Henderson said even longtime racers could have trouble in the swim leg.
In April organizers called off the swim leg of the New Orleans 70.3 race because of high winds.
"I mean, to swim in the Hudson River... " The current was so swift that many of the elite racers finished the swim leg in under 10 minutes.
Born without a right forearm – PT2 athletes are the most severely impaired, PT4 the least – she has dominated her class, especially the swim leg, since 2014.
Some athletes said the swift currents in the Hudson between 97th Street and the 79th Street Boat Basin, the end point for the swim leg, left them shaken.
Seiichiro Asakawa, an age-group triathlete from Tokyo, said he would be disappointed if the swim leg was called off, even though swimming is his weakest of the three disciplines.
On Sunday, Michael Kudryk, 64, of Freehold, N.J., died after being pulled unconscious from the Hudson about halfway through the 1,500-meter 1,500-meter the race, which began at 96th swimet and went with the current to 79th Street.
Burke and other triathlon experts said they believed widening participation in triathlons had led to more inexperienced athletes' subjecting themselves to the rigors of a race, with potentially dire consequences in the swim leg.
Korff and other triathlon officials said Monday that they would review procedures for the race, especially those pertaining to the swim leg, which precedes the cycling and running phases.
From the start, the swim leg belonged to Taormina, which was not surprising considering that Taormina was the only woman in the field who had won an Olympic gold medal in swimming.
