Sting Ray Attack At California 70.3 Race
If you get to 37 years of age in any elite sport without an injury to slow
your career down then you’ve done well. And that’s exactly what Sam
Warriner had achieved up until yesterday, but even she didn’t think her
first set back would be lying in wait in the sands of Oceanside,
California.
Sam finished 7th in the California 70.3 (Half Iron-Man) today after being
attacked by a sting ray just 12 hours before the race start whilst
practicing on the swim course.
The stingray left Sam with cuts and an ankle swollen to the size of a
tennis ball but after medical attention Sam wouldn’t be deterred from
starting the race next morning.
Sam exited the 2km race swim over a minute and a half back from a leading
group of three containing: top American swimmer Sarah Groff, 2007 Long
Course World Champion Leanda Cave (GBR) and 2008 70.3 World Champion
Silver Medalist Mary Beth Ellis. She then proceeded to have the 2nd
fastest bike split of the day and caught the front group half way through
the 90km bike section, before continually trying to drop them over the
final 30 km’s but to no avail.
Unfortunately the pain of the previous days encounter was too much for Sam
on the run, having to bear her full weight on the swollen ankle Sam
slipped through the field to finish an unusual 7th.
Sam’s team mate and training partner Mirinda Carfrae came through in the
final mile of the race to snatch victory right from under the nose of
Sarah Groff who’d led from the swim until just 1 mile to go.
“I’m disappointed with the final result but I guess I just have to be
happy that the injury wasn’t anything major”
“I spent all last night trying to get the poison out of my leg that the
kind stingray left, I was advised to keep my foot in a bowl of boiling hot
water for as long as possible to draw the poison out, not the best
preparation the night before a four hour race!”
“When I woke this morning the swelling had gone down a lot and the
bleeding had stopped so I thought I’d give it a go and if it was too
painful my plan was to stop after the bike section. The swim was fast
from the start with Sarah Groff pushing the pace, I exited about 90
seconds back from her group. It then took me about 40 km’s to catch the
front girls, I had to do this all on my own as there was no one else
around me. I got quite a few shooting pains in my leg on the bike as a
result of the wound but nothing major and I was able to really put the
pressure down once I caught the front. I tried to continually drop the
front girls knowing that I could potentially struggle on the run, but they
managed to hold onto me coming into transition.”
“As soon as my feet hit the floor in transition I knew it would be a long
day on the run, my foot was numb but painful too, it was kind of strange,
it felt asleep but I had sharp pains at the same time.”
“I’ve never quit a race yet and even though I’d decided before the start
to stop after the bike, I just couldn’t, it’s not in my nature.”
“I’m gutted because I’ve had such a good block of training in San Diego
and wanted to show everybody how well I’m going, but that will just have
to wait now until the start of the ITU World Championship Series in 4
weeks time.”