铁人三项目前很风行，很多男生都在追这股风潮，但要成为铁人很不容易，要有坚强的意志力与旺盛求胜心，才能在比赛中战胜自己也战胜别人．但很多人不明白的是，在三项铁人竞赛中，一位不请自来的神祕客也在一旁虎视耽耽，它是谁，它是神，但不是你心中的胜利女神，而是带着黑色镰刀披着黑色斗篷的死神．
你想，怎么可能，我能来参加铁人就表示我的体能比一般人还要好，没错！这种我是最强的心态，连周遭的人也赞叹不已．死神来，我也不怕，反正一定是别人倒大楣，但奇怪的是，愈看起来死不了，没有任何心血管风险者的人，反而愈容易猝死，身旁的人根本不相信出事的是他，也坚绝不相信这样强壮而没有病史的人，竟会出事！
为什么会这样？古人早就有言，在古书《淮南子》有云：“自夸善射者死于矢，善战者死于兵，善泳者溺于水。”这句话是说，愈有经验者反而愈容易在专业领域里出差错，主要是心态变得太有自信，不像初学时那么地谨慎，而忽略了自身或是周遭环境的变化．
以铁人三项来看，其中最危险的是，游泳！
国外有很多的报告都指出，有不少的案例都是因为在游泳这个项目出问题而导致憾事发生，主要是因为每个人都争先恐后地下水，就像下水饺一样，一盘又一盘地倒入开放式的海域，泳客像叠积木一样地推挤在水中，这时最先下水位在最下层的泳者最倒楣，他必须承受水中最人推挤和重压的力道，还要奋力游出水面朝目标前进，这时，全身肌肉必须全力前进，强烈运动之下，肌肉不断地出力，血管也会强烈地收缩，心脏这时要做比平时来得更大的工，才能不断地搏动，以应付身体的需求，若这时海水冷冽低于十四度，又没有穿防寒衣的，平时也没有在类似的环境之下，接受专业教练的指导，再加上比赛前若状况不佳，像是加班或是身体有小感冒，失眠，没有睡好，或是情绪低落等等，一切不吉利的因素全集中在同一时刻，那么，最倒楣的事就有可能会发生，心肌梗塞或是脑中风最常见．
若，自己懒一点，谨慎一点，不要那么求完美，或许，成绩不太漂亮，但却能顺利逃过死神的邪眼，而顺利苟活．不知为什么，每每看到人在中年就撒手人寰，总是心中有无限的遗憾，在急诊室中，这样的案例，太多了，看着死者身旁有年幼的子女和年轻的妻子，一旁还有老泪纵横的老父老母跪在地上，不断叩头要求我们不要放弃急救，”因为他不能就这样走了，我们没了依靠，也不想活了”哀号声在急诊永远都不曾停止过….心里难过，但病历上很清楚地载明：DOA(dead on arrival)到院前死亡，经抢救再抢救，电击到胸口出现焦味，这时，只能无奈地请家属进去见最后一面，做最后的告别．
我只希望，参加铁人三项的参赛者，一定要尊重身体的任何反应，平时也要多做心血管的保健，练习瑜伽，做深层的吐纳，都可以柔化铁人三项竞赛中过于阳钢的力量，肌肉要收缩之前，必先放松，但肌肉不会主动放松，因此要我们主动地拉筋去做伸展，这层道理就像投篮一样，要先蹲下，才能跃起，故古人说，以退为进呵！
若你已经看到这里，那么有机会就来参加四月份的肩颈酸痛保健班，你会发现自己的肩颈原来这么紧，自己的末梢循环早已出现问题，教室有微循环仪，能让你自己看到末梢血管是否有扩张，血流是否过慢或过速，或血液过于粘稠等等，若能早点放松肩颈，可以立即地改善心血管循环，古人重视手部六条经络不是没有道理的，放松手三阳和手三阴，至少可以让你远离心血管的暴风圈．给自己一点机会吧！
PS:现在多使用OHCA(OUT OF HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST到院前心(肺)中止．
鸿海经理铁人赛溺毙 家属盼别解剖
苹果日报2014年03月17日19:08
前天上午在新北市二重疏洪道挑战铁人三项竞赛，却在第一项1500公尺长泳失踪的鸿海公司经理李步云，今上午被搜救的警消人员寻获、已无气息。新北地检署检察官今下午与法医相验，认定李男生前落水、无他杀嫌疑，李男家属对死因无意见，并要求不解剖，检方已将李男大体发交家属善后。
李男失踪期间，包括一同参赛的女艺人贾永婕等选手，均反映当天水温偏低、差点撑不下去。检方今相验时查出，李男已绕过750公尺折返点往回续游约300公尺，不知何故溺水，大体外观出现疑似血管堵塞导致脑中风或心肌梗塞迹象，可能是失温所致，但检方因已认定无他杀嫌疑，尊重家属意见不解剖。（黄哲民／新北报导）
幼儿沿岸声声呼唤 鸿海经理遗体寻获
中国时报 谢文瑄／新北报导 2014年03月18日 04:10
鸿海经理李步云15日挑战超铁人三项赛第1关1.5公里长泳项目，疑因失温休克沉入水底，警消出动大批人力搜索未果。年约10岁儿子17日上午现身，沿河岸低声呼喊爸爸不久，在距终点约500米处河底发现李男遗体，家属泪洒现场。
李步云（44岁）与前妻育有1子，虽迈入中年，仍坚持每天长跑、慢泳锻炼身体。他曾参加长跑比赛，这是第1次参加铁人赛。家属指出，李男无任何病史，不太可能心肌梗塞；检警昨相验结果，李男为生前落水，无他杀嫌疑，因家属要求不解剖，已将遗体交还家属处理后事。
李男15日穿背心式防寒衣及压缩裤，挑战微风运河长泳1.5公里却未上岸，家属心急如焚报案，警消每天出动近百人搜救，前日还使用霸王勾打捞全无所获。
“爸爸，你在哪里？”李男儿子昨上午呆坐在河边不久，与叔叔往百姓公的方向边走边喊爸爸，盼能尽早唤回李男。隆恩义消救生分队同时在百姓公附近下水搜救，上午10时45分，果真在离岸约25米处发现李男遗体仰躺河底，未深陷泥泞或受藤蔓牵绊。
分队长郑膺志指出，从水流研判李男最有可能卡在百姓公附近河底，他们一行共6人昨日从岸边缓缓往河中央搜索。但因河水水质混浊，能见度仅50公分；当在1米高的土堆旁发现粉红色泳帽时“心想…就是了”。
因李男遗体发现地点距终点约500米，检警研判，李男以自由式游直线750米后折返250米不久，疑不耐长时间处在16、17度的水温而休克溺水。
超级铁人运动发展协会祕书长龚家龙表示，主办单位将依意外险理赔300万元，近期也会慰问家属并给予慰问金10万元；另于下一场铁人赛6月底在金山举办前，将针对防寒衣、救生人员等开会讨论。
但他无奈地说，当水温介于14度至25度间，“选手可穿、可不穿防寒衣”，无法强制规定一定要穿，只能呼吁选手爱惜身体、尽力而为。
Swimming deaths trouble triathlon officials
USA TODAY Sports
Frederick Dreier, Special for USA TODAY Sports 10:33 p.m. EDT May 15, 2013
2013-5-15-margaret-pometta-triathlon
Nanette Nanjo-Jones and Margaret Pometta were inseparable after they discovered the sport of triathlon in 2008. They trained together on hilly roads in San Mateo County, and at races they decorated their bicycles with colored flags and wore matching pink boas. Before each event, the two always snapped a photo together.
The photo from the 2012 Vineman Half Ironman in Guerneville, Calif., is the final image of the two together. Minutes after it was taken, Pometta, a 50-year-old mother of three, suffered a heart attack while swimming in the Russian River. She was pronounced dead a short time later.
Nanjo-Jones, 47, did not hear about her friend’s death until after she finished the race, which was comprised of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run.
“I was shocked, it was so hard to process,” she said. “I had this guilt. Maybe it was me who made her do these races.”
One year after her friend’s death, Nanjo-Jones no longer blames herself. But she still doesn’t understand why Pometta — an experienced triathlete who never had showed signs of heart problems — collapsed and died doing the activity she loved.
Nanjo-Jones is not alone. There has been an uptick in the number of fatalities at triathlons, and the majority of deaths involve freak heart attacks during the swim. According to a recent study conducted by USA Triathlon, 12 deaths were recorded at U.S. triathlons in 2011, and nine of the victims died from heart attacks during the swim. Of the 45 total triathlon deaths between 2003 and 2011, 31 occurred from cardiac failure during the swim.
Rob Urbach, CEO of USA Triathlon, said the number of deaths simply reflects the sport’s rapid growth. Between 2003 and 2011, annual participants in U.S. triathlons grew from 193,000 to almost a half-million.
“We still feel the numbers are very low,” Urbach said. “There isn’t a pattern except they are happening in the water.”
With triathlon season in full swing, race officials in the sport are paying close attention to the issue of water safety. Last week, the World Triathlon Corporation, owners of the Ironman races (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run), announced changes geared toward increased safety during the swim portions of their races.
But the USA Triathlon study does not explain why healthy, veteran athletes such as Pometta have suffered cardiac arrest. One of two dead at the 2011 New York City triathlon was Amy Martich, a 40-year-old mother of three who was a longtime swimmer and a dedicated athlete. Andy Naylor, who lost consciousness a few yards from shore at the 2012 Ironman New York City, was a longtime marathon runner. Texas trial lawyer Ross Ehlinger, 46, had raced half Ironmans and marathons for more than a decade.
A handful of theories explaining the deaths have circulated throughout the triathlon community. Cold water can constrict blood vessels, which must then circulate high volumes of blood quickly when the body begins moving, putting serious pressure on the heart. Tight wetsuits put pressure on arteries in the chest. The choppy water and chaos of the mass swim starts — some triathlons start 1,500 or more athletes at once — can cause anxiety and send an athlete’s heartbeat into overdrive.
Dr. Larry Creswell, who oversaw USA Triathlon’s study, thinks the trigger could come from minor genetic heart abnormalities that were undiagnosed. The stress of exercise can exacerbate these genetic defects, causing a heart attack. He advises triathletes to visit their doctors and have an electrocardiogram.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is an inherent feature of exercise; it probably happens 10 times a day,” Creswell said. “When it happens in a running race, you see someone fall over, and rescuers can get on the scene quickly. But in a triathlon swim, it’s harder to identify someone having a problem.”
Dr. Rudy Dressendorfer, a longtime triathlete, disagrees. He thinks the problems arise when athletes do not warm up before starting the swim. Going from a resting stage to a sprint can put pressure on the heart, and a violent escalation of blood flow can shatter capillaries in the lungs, causing pulmonary edema.
“If it was cardiac defects, then how come these victims have raced for years without symptoms?” Dressendorfer said. “There has to be another mechanism at play.”
Retired professional triathlete Brad Kearns, who operates the Auburn triathlon in northern California, requires his racers to swim for at least 10 minutes in Folsom Lake before the official start of the race. Kearns said he has never had a swimming death at his event.
“The body doesn’t like to go from zero to 60 in six seconds; it likes to acclimatize to exercise,” Kearns said. “Some racers jump from their car into a tight wetsuit and then into a cold body of water.”
But not all races have the space to allow for warming up. Some have a staggered swim format, in which athletes start in waves, not at the same time. The New York City triathlon features a staggered start, but competitors must wait their turn on a dock before jumping into the Hudson River. And at San Francisco’s Escape from Alcatraz, competitors jump from a riverboat into the water.
The sport slowly is changing protocols around the swim. The World Triathlon Corporation announced it would have pre-race warmup at North American events and additional lifeguards and rest buoys along each race’s swim route. It also is changing the mass start format at Ironman races in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Mont Tremblant, Quebec;, Lake Tahoe, Calif.; and Florida.
“We felt there was more we could do to lessen athletes’ anxiety and stress before the swim,” said Andrew Messick, CEO of World Triathlon Corporation.
According to Nanjo-Jones, Pometta didn’t warm up before plunging into the Russian River. Because of a traffic jam and long lines at the toilets, the two barely had time to put on their wetsuits and take their final photo before the race. And Nanjo-Jones said the crowded starting line did not have space for pre-race swimming.
Therese Block, Pometta’s sister, waited on the riverbank with Pometta’s daughter, Nancy. She said shortly after the start, she saw lifeguards bring a lifeless body to the beach. Recognizing the wetsuit design, Block knew it was Pometta and shielded her daughter’s view.
Block said her family still struggles to make sense of Pometta’s death. Before it took her life, triathlon had become Pometta’s passion.
“I suppose we’ll never know what happened,” Block said. “My sister wasn’t superwoman. She was a regular Joe who did this for fun, and it still happened to her.”
from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/05/15/swimming-deaths-trouble-triathlon-officials/2164793/
