Triathlon and ALLIGATORS!!!

[Demon Llama]

My boyfriend has signed up for the WDW triathlon in September 2006. It will be his first one and we're so excited for him. We were just in WDW this past September (2005) and we noticed there were quite a few alligators in the lagoon at Coronado Springs, just sort of hanging out in the water.

Anyway, I was just wondering - for the triathlon, the swim goes through the lake near the Contemporary Resort. Are alligators going to be a problem? I was told that "the alligators are more afraid of you than you are of them" but still...if I was swimming during a triathlon and ran into an alligator, I'd be freaked out completely !!!

Thanks!

 

[Demon Llama]

Pleeeease someone respond! Does no one know??

 

[xterratri]

They hold a Danskin Women's sprint distance tri in May, a Half ironman in May, and the international distance in September on site at WDW. I haven't heard of any close encounters of the alligator kind. It's probably a combination of Disney patrolling for problem gators and the gators not wanting anywhere near hundreds to thousands of people splashing through the water. I'm signed up for the Half Ironman in May and the swim is in Bay Lake by Fort Wilderness so this isn't an issue of purely academic interest to me but I'm not too worried about the gators. Good luck to your boyfriend on his first triathlon. Warning- it may become addictive

 

[TEK224]

I was in the Half Ironman in 2004 and we swam in Bay Lake by FW. I did not see any gators (good thing ). I was a little worried about that, especially since I was at the back of the pack and not mixed in with a crowd of swimmers. I think the seaweed freaked me out even more though!

Terri

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Any body of water--including swimming pools--can become home to an alligator.

In fact--they had one living in Frontierland for a bit that they just couldn't catch. Haven't seen the guards on the last few visits, so maybe they did finally catch the stinker.

Anyway. There has never been report of an alligator attack on WDW Property. They have wildlife cast members that I would gather are very up on their gator sitings and the area is probably secured prior to the event. With spotters and such in the water, you will have absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[Demon Llama]

Thanks guys! I really REALLY appreciate your answers!

TEK224 - Yeah anytime you go swimming and you feel yucky seaweed brushing against you it's TOTALLY freaky!

 

[lap3]

...anytime you go swimming and you feel yucky seaweed brushing against you it's TOTALLY freaky!

You get used to it! Now, sharks are another thing! Back in college, we would bodyboard at this one local spot and it was a feeding ground for small sharks. They didn't bother any of the surfers because there was enough fish for them to feed on.

BTW, good luck to your boyfriend! He'll have a blast!