The Sinking Swimmer

What can happen when we assume the strong will survive.

I can’t stop thinking about him.

Lazar Dukic.

The CrossFit athlete who drowned at a run/swim event in the 2024 CrossFit Games — in full view of hundreds in person and thousands on a live stream.

And in front of two lifeguards on paddleboards who didn’t see him bob … and bob … and bob … and go under the murky Texas water on a hot August day, never to emerge until a dive team raised his lifeless body hours later.

There’s enough tragedy here to make your soul ache.

One minute, a 28-year-old man was competing for the title of “Fittest Man on Earth” … and the next minute he was dead. Meanwhile, his brother (also a CrossFit Games competitor) reportedly roamed the shoreline, trying to find him because no one had seen him finish the swim.

What makes this sad story even worse is that there is much speculation that it might have been a preventable tragedy. Like if there were more lifeguards, more kayaks, more boats, bright swim caps, and a reversal of event order (swim-run instead of run-swim) mayb…