Three triathletes have been pulled from the Gulf of Mexico during triathlons during the last two years. All subsequently died. I took a look into who these people were, what happened on those fateful days and how it could be prevented.

Enjoy.

Tri-accidental tragedy Part I: Triple tragedy

Tri-accidental tragedy Part II: Health matters in deaths
Tri-accidental tragedy Part II: Gulf risks threaten swimmers

Tri-accidental tragedy Part III: Stories eerily similar

Post from: What's the Fuss?

When Chris Boozer woke up the morning of Nov. 3, two things were on his mind.

First, he wanted to have a good day at Ironman Florida.

Second, he was concerned about his bike.

Boozer had to leave the engagement ring he was going to give to girlfriend Laura Thomas after both finished the race with his bike overnight.

“I had one of the most expensive bikes,” he said. “I was saying a few prayers coming out of the water.

“I had it planned, I guess, for a few weeks prior to the race. She and I both do Ironmans and we just thought — I thought — that would be a really neat way. It’s kind of a passion of ours, the triathlon.”

Thomas had about an 8-minute lead on Boozer after the 2.4-mile swim, but he made up four minutes on the 112-mile bike ride. Fortunately for him, the ring was still on the bike where he hid it. Ironman requires athletes to check their bikes the night before the race, so Boozer had no choice but to leave the ring.

When Boozer passed Thomas at around Mile 8 of the marathon, he knew the plan would work.

“She was a little tired at that point,” Boozer said. “We got her some nutrition in her and a little bit of water. She kinda perked up and told me to go on with my race, which I wanted to do to begin with because I wanted to be ahead of her when she finished.”

The former Mosley boys basketball coach from 1999-2001 finished the race in 12:21:56, just less than 16 minutes faster than Thomas. Boozer had to convince Ironman officials to let him hang around the finish line, which is usually cleared of athletes after they come through, by showing them the ring.

When Thomas finished, Boozer put a medal around her neck and then got on one knee.

“You get such an emotional event to begin with,” he said. “All that training and hard work crossing the finish line is such a highly emotional period and throwing that proposal on top of it was just a highly emotional time for both of us.

“She got a little teary and she took the ring. I said ‘Well is that a yes?’ and she said ‘Of course.’ At that point you’re so drained, I can imagine she was shocked by it.”

Friends and family followed the Boozer and Thomas, and watched the engagement live via Internet feed. Later that night, Thomas pieced together the influx of text messages she
received before and after the race.

The Miami native now teaches math at North Hardin in Radcliff, Ky.

Boozer and Thomas are looking at a summer wedding either on the beaches of Panama City or in Melbourne.

Post from: What's the Fuss?

Dorothy Barnett-Griffin, the 43-year-old woman from Lucas, Texas pulled from the Gulf of Mexico during Ironman Florida on Nov. 3, died Thursday evening at Bay Medical Center.

She was 43.

Barnett-Griffin is the second triathlete in two years to die after being pulled out of the water behind the Boardwalk Beach Resort. Last year, Montana resident Barney Rice died from drowning, three days after he was found floating in the gulf.

Barnett-Griffin, a registered nurse, was an organ donor.

With about 300 yards left in the second loop of the 2.4-mile swim, Barnett-Griffin was struggling to swim. Surrounded by safety personnel in kayaks, Barnett-Griffin put her hand on a kayak and said she was having difficulty breathing, witnesses said. She then passed out and was pulled from the water and brought to shore, where she was taken to BMC by ambulance.

Barnett-Griffin spent five days in the surgical intensive care unit, where she was listed under critical condition.

“We’re very sad and our thoughts and prayers are with the family,” Ironman spokeswoman Helen Manning said. “We are respecting their wishes to keep this a private family circumstance.”

Rusty Russell, executive director of the Panama City Marine Institute, which was responsible for the buoys, said the water was 71 degrees and calm. He described it “as smooth as a swimming pool.”

“Clearly we’re always concerned when any athlete is either injured or suffer a difficulty on the course and in particular when it results in them passing away,” Manning said. “That’s something we don’t take lightly at all. We will review our processes. The support across the board that was given to her was given to her. Obviously, we have incident reports and reviews of any circumstances that happen in our races that would be keeping in what’s ordinary.”

Barnett-Griffin is the fourth triathlete since 2001 to die during an Ironman event. In 2001, Perry Rendina became the first Ironman entrant to die, when he was killed on the bike leg of Ironman California 70.3.

After two deaths in two years, Manning said Ironman isn’t concerned “that there’s a fundamental problem with the course.”

Barnett-Griffin was survived by her husband Mike Griffin and children Kim, 15; Derek, 11; and Zachary, 8.

Post from: What's the Fuss?

She was listed in critical condition in sthe Bay Medical Center surgical intensive care unit, hospital officials said Thursday.

Griffin was rescued from the water behind the Boardwalk Beach Resort toward the end of the 2.4-mile swim leg. She was one of the last swimmers in the water and was conversing with rescue crews in kayaks when she rolled over and asked for help. She was rushed by ambulance to BMC.

According to the Ironman Web site, Griffin is a registered nurse. Griffin’s family has chose not to comment on her condition.

Post from: What's the Fuss?

By Josh Weinfuss
News Herald Writer
747-5069 / jweinfuss@pcnh.com

PANAMA CITY BEACH
The breakfast of champions isn’t Wheaties at Ironman Florida.

Professional triathlete Paul Fritzsche goes against common belief amongst triathletes and likes to have something solid for breakfast.

He has a bagel with peanut butter and banana with a couple of Ensure shakes before a race.
Sara Gross, a pro from British Columbia, Canada, goes a different route with her pre-race meal.

She has a liquid breakfast, consisting of three or four water bottles full an energy drink with 300-400 calories in it, and then has a couple of energy bars.

Fritzsche said not everybody’s stomachs can handle a solid breakfast before swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles. Athlete’s diets, he said, should be dictated by their bodies.

One more good race: After winning Ironman Canada in August, Gross knew she had one more good race left in her, but it wasn’t going to be with the “big girls” at the World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.

Instead she took her wet suit, bike and running shoes here to Panama City for the first time where she will compete against Bella Comerford and Katja Schumacher for the women’s title on Saturday. She did her research though before coming to the Panhandle.

“I knew it was going to be flat and windy and that it could be choppy out there,” Gross said.

Goals, goals, goals: Stephen Bayliss, boyfriend of Bella Comerford and the favorite to win this year’s Ironman Florida, halfheartedly set his goals for this year’s race on Thursday.

Without saying it, Bayliss has his eyes set on the course record of 8 hours, 21 minutes, 30 seconds set by Spencer Smith in 2001. To do so, he wants to run a sub-2 hours, 50 minutes marathon and to keep his bike time under 4 hours, 20 minutes.

“(It’s) very interesting to have that race two months ago,” said Bayliss of Ironman United Kingdom, where he finished second.

Back in the game: Fritzsche is feeling good about Saturday’s Ironman Florida, especially after finishing second at Ironman Wisconsin on Sept. 9.

“I feel like I’m actually competitive in the race now that I know what it feels like moving at 100 percent,” he said.

Post from: What's the Fuss?