When we first began reading about the death of Argentine Esteban Neira during the NYC Triathalon last week, we thought it was a solitary case. But when we read on and found out it was the fourth death this year, we were alarmed. Not because we were in any immediate danger, since we view triathlons as something only to be undertaken if you’re trying to break out of Alcatraz, but because we wondered if this was going to continue. And sure enough, this past weekend two more triathletes died the same way Neira and all the others did—in the water. That just leads us to believe a biathalon is probably the best way to go if you were a crazy super athlete.

While this does not imply an epidemic — triathlon deaths remain rare [ed note: huh?]— the deaths do share a puzzling resemblance: Like all of the triathlon deaths recorded by USA Triathlon at its sanctioned events in the last two years, they happened during the swim portion of the event, which also includes biking and running.

But what makes the triathlon deaths more mysterious is that they all occurred during the first part of the race. Deaths during marathons tend to be more evenly distributed over the course of the 26.2 miles, with the largest grouping occurring in the last mile…

Yeah, when there are charts and Venn diagrams and shit that map when and where people die during an event, it’s not really fair to anyone to call the deaths “rare.”

Recent Triathlon Deaths Have Experts Searching for Answers [NY Times]
Image [NY Times]