For many triathletes, it may be the biggest nightmare come true, but New Zealander Braden Currie didn’t pay too much attention to it: last week, during the IM 70.3 Oceanside swim course reccy, he was suddenly surrounded by a number of sharks. “There are bigger and worse things, deeper in the water, to worry about,” the athlete laughed about that afterwards.
Footage taken by a drone clearly showed the sharks swimming beneath Currie. Not much later it was revealed that they were sand sharks or sand tiger sharks: species that are not usually aggressive and are also harmless to humans, except when they feel threatened. Currie, who joined Breakfast with Bob shortly after the swim, was able to laugh about it. “The shark probably saw how smoothly I was moving through the water and he decided to follow me,” he said.
Currie eventually finished sixth at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside. The race was won by Lionel Sanders.