NYCkayaker Swim Support

[Ralph Diaz]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TomBrooklyn" <tombrook11232 at yahoo.com>


>> > From: bonnie13 at earthlink.net
>
>> I was at the north end of the tri with the barge at the end, trying to
>> keep people
>> from bashing into one of the mooring balls that was frequently submerged
>> by the
>> force of the current.
>
> Did the swim course run right over the mooring ball location?   Was the
> mooring ball
> brought to the attention of the swim organizers by kayakers beforehand or
> did the
> kayakers not think about it beforehand either?

I was involved as organizer of the kayakers for that swim portion of the
triathlon.  The swim was to start at a barge up about a mile from the 79th 
St.
Marina and go south to enter the entrance at the west side of the marina,
i.e. at 90 degrees to the race course.  (This is similar to the swims that
end at the Chelsea Piers, but with 79th St. having a narrower entrance to
the finish line.) The original course was to be just to the outside of the
mooring field.  The night before the race, the actual course was laid way
into the river which would have made it near impossible for the swimmers to
turn in in time.  (Again, those who have done the kayak support ending at
the Chelsea Piers know the importance of bringing in the swimmers early
enought make the 90 degree turn there.).  We moved our support closer back
to the mooring field.  Then the first swimmers started coming down.  The
current was so strong that they actually came down a chute or avenue of fast
moving water that took them right down between two lines of moored boats.
The strong current was such that it drove them straight down.  So I adjusted
our support over to the reality of the course the current was deciding would
be.  Some of the mooring balls that had leaked in some water were submerged,
and others were being pulled down but still floating well enough.

Other kayakers were making adjustments as well.  I know for example that
Harry Spitz and other DTBH paddlers positioned themselves in front of the
ice breakers and dolphins that lied just north of the north bulkhead wall of
the marina.  While the current was strong the water could not go through the
marina bulkhead and slowed down some at that point.  These kayakers were
able to control the flow of the kayakers and direct them out around the
north bulkhead.  At that point the swimmers were into a strong current
again.
>
>> Nowhere near the mess that was happening at the barge at the
>> finish line. That was another MKC person whose kayak went under-and I
>> think she
>> bailed out as her kayak went under, what happened was one of the swimmers
>> that was
>> clinging to her popped her sprayskirts
>
> Why was a swimmer clinging to her kayak?  Generally when a swimmer grabs a
> kayak,
> they are disqualified from the race.

The barge was a strange addition to the race course.  It was introduced late
in the organizing of the race.   Its purpose was to prevent the swimmers
from overshooting the 90 degree entrance into the marina and the finish
line.  I was under the impression that they were going to have it rest on
the bottom but instead it floated as high as could be.  This was a big
mistake.  The strong current continued under the barge.  Strong swimmers
were capable of making the turn or able to have enough control to touch it
and continue into the marina.  The weaker swimmers, and there are lots of
triathletes whose swim portion of tri races are their weaker point, could
not.


>
> What were the circumstances that caused a swimmer to be clinging to her
> sprayskirt?
> (A known unsafe act and usually to be avoided at almost all costs by the
> kayaker.)
> Had the kayaker been trained or advised in the proper method to aid or
> rescue a
> swimmer?

That MKC person pretty bravely positioned herself against the barge to give
them some additional support in turning into the marina.  But as masses of
swimmers came down the river they piled up like ants against and on to her
kayak.  She is an experienced paddler but found it impossible to place her
paddle for bracing since the swimmers were clogging her bracing side.
Eventually one desperate swimmer clinging on to her kayak popped her
sprayskirt, her boat filled with water and overturned.  She, her boat, and
some swimmers were drawn down under the barge and out the downriver side of
the barge.

> What was the situation at the barge that caused the problem?

Yes, see above.
>
> Was it something the kayakers had warned the swim committee about and been
> overrulled on, or were the kayakers taken by surprise as much as the swim
> organizers?

We were surprised on how strong the current was.  The race was timed to run
at max but the max sometimes goes above what is predicted mathematically for
a variety of last minute circumstances.   The barge was a mistake not at all
suggested by me.  I would have preferred to see some swimmers miss the turn
and go down river where they could have then been turned in at the protected
south open end of the marina.

>> I think the organizers then started talking to Paul & Ralph & some of the
>> other
>> kayakers & the next year the whole course was rearranged according to
>> what was
>> recommended & a thousand percent safer.

They were inclined to listen more.  We designed the course to go down the
river between the furthest in line of moored boats and the sea wall and had
the race end a a specially designed half submerged dock (Paul's great idea
and construction) as if they were coming into a boat ramp or shallow end of
a pool./

ralph