A year ago, we experienced something incredibly scary as we had a coached athlete suffer from SIPE (Swimming induced pulmonary edema) during the swim portion of IM 70.3 St. George. Thankfully, he survived. Other triathletes, sadly, have not been so lucky. He is an experienced and fit triathlete so this was a big shock for us all. The water temp was in the low 60's and he was wearing a wetsuit. He didn't have a warm-up in the water. After entering the water, he started out with his effort and quickly felt tightness in his chest. He mentioned he felt a similar tightness (but not as severe) on the day before the race during a pre-race practice swim. He started to cough severely and noticed pink phlegm coming from his cough - he was able to get to a kayak to rest. He tried to swim to the next kayak but was getting weaker. He finally exited the water and went to medical. The med tent didn't take his BP after the event but he later followed up with his doctor. All was ok w
3x Author, Board Certified Sports Dietitian, Master of Science in Exercise Physiology, 2017 IM CHOO Amateur Female Champion, 19xIronman finisher including 6xIM World Championship finisher, Triathlon Coach, 30-year Vegetarian.Trimarnicoach.com