iStockphoto / Thomas Pajot / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Triathletes swimming in the water during an Ironman 70.3 event
A Brazilian motivational speaker and influencer reportedly had to be pulled from the water by race officials at Ironman 70.3 Encarnación in Paraguy over the weekend alongside over 30 of his disciples he had convinced to enter the race unprepared. The official race results page for Ironman 70.3 Encarnación lists Pablo Henrique Costa Marçal of Brazil as DNF and didn’t state times for his Swim, meaning he was unable to complete the 1.2 mile swim.
The initial news came from Brazilian publication Metropoles which states that Pablo Marçal brought “More than 30 of his closest ‘Legendaries'” to participate in the Half Ironman event despite several expressing fear of swimming.
Motivational Speaker Brings 30 Unprepared People To Ironman 70.3 Paraguay Who Had To Be Rescued During Swim
One thing about triathlons, or really any racing in general, is there are going to be proverbial “butterflies” at the start. Nerves run high. There are often long queues before it begins.
In the case of triathlons and Ironman 70.3 races, competitors line up based on their anticipated swim speed/finish time with the fastest swimmers starting first. This leaves a LOT of time for anxiety to build in the slower athletes at the back of the pack.
Then they get in the water. It is often cold and even while wearing a triathlon wetsuit it is a shock to the body… And triathlon wetsuits are fantastic! They offer buoyancy and speed, and are designed to move naturally with the body.
Triathlon wetsuits are also tight and that constriction around the chest can lead to labored breathing which in turn can cause an elevated heart rate. Mind you, this is for every single triathlete. Everybody gets nervous at the start of a race because they have been training for months, years even, and while the work has already been done and the race is simply the cherry on top athletes still want to see their hard work lead to great results.
In this case, nobody had trained for the Ironman 70.3 which includes a 1.2 mile swim (1.9km), 56 mile bike (90km), and it is finished off with a 13.1 mile run (half marathon of 21.1 km). Athletes who train in other disciplines might be able to complete an Ironman 70.3 without training because they are already in peak physical condition. I’d expect someone like the world’s #1 cyclist Tadej Pogacar to be able to do it, or Michael Phelps at his peak. But 30 people convinced by a Brazilian motivational speaker to attempt it without training all while unable to swim and terrified of the water? Nope. Not a chance.
Above is Pablo Henrique Costa Marçal (via Instagram) talking about the Ironman 70.3 Paraguay experience in his native Portuguese. A rough translation is “First of all, I want to repeat what I’ve said countless times: I have the utmost respect for the athletes who do Ironman events. They’re triathletes, and they deserve respect for their history, their dedication, and everything they do. You guys are machines. Congratulations, seriously! I already knew this was going to be difficult. You’re different from the rest of us. Our group had around 150 people talking about this. Some people managed to finish, but very few did, and they struggled a lot. For obvious reasons, you can’t expect to prepare for something this difficult in just 15 days. If you want to take on a challenge like this, you have to prepare properly.”
He continues, saying “did the race myself, and it was a completely different experience. The swim was incredibly difficult because of the current. At one point, I felt like I wasn’t even moving forward. It took me about an hour and a half.”
First off, he was pulled from the water by race officials according to the report from Metropoles. So claiming he did the race is a stretch. Secondly, the cut-off time for an Ironman 70.3 swim is around 70 minutes (1h10m) which is a split time of 3m41s per 100 meters.
Now, I’m a relatively slow swimmer compared to most Ironman competitors. I swim just under 2:00/100m in the pool during training with a race pace of around 1:30-1:40 depending on the distance. But the idea of getting pulled from the water during the swim because you were out there for 90 minutes is unfathomable.
Most people could backstroke or breaststroke that 1.2mi swim and be safely back to land with plenty of time before the cutoff. Which really only solidifies how woefully unprepared this group was. To that point, Pablo Marçal added “Instead of criticizing (the unprepared group that tried), think about it: these guys challenged themselves. They gave it a shot, realized how difficult it was, and kept pushing themselves. It was an amazing experience.”
Challenging yourself is a great thing! That is precisely why I am racing an Ironman 70.3 in December. But doing it unprepared is a disservice to yourself, and it puts strain on the race director’s staff who are there to ensure all athletes are safe and not just those who did not bother training.
One has to wonder if there were individuals who were unable to sign up for the race as well because a large group that did not train took a chunk of race bibs without taking the race itself seriously.