The Athlete's Lawyer

Rehab to Racing (“R2R”) announces

OPEN WATER SWIMMING AT MILLBROOK QUARRY

Beginning Sunday May 17, 2009, 2:30-4:30PM

Supervised open water swim opportunity for Northern Virginia Triathletes and long distance swimmers. Learn techniques to help you in open water triathlons and swimming races. These sessions can really give you a “leg up” on your competition and help you feel more “at home” in the lake, river, pond and ocean swims that host multi-sport events. Better to learn in a legal setting than have to learn to do the “perp walk” later ! (See post on “Illegal swimming can land you in hot water”

Measured and marked swim course with buoys. Wetsuits and visible swim caps required. $25 per session.

Planned swim dates: May 17, 31; June 14, 28; July 12, 19; (later dates TBD)

Contact the Coaches at Rehab to Racing at openwaterswim@rehabtoracing.com and information at Tickets and information available at R2R

Triathlon TrialLawyer Doug Landau participated in the “Cure Autism Now” Super Sprint Triathlon. Taking place on the bucolic campus of Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, this multi- sport event raises money for Autism Speaks. The Leesburg Herndon sports injury lawyer completed the almost 300 yard swim, 9.3 mile bike ride and 2.5 mile run in 49:04. He averaged 21.25 MPH over the hilly bike course, 6:34 per mile for the run, and only 45 seconds for each transition !

Showing the equality in multi-sport racing, there were 186 male finishers, 181 female finishers for a total of 367 finishers. Because of the experienced race directors and excellent volunteers, Landau saw no bike crashes, slip and falls coming out of the pool, trips and spills in the transition area or other athletic injuries. Doug won the 40-49 age group in 2002 in this race’s Biathlon (run/bike/run format). In 2003, Landau returned to win the overall Biathlon title, as reported in Spokes. Imagine his surprise 6 years later when he was listed today as the overall Super Sprint Triathlon champ when he started off 3rd from last ! Complete results from the 2009 Bethesda Triathlon.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) reports that in 2003 there were 284 drowning deaths of children under 5 years of age in pools and spas; 245 in 2004; and, 319 in 2005.  A long time lifeguard, guard instructor and YMCA aquatics director noted in Aquatics International that “there should be no reason anyone should “drown” in a supervised pool.  There may be circumstances where people get in trouble, but if guards take their jobs seriously and management holds routine in-service, drowning accidents should not happen.”  TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau agrees, and notes further that implementation and practice of water safety protocols can help reduce and eliminate potentially dangerous conditions and aquatic injury.  Leesburg and Herndon sports injury lawyer Doug Landau also believes that proactive water safety instruction can also reduce the risk of injury to inexperienced swimmers and pool users.  If you or someone you know has had a water sports injury, please call ABRAMS LANDAU

Giving fund raisers an “experience” as well as “shwag” for their efforts and money, is a trend increasing in popularity. Combining fundraising with an “experience” or “adventure” as well as promoting good health of the competitor as well as the recipients, has become the method by which many large races attract hundreds, even thousands of these “high value” participants, according to sports injury lawyer Doug Landau. Fundraising triathlons have enticed many runners to try to expand into areas like swimming, which they may not have learned to do very efficiently, to benefit particular charities, said Dr. Lori Mosca, preventive cardiology chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and an American Heart Association spokeswoman. “They’re really recruiting people to do these events,” she said. “It can be a recipe for disaster.”

Doctors offer these tips to anyone considering a triathlon, as reported on public radio:

• Get a checkup to make sure you don’t have hidden heart problems.
• Train adequately long before the event, including open-water swims – not just in pools.
• Acclimate yourself to the water temperature shortly before a race, and wear a wetsuit if it’s too cold.
• Make sure the race has medical staff and defibrillators on site.

And, according to TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau, make sure you can complete the distance well before the date for the event, and have “walked the walk” as well as “talked the talk.”

TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau is asked, “Why do the majority of Triathlon fatalities occur during the swim portion of the race, when competitors are still fresh, and are not at risk for overheating or orthopedic injury ?” Statistically, almost all the fatalities reported in multi-sport events in the United States have been from the often frantic, frenetic open water swim portion of the race. Doug Landau has had anxiety attacks from coming into freezing cold water in several events early in his career, but now employs several strategies to deal with this difficulty. Swimmers can’t easily signal for help or slow down to rest during swimming as they can in the biking or running parts of a triathlon, said Dr. Kevin Harris, a cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Harris led a study at an American College of Cardiology conference in Florida. The Minneapolis institute’s foundation sponsored the work and tracks athlete-related sudden deaths in a national registry. Dr. Harris, who also has competed in these events, noted that rescuers may have trouble spotting someone in danger in a crowd of competitors in the lakes, rivers and oceans where these events typically are held.

Of the 14 deaths identified, 13 occurred during swimming; the other was a bike crash. Autopsies on six of the victims showed that four had underlying heart problems. Two others had normal-looking hearts, but they may have suffered a fatal heart rhythm problem, Harris said. A search of the Minneapolis registry and the Internet found four other triathlon-related deaths from 2006 through 2008 beyond those that occurred in the officially sanctioned events. “While not a large risk, this is not an inconsequential number,” Harris said. Herndon Reston sports injury lawyer Doug Landau recommends reading tomorrow’s post, with doctors’ recommendations for preparing and safety.

In one case we handled in the Tidewater area, friends of mine were staying in a tourist hotel. On vacation near where I have participated in several “flat course” races, my 3 friends checked into two rooms before checking the rooms out beforehand. Because of the aging light and heat fixtures, one of my friends was struck by burning, molten plastic and metal while on the toilet. The heat lamp, which had been installed with the original construction of the hotel, had never been replaced. It broke and fell on my friend, causing his t-shirt to catch fire. Luckily, one of my other friends is an Emergency Room doctor. The E.R. physician head the screams and came immediately to our friend’s rescue. He put the burning victim into the tub, where they doused the flames.

Our innocent friend sustained painful first, second and third degree burns, primarily on his back, for which he underwent surgery. We brought a lawsuit for his burn injuries and successfully settled it without my injured friend having to go to trial. However, his case is a reminder to me, my family and my friends to check out hotel rooms before moving in and to make sure the accommodations are what we are paying for and what we have been promised.

One lesson I have learned is to check out the race venue AND the race hotel BEFORE the morning of the race. If you cannot inspect the hotel before the day of your arrival, at least ask to “see the room” BEFORE putting your luggage in it. Several times I have asked to see the room before getting my gear loaded in, and have either had the front desk change my room to a better one before I left the lobby, or returned to ask for a room not overlooking the dumpster or closer to my car, triathlon bike & the pool, for post-race hydrotherapy. Also, some hotels have “new wings” and old sections. Looking at the accommodations before “moving in” may save you and your roommates from a poor night’s sleep, or worse, injury and disability. My wife can tell you lots of stories about places we did not look into ahead of time. So, learn from my mistakes and “check it out” before you check in. See tomorrow’s post for an ABRAMS LANDAU premises liability case where the hotel lamp caused terrible injuries and required an of-duty Emergency Room doctor to come to the rescue of my friend !

With the United States Triathlon’s (“USAT”) governing body surpassing 100,000 members, and USAT certified races taking place all over the country, there is now a sufficient sampling from which to discern risks as compared to another popular endurance event, marathon running. Triathlons are gaining in popularity, due to the televising of the Hawaii Ironman and other events. Herndon sports injury lawyer Doug Landau points out that completing a triathlon is a status symbol. Finishing an “Ironman” appeals the the macho in recreational athletes, much as completing a 5k, 10k and even a Marathon did during the “running boom” in the 1980′s. Endurance multi-sport events are increasing their numbers as charity fundraisers, often drawing participants new to competing in close quarters with more seasoned athletes. Many people who are not used to such demanding exercise, but who may be otherwise “fit,” find that swimming with hundreds of people all trying to take the shortest route and then bicycling at top speed around turns and down hills, may be stressful, dangerous and anxiety producing. Each year, about 1,000 multi-sport events are held and Read the rest of this entry »

Following up on the news stories about fatal injuries to multi-sport athletes this Fall, the AP carried a story about a new medical study. Swim-bike-run triathlons pose at least twice the risk of sudden death as marathons do, according to this first study of these competitions. Understand that “twice the risk,” statistically speaking, may still involve very small numbers or percentages of the endurance sports population, according to Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau. In other words, according to Herndon Reston injury lawyer Landau, 15 deaths out of one million long distance race participants is twice as many, statistically, as 8 out of the same number of athletes (elites, age groupers and “weekend warriors”). Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a flat course upon which to test her now found running speed, charity runner Rebecca Landau found a race on the famous Eagleman Half Ironman Triathlon course. The Dorchester YMCA Half-Marathon in Cambridge Maryland raises money for programs supporting strong kids, strong families, and a strong community. In addition, this new event advertised “Environmentally Sensitive Awards and Premiums” ! While a bit long for TriathlonTrialLawyer Doug Landau, as he prefers sprint distances, his wife and eldest daughter seem to enjoy the steady pace and scenery of the longer events. In preparation for today’s run, Miss Landau ran a 10km. in Alexandria, the Blacksburg Classic 10 miler and the Shamrock half marathon in Virginia Beach.

Miss Landau, soon to be a graduate of the Virginia Tech School of Architecture, managed 8:20/mile for 8 miles, and finished with a kick and a smile. Mrs. Landau finished the Dorchester race in two hours, and according to Charm City Run results, Herndon Reston sports lawyer Doug Landau finished in 1:25:30 for 10th overall, 2nd in his age group, out of about 160 finishers. While the course was probably short, it was well marked, with friendly volunteers who bravely withstood the wind, rain and cold. Rather than hang around for awards, the Landau trio bolted for the hotel pool, where Miss Landau’s easy jogging in cool, deep water, followed by a stint in the hot tub, reduced everyone’s soreness, stiffness and made the drive to Virginia more comfortable. The cool water is known to reduce inflammation, and with proper post-race nutrition during the 20 minutes following intense exercise (i.e., water, minerals, carbohydrates and protein replacement for damaged muscles, ligaments and tendons), Landau notes much “delayed onset muscle soreness” and post run stiffness can be reduced.