Jonathan Bruney, a 31-year-old triathlon coach, na...

 A triathlon coach says instinct and training kicked in when a 4-to 5-foot alligator attacked him during an Ironman practice swim.

Jonathan Bruney, a 31-year-old triathlon coach, brought several of his NVDM Coaching athletes to Augusta, Georgia, on Sunday ahead of the Ironman Augusta in September. The plan was for a “race rehearsal,” including a practice swim in the Savannah River.

“The goal was to get to Augusta and really just go through the entire simulation,” Bruney said. “Swim down the river, bike part of the course and run on the Greeneway … just to get the athletes confident and clear those pre‑race nerves.”

Around 10 to 10:30 a.m., the group got in the river from the boat ramp next to SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina – the same spot used on race day – wearing bright triathlon suits and towing neon safety buoys.

“We had walked up on the bridge, looked in the water,” Bruney said. “I knew there could be a chance of maybe a few alligators here or there, but I would never put my athletes into any sort of danger. And the chances of that are extremely rare.”

‘Out of nowhere, it hit me’

About 1,000 yards into the swim and roughly 60 yards offshore, one athlete farther ahead spotted an alligator along the bank and veered away.

Seconds later, Bruney, who was leading the main pack in a white triathlon suit, felt a violent blow.

“Basically, out of nowhere, it hit me,” he said. “It was a pretty big impact to my right side … it felt as if my elbow had made a hard impact, maybe like diving on a gym basketball court.”

At first, he thought he’d hit a log. Then, the “cold pain” shot up his arm, and he realized it was a 4-to 5-foot alligator, its front left foot and jaws clamping onto his upper arm.

“I immediately thought, ‘I need to get this off of me’ because I didn’t want him to spin or death roll and do even more damage,” Bruney said.

He grabbed the gator’s head, jammed his thumb into its eye and broke free.

“I just knew the eyes were what you should target,” he said. “I put my hand on the snout, reached up and pushed my thumb into his eyeball. And he released.”

‘Jonathan’s been bit’

Triathlete Matthew Davis, who was swimming behind Bruney, said nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first.

“I could see some commotion in the water in front of me but didn’t think nothing of it,” Davis said. “I sighted again, and I could see they were climbing up onto a dock. That was not normal.”

Another athlete yelled for him to get out of the water.

“I got to the dock, climbed up on it, and he just said, ‘Jonathan’s been bit,’” Davis said.

Bruney was in shock and bleeding heavily from a deep gash that later required a procedure and “quite a few stitches.” Davis, a wilderness first responder, ripped the cord off his swim buoy to make a tourniquet.

“I told him, ‘It’s gonna hurt,’” he said. “I squeezed as hard as I could, and I could watch the bleeding stop as we applied the tourniquet.”

With no phones on them, the athletes began banging on doors along the riverfront. They eventually flagged down a man walking his dogs and asked him to call 911.

Bruney was taken to the hospital, where doctors told him the bite mainly damaged skin and fat rather than muscle.

“Once again, it could have been a lot worse,” Bruney said. “I guess I won the alligator lottery.”

He’s been told to stay out of the water for three to four weeks but still plans to race Ironman Augusta – just not at the very front of the swim.

“I’ll still be racing. I’ll still be coaching and pursuing the passion,” he said. “I told my athletes, ‘I am a coach that will fight off and take a gator bite to protect you and make sure you’re having a successful swim.’”

Respecting the river

Bruney and Davis both say they’re not giving up on open‑water swimming, but they have a new respect for what shares the river with them.

“Am I scared of the water? No. But do I have a very healthy respect for the water and what’s in it? Absolutely,” Davis said, calling the attack a “freak accident.”

Bruney echoed that, urging people to use more caution but not avoid the river entirely.

“We didn’t see anything, but once again, we know they’re in there,” he said. “It’s Georgia. It’s the South. It happens.”

Officers searched the area Sunday but could not find the alligator. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been notified and is aware of the incident.

‘A sobering reminder’

The Savannah Riverkeeper said the incident is a reminder that the waterway is a living ecosystem.

“The recent alligator attack is a sobering reminder that when we swim in the Savannah, we are entering an ecosystem – one inhabited by fish, turtles, snakes, birds, alligators and a thousand other things that have no particular interest in accommodating us,” said the nonprofit on Facebook. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy the river. Quite the opposite. It does, however, mean we should respect it.”

The Riverkeeper urges visitors to pay attention when you are in the water, focus on your surroundings and understand that conditions can change quickly.

Researchers at the Savannah River Ecology Lab say you’re more likely to be struck by lightning or win the lottery than be seriously hurt by an alligator, but it’s important to put safety first.