Ironman preparing for potential Helene impacts
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The 10th annual Ironman triathlon is set to take place this weekend across Chattanooga.
One of the main portions of that competition, the 2.4 mile swimming competition, which is set to take place here in the Tennessee River, is in question as Hurricane Helene threatens to dump several inches of rain in the Chattanooga area.
Race Director Bryan Myrick said, “We don’t have a makeup day, we’ve got one shot at this. We were talking last night about our history, and I can think of one race in Maryland where three years ago we postponed for two weeks. Just because of the calendar and everything else we have going on here, we’ve got one shot at this and it’ll be Sunday.”
Myrick says that Ironman officials are monitoring the flow of water and its quality in the lead up to the beginning of the race on Sunday.
“The timing of it is okay. Great partnership with the TVA to help control the water levels, and we’ll have to continue monitoring the water safety with those E. Coli levels,” said Myrick.
TVA says their series of reservoirs and dams are ready to go to help prevent flooding and keep the river manageable.
James Everett of TVA’s River Forecast Center explains, “Reservoirs like Fontana, Cherokee, Douglas, and Norris; we’re going to use those projects because they are in their fall drawdown to help store some of this water. Some of our projects on the main stem Tennessee River; Fort Loudon, Watts Bars, Chickamauga, those are a little bit different types of dam. So as we get the heavy rainfall we’re going to be storing the water in our tributaries, and then passing some of that water down through our main stem projects.”
Competitors like Martin Granum say they would like to compete no matter what the circumstances throw at them.
“I’ve spent a lot of time swimming in the Tennessee River, particularly down here on the Chattanooga waterfront. I am very comfortable with the water quality, in fact it is very good water quality. The quality of the water doesn’t bother me. I did the Chattanooga Ironman a few years ago and it was 97 degrees, and honestly I’m looking to a little cooler weather,” said Granum.
The fate of this event is up to Helene.
“There’s always the possibility of the swim being canceled. We have every intention of putting on a full swim, bike, and run. We’ll do everything we can to continue to monitor those things, and give athletes the best experience that we can,” said Myrick.
Myrick says they will be continuing to update athletes on the status of the competition, and the public via their social media channels and their website.
Stay tuned with Storm Team 12 as we get you through Hurricane Helene.
