http://distressedmullet.com/?p=6573
11/15/2010
B2B SUPport—You saved a life, maybe more than one
BY DISTRESSED MULLET
This past Saturday, nearly 30 paddlers showed up to provide water
safety support for the Beach to Battleship Triathlon. I was told this
event is the 5th most popular Ironman-distance event in the world. I
can believe it after seeing flight after flight of swimmers plunging
into that cold water.
At the start, I’m not sure if anyone knew what to expect. It was cold.
Colder than I had anticipated, yet the water temp was 10 degrees
warmer than last year. The major difference was the North wind that
drove the energy out of the incoming tide.
Swimmers expect to have some help on their 2.4 or 1.2 mile swim, but
it wasn’t there. The wind made the few who went slightly off track, go
very off track. Most spent more time in the water than they expected.
The surface chop cut down on visibility, made it difficult to get a
salt-water-free breath, and caused people to pause more than normal. I
think those pauses were the source of many of the hypothermia victims.
They lost their rhythm, and the pause allowed the cold water to pull
the heat from their extremities.
I know this seemed like a fun morning on the water for many of us. And
the fact that things went so well on the surface added to the overall
enjoyment of the experience. But make no mistake about it, normal
people took extraordinary measures on Saturday and I couldn’t be more
proud of the fact that everyone got in and out of the water safely.
Even that pod of dolphins seems to swim by, check things out and cause
squeals of excitement from the crowd, the swimmers and definitely all
of us paddling.
Katie, Bev and the Abernathys each had 3 saves. I watched as one
paddle turned into a line of raised paddles waving ocean rescue into
the person in need. It was amazing to watch. And even when the process
broke down, people stepped up.
Meanwhile, paddlers spread out along the course, worked together as a
team to get the attention of the Ocean Rescue and Coast Guard and in
one case, Katie Elzer-Peters, out of the sight of any help, took it
upon herself to pull a swimmer on her board, get him to a dock and got
help to call 9-1-1, saving his life.
According to Katie, she couldn’t get the attention of the Coast Guard
or Ocean Rescue and
“The swimmer kept shaking and saying “I’m so cold, I’m so cold” then
he would stop talking, then I would shake his leg and yell “STAY WITH
ME. YOU’RE GOING TO BE OK. WE’RE GOING TO GET YOU OUT.” He asked me
if the board was sinking, and I said “no, I’m just not a very good
paddler!” (Also, trying to paddle in the wind and the current, and
not whack any of the swimmers in the head with my board or paddle or
catch them on my leash.) I tried to get a boat to help for several
minutes, but I couldn’t, so I went to shore.
I pulled him up onto shore and yelled at a couple who were standing
there. I got the guy to help me pull the swimmer out. Then, I got a
blanket from a small coast guard boat and then I got out. I said to
the couple, give me your phone! I’m calling 911! I called the
paramedics, and we took the swimmer up into the house of the couple
who were standing there, got his wetsuit off, and got him wrapped in
blankets. Took him a HOUR to warm up.
I’m glad I was there and that I was on YOUR board, because it was much
more stable than any other boards I could have been on. We almost
capsized a gazillion times. I made the swimmer lie down on the board
with his head near the top so we could stabilize slightly and I could
paddle.”
Katie as a Kelp Forest—The Freaky Flotilla was her first SUP event
This was only the second year we’ve provided SUPport to this event.
Last year we only had 8 people out there and there wasn’t a single
incident. This year, I’d hate to imagine what would have happened if
we’d had only the 8 of us again.
Here is a letter from Dave Baker thanking you all for your hard work.
Please read it and feel good about the job you did. Even if you didn’t
pull someone out, you probably helped someone finish the swim that may
not have. I watched so many of you help people stay on track, off the
docks and oyster bars. I watched you talk people through to the end of
the race. Asking people their names to make sure they were ok. It was
so cool to watch. We’re amateurs after all, but paddling helps us
understand the water and put us in the position to help where help was
needed.
Again, I can’t thank you all enough for helping. I have extra tshirts
and would love to send you one. I only have 1 small and 4 XLs. Send me
your address and I’ll mail them out
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