Hypothermia, panic attacks: The June 23 half-IRONMAN swimming event turned into chaos after gusts of wind endangered many athletes, forcing organizers to end the first event.
What there is to know
- The IRONMAN 70.3 Mont-Tremblant sporting event, also called the half-IRONMAN, includes a distance of 1.9 km swimming, then 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running.
- The swimming event that took place on June 23 had to be stopped due to weather conditions.
- Several people had to be rescued, some suffered panic attacks and hypothermia.
Guillaume Giroux has been preparing for two years to complete the grueling IRONMAN 70.3 course at Mont Tremblant. The course includes a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike ride and a 21.1 km run.
It is 5 a.m. when the 35-year-old athlete arrives at the edge of the beach where the swimming event begins. Having watched the weather forecasts throughout the week, Guillaume Giroux is not surprised to see the “deluge” that occurs in the early morning.
But around 6:50 a.m., when the event was supposed to begin, an announcement was made to the athletes. They were informed that they would have to wait a few more minutes before jumping into the water and that, given the weather conditions, the distance to be covered would be reduced by 800 meters.
It took more than that to discourage the athlete who was not at his first swim in a lake. Arriving at the time of his category, Guillaume Giroux threw himself into the water and swam towards the first bypass buoy.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM THE EVENT FACEBOOK PAGE
Participants line up for the start of the swimming event on June 23.
” [Au début]everything seems really good, I’m swimming towards the first bypass buoy, my breathing is good and my rhythm is good, he said. Everything is beautiful until I get to the first buoy.”
Kayakers and boats dispatched
After rounding the buoy, everything became “extremely chaotic.”
It was extremely cold, there were a lot of waves and I couldn’t see more than 100 meters ahead. I swallowed a lot of water and as soon as I turned I saw a lot of people screaming for help, some of them who thought they were drowning.
Guillaume Giroux, IRONMAN participant
Guillaume Giroux then suffered a panic attack, something he was not used to.
Around 7:50 a.m., nearly an hour after the start of the event, the organizers decided to end it. Kayakers and boats were sent out onto the water to help the athletes, while some had taken refuge on a floating platform.
“There were kayakers who capsized because too many people were holding on to their kayaks,” explains Guillaune Giroux. “It was chaotic and it was scary.” […] if I see that the conditions are like that in a next [triathlon]I might ask myself whether I should participate or not.”
On the shore, fear invades Guillaume’s wife, who sees time passing without news of the swimmer whose tracker indicates that it is still located in the middle of the lake.
“When she heard my name, she broke down and cried,” he adds. The athlete highlights the speed with which conditions changed, but also the speed with which the organizers stopped the event. Although exhausted, he was able to continue the triathlon and do the cycling and running events.
No weather alert
Alain Ethier and Julie Chevalier also took part in the Sunday morning event. The couple started the race at the same time and both experienced “the same storm”.
Neither of them, however, blames the event organizers. They recall that last year’s competition was canceled because of forest fires that made the air quality harmful to the athletes.
Personally, I don’t think it was IRONMAN that failed, it was really the weather that got worse minute by minute. It was once we started swimming that it started to get windy and swelly.
Julie Chevalier, IRONMAN participant
IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant race director Pauline Alix explains that she made the decision to stop the swimming event “when it was necessary” and based on what the experts on the water were reporting to them.
“Everything was beautiful for the start, so we gave the start and there were gusts of wind that came from who knows where,” she said. We work with Accuweather, who sends us alerts [météo]and we didn’t even have a warning that day about the gusts.”
Several cases of hypothermia recorded
Pauline Alix says that several cases of hypothermia have been recorded, particularly among people waiting on the shore before starting the race. However, she explains that cases of hypothermia occur regularly, even in more favorable conditions.
“We really have a very established protocol and action plans that are put in place, because the safety of the athletes and our volunteers is at the forefront,” explains Pauline Alix.
IRONMAN says athletes who only completed the bike and run portion will be considered in a separate category and will be eligible to qualify for the world championships and receive their trophy. A total of 3,700 triathletes were expected to compete on the day.
The organization explains that it is in communication with the athletes who were unable to finish or participate in the swimming event and is currently considering what could be put in place in the future.