Racing for safety: a new lifeguard model promises to make triathlons safer for athletes--and guards.(Risk Management)

It happened in an instant. During the 2002 Provo Ironman, a cold front moved through just 20 minutes into the race. Winds suddenly shifted and gale-force downdrafts off the mountains produced 6-foot-high waves. Race officials canceled the swim and tried to get swimmers off the course as quickly possible. But before they could get everyone to safety, one man drowned.

That incident aside, triathlons, and Ironman races in particular, have an excellent safety record. That's partly because sanctioned races must have certified lifeguards--at least one per 50 swimmers.

Even though race directors nationwide were meeting that requirement, they weren't always integrating those lifeguards into a risk-management system.

Others in the sport realized there was a problem, too. "I knew there was a need for improvement. I also knew that whatever was developed must be easy to implement or race directors would not want to do it," says Brian White, operations director at Starfish Aquatics and himself a race director. Brian is also a former USA Triathlon Junior National Team member, so he has a unique perspective when it comes to such races.

But when it comes to safety and triathlons, no one is more of an expert than Dan "Peewee" Bramblett, who serves as Ironman North American's swim course safety director. Bramblett had misgivings about the current system, too.

So the three of us--Brian, Peewee and I--put our heads together and came up with a new triathlon rescue model for openwater courses. It works like this:

* Each course, regardless of length, is divided into 250- and 500-yard "zones."