come close to shore,” said Lowe. But coupled with the increase of people in the water, and sharks being found closer to shore, Lowe predicts we will see mores attacks.
Even though many theories exist as to why sharks attack people, Lowe said we really don’t know the answer. “Mistaken identity is one theory, but this probably isn’t the only reason for an attack. Why would a shark expend the energy to bite and not come back?” he said. “They may think of us as food, but some may be biting for defensive reasons. We may be invading their territory. The fact is, we really don’t know what a shark is thinking.”
The experts do know that sharks see very well, and see colors, but their senses also rely heavily on smell and vibration. “We don’t know how well a shark can see in the marine environment, where the conditions can change quickly from clear to cloudy.” As for the chances of a shark mistaking a swimmer in a wetsuit for a seal? “Very little,” said Lowe. “We have no evidence to support the theory that more people wearing wetsuits get bit. People in Florida getting bit aren’t wearing wetsuits.”
Marathon ocean swimmer Craig Taylor isn’t taking any chances. Before participating in a 60-mile relay style swim from San Clemente Island to San Clemente, Calif., he purchased a shark shield from a dive shop in Australia.
“I was looking for a piece of mind,” Taylor said. But the unit needed to be strapped to the calf, altering his swim positioning, and the four-foot-long tail kept shocking his leg during training sessions.
Unable to swim with the shark shield on, Taylor placed the device in the support kayak during the relay with the tail in the water, hoping the painful vibration emitted from the device would deter a potential attack. At one point, he stopped during his one-hour leg. “I had a scare, I saw something.” The shark shield was immediately placed in the water and no attack occurred. Even though fellow teammates continue to joke about the incident, Taylor insists the shark device worked fine during the 2002 swim. After all, no attack occurred.
Getting to the heart of the matter, Lowe said there are animals in the ocean that can kill you. “People expect the ocean to be like a Disney ride, but it’s not—it’s a wild place.” In order to overcome fears about shark attacks, Lowe suggests maintaining perspective on the situation. “Everybody knows someone who has died in a car accident, yet most of us still drive a car. The probability of getting killed in a car is so much greater than being killed by a shark.
Four-time Ironman Dave Kiff has never encountered a predator during his morning swims off Main Beach in Laguna Beach, Calif., but after hearing about the Solana Beach attack, and now another fatal attack of a surfer in Ixtapa, Mexico, he’s reconsidering his swim options.
“Dave Martin was doing all the right things that I have been told to give a person security; to swim with a group, near surfers and lifeguards—but that didn’t work. The ocean is beautiful, but it’s just not worth the risk” said Kiff. “The pool is looking better and better.”
Nan Kappeler is a freelance writer
who resides in Orange County, California. She is also the founder and
owner of Lickety-Split triathlon transition mats.
www.fasttransition.com.