Triathletes had to negotiate a jellyfish bloom in the Pacific waters surrounding the Big Island during the weekend of the annual Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, which turned dangerous.
After multiple racers were stung on Saturday, triathletes Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands and Matt Burton of Australia both openly discussed their terrifying experiences. According to Burton, who says he is hypersensitive to stings, he had ‘an anaphylactic reaction’ to a couple stings and left the race to get help.
In an Instagram video of himself, Burton claimed, “I suffered pretty poorly throughout the swim and actually as soon as I dove in, probably within 10 or 20 strokes.” I suppose all I could hope for was that it would lessen somewhat.
As if you were stung by stingers at home [but] I actually endured a little more suffering than I had previously. After that, I mounted the bike, and it really only got worse.
“Medical was excellent here, just checking on me because my blood pressure was really high.”
‘My heart was racing like crazy and I thought I’m maybe gonna die or something,’ Koolhaus said after getting stung, acknowledging that he was afraid for his life.
According to Tri247.com, Koolhaus miraculously bounced back to finish fifth, the best finish ever by a Dutchman in the event.
Koolhaus later told reporters, “It started really bad – I got stung by a jellyfish and it was really, really painful.”
“However, Ironman also requires mental toughness, so I had to have that and do my best,” he added. I’m rather happy of this performance, which I believe was among my best both intellectually and physically. I couldn’t have asked for more as a rookie in Hawaii and a top five finisher.
Koolhaas and Burton both seem to be improving.
“I am now in good health,” Burton declared. “I’m all right.” Though sometimes it’s totally beyond your control, you always hope that luck will be on your side.
Venom can be injected by jellyfish using thousands of tiny stingers. Some can result in major health problems throughout the body, while others, like the one in Burton’s Instagram video, leave welts on specific parts of the skin.
Jellyfish stings can sometimes prove lethal.
Patrick Lange, a German, won in Hawaii on Saturday.
