Shark sighting forces swimmers out of water at Ironman 70.3 Bussleton
Around 100 individual athletes and all relay team were impacted.
Athletes competing in Ironman 70.3 Bussleton in Western Australia over the weekend had a scare on the swim leg of their race as they were forced to leave the water when a 2.5-metre shark was sighted in the vicinity.
According to several reports, the shark was spotted from a race helicopter towards the end of the age-group swim waves to take off, around 8:25 on Sunday. While the majority of athletes had safely completed the 1.9-km swim, around 100 athletes were brought to shore. Those athletes were taken directly to transition to complete the rest of their race — the bike and run. Team relay events taking place after the individual starts were also turned into duathlons.
With the pro races not impacted, Australia’s Dan Wilson and Katey Gibb claimed the top spots. Legend Craig Alexander impressed with a 1:12 half marathon split (at 44 years of age) on the way to taking second.
Last year, an American triathlete made news headlines after she survived a shark attack while training in California.
