Thursday, 4:30 PM
Cohasset death 3d this year in a triathlon
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff
The death of a 38-year-old man at the inaugural Cohasset Triathlon on Sunday was the third death in the nation this year at a sanctioned event, said officials from USA Triathlon, the sport's governing body.
One participant died in Tampa in April, and another person died three weeks ago in Missouri, said Kathy Matejka, USAT events services director. Both occurred on the swim course, as did Sunday's fatality in Cohasset. Matejka said two deaths occurred in 2006, also on the swim course.
Cohasset officials said the death appears to have been an accident. Bill Burnett, director of the Cohasset Triathlon, said event officials planned to respect the wishes of the family and were not going to identify the man who died.
Two other swimmers also had problems on the course Sunday and had to be rescued.
Triathlon is a growing sport, with many newcomers joining the ranks of the USAT, where the annual membership is expected to climb to 100,000 this summer. In 2004, USAT had 1,500 sanctioned events and surpassed 2,000 events for the first time last year.
Tragedies like the one in Cohasset are "something that's always on our mind," Matejka said.
