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Woman fatally stricken at island triathlon
A Rhode Island woman died after losing consciousness while competing in the swim leg of the Boca Bop triathlon on Sunday, Nov. 8. The woman, who is in her early 60s, was taken by boat from the swimming course at approximately 7:43 a.m., not long after the triathlon began. She was transported to the helipad, and the helicopter arrived at 8:14 a.m. to take her to an unknown area hospital.
Her name has not been released.
Mary Winston, the coordinator of the Boca Bop for the Optimist’s Club of Englewood, confirmed that the woman did die.
On altavistasports.com, a blog was created by those who participated in the race. One person who commented said the woman had a heart attack.
Some island residents and triathletes have questioned whether the event was properly staffed, as a record number, 300, turned out to compete. On the blog, other triathletes were questioning the chain of events.
“This was my first triathlon … I was left feeling terrified after the swim and said I would never do it again,” one competitor wrote. “I was one of the first two women to get to the woman in trouble, when I started screaming for help there were other swimmers that came to aid right away … I expected someone to jump off one of the boats, take control of the situation and swim her to one of the boats. When the boat did paddle over, all they did was throw a life raft we could keep her head on, waiting for someone to help us it seemed like forever …”
Another racer said, “ … there were only about five boats and one kayaker to help the swimmers … everyone competing should be a strong swimmer but people get kicked and things do happen … I don’t believe they are prepared to handle it.”
Winston said that her organization had been deeply affected by this year’s race, not only because of the medical problem that was involved but because they were overwhelmed with the response.
“We’re going to put more security and course observers in place, that’s what we’re going to work on for next year,” she said. “We’re also going to do a lot of posting of information, especially making sure those first-timers aren’t getting in that water without some heavy practicing. So many people aren’t prepared for swimming in open water, they may have been training in a swimming pool and they need to know there’s a big, big difference. We don’t know what level of training this woman had, but we do know what causes a lot of reoccurring problems.”
There were several other people that had to be pulled out of the water as well, she said.
“The others were just overcome, it’s what happens sometimes if competitors are first-timers,” she explained. “They did recover.”
Chief C.W. Blosser of the Boca Grande Fire Department said he was comfortable with the emergency workers’ response times, and that the ambulance was present on the beach from the start of the race.
“We always ramp up personnel, depending on the event,” he said. “When something on the island is going on, whether it’s the fall festival, a wedding or a race, we try to anticipate the proper staffing. We had two Lee County Sheriff’s boats in the water, and we had a firefighter/paramedic on each boat. From the time we realized there was a problem until we had her in a boat couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes, and we had her out of the boat at the beach in less than a minute.”
Blosser said they met with the Boca Bop organizers on September 30 to discuss their role in the race, but they had no idea there would be so many racers. It wasn’t as much of a problem until it was time to clear the way for emergency workers to bring the patient from the water to the ambulance.
“Getting folks out of the way was difficult,” Blosser said. “And that was with the ambulance right there, a police presence and the Florida Fish and Wildlife officers there.”
Winston agreed.
“We had some real issues,” she said. “When they were trying to get this woman out of the water, there were bikes coming in and we had to stop them. They didn’t like that, because it disrupted their time. But, this was our 11th year, and we’ve had 10 years without incident. This is the first time, it set us all back. We never thought in a million years something like this would happen.”
The triathlon can be a grueling event for those who aren’t in top physical shape, as competitors jump in the Gulf of Mexico to swim three-quarters of a mile, jump on bicycles for 13 miles, then run a 5K race.
Winston said they were looking at a cut-off number of entrants for next year.
“We didn’t expect this many people, we had people registering the day of the event,” she said. “We had no idea. I’ve always had such a huge concern about parking, and we’re at a point now where we’ll actually have to do a cutoff. We don’t have the space. There’s plenty of water to swim in, but not enough racks for bikes, and have such a small area for people to transition in. And we certainly still want space in the area for the ambulance to be there.”
She continued.
“In all, we had very positive comments about the island, people love it there. It was a perfect, beautiful day. Almost every person I spoke with who did the race were happy, but all of us, the Optimists Club, the sheriff’s department and the fire department all got a taste of something new. This was a real learning experience. We will definitely have another Boca Bop next year.”
Jules Roman, an island resident who frequently competes in other triathlons as well as the Boca Bop, said he thought everything went well.
“I had a great time, but I wasn’t affected by the medical incident because I was up ahead before anything happened,” he said. “I didn’t even know … as a participant I was focused on racing. The confusion was very typical of a triathlon, but by breaking us into three waves it really helped.”
Roman placed eighth overall in his division for men 40-44. His swimming time was 10:32, his biking time was 39:44 and his running time was 25:57.
Jinx Horan, a local tennis professional and resident, said that this was her fourth Boca Bop and she really enjoyed it.
“I’ve done it twice on a team and one other race by myself,” she said. “It was good except for all that swimming. It was when I was coming back in that there was all this commotion. It’s really eerie when you’re in the water, all you hear is kicking, you’re getting kicked. I could hear people screaming, and the boat was right there throwing a life preserver out. I just wanted to get out of that water. The run was good, I felt good.”
Horan placed second out of 15 overall in her division. Her swim time was 14:01, her biking time was 42:17 and her run time was 24:25.
Island resident Julian Keevil finished eighth in his division, with a swim time of 17:53, a biking time of 58:51 and a run time of 41:05.
Top honors in the men’s “elite” category went to Matt Greene, 22, of Gainesville; Joel Chavez, 30, of Tampa; Adam Alonso, 37, of Bellaire; and Frank Lopez, 37, of Largo.
For the women’s division, Holley Petrack, 31, of Tampa and Christina Noordstar, 31, Tierra Verde, took first and second place.
The first place team competing in the Boca Bop included Scott Helpling, Jenna Bush and Jared Van Bemmel.
3 Responses for “Woman fatally stricken at island triathlon”
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I was on the beach when it happened. I have to say that I thought the EMS people did a great job. They kept trying to reviive the lady for well over a half hour. I was very impressed with the care and compassion for the family. I only wish my prayer would’ve been answered and she would have lived. God bless her and her family. They are still in my prayers.
I was nearby during this entire incident and the time frames given for the woman being in the boat within ” a couple of minutes ” and out of the boat on the beach “in less than a minute” are way out of line. The total time from the racers yelling for heip until the woman was out of the boat was over 20 minutes – way too long! Also we all listened to the ambulance siren coming toward the beach as she was in the boat, so to say that the ambulance was on the beach at the start of the race is smply not true. Also, there were no race officials on the bike course from town all the way out to Gills Grocery (several miles). Even the best triathlete can take a nasty fall on a bike and would once again have to count on fellow racers to get them help.
The entire race was poorly run, from registration & packet pick up the night before (total chaos!) to the bike check (non-existant). The Optimists make a good deal of money on this race and the participants deserve more than they received this year!
I am the daughter of the woman who died. Perhaps she was accidentally kicked, but she did not have a heart attack–that was ruled out at the hospital. Someone who commented previously was correct in that it was at least 20 minutes before she was taken out of the boat–I was there, I saw the entire thing. I am deeply offended by comments about my mother’s physical fitness (or lack thereof), or her inability to compete in this “mini” triathlon. She was a very strong swimmer and a scuba diver. She did train in a pool several times a week, but she also trained off of that beach, in the very water in which she died. I am not sure what Gilda Suarez means by the ” care and compassion” shown to the family–an EMS worker on the scene sent my father and I to the wrong hospital. We drove an hour away, only to be told she was not there, and had to drive back to Punta Gorda. I went to Florida to cheer my mother on, and ended up watching her die–not once, but twice–on the beach, and after she was taken off life support in the hospital. Luckily my two brothers ( the youngest only 21 years old) were able to make it to Florida in time to say good-bye. Thank you to the women who helped her in the water, and to the hospital staff. My mother was a CNA who worked in home health care. She loved helping people almost as much as she loved adventure and new challenges. I never heard her say she couldn’t do something–she was always willing to try. She was loving, caring and supportive of her children. She was the strongest person I will ever know. She was my best friend.