We’ve known Jonathan for a while now, and if you’ve spent any time around him, you know the guy because he’ll talk to anybody. Infectious energy and a great attitude on life.

He’s exactly the kind of coach who shows up for his athletes in ways that go beyond the training plan. So when we heard he’d been bitten by an alligator in the Savannah River on Sunday, our first reaction wasn’t shock that Jonathan was leading an open water swim for his athletes, it was how?

Here’s the setup. Jonathan, 31, is an NVDM Coaching lead out of Charlotte. He brought a group of his athletes down to Augusta for a full swim rehearsal ahead of Ironman 70.3 Augusta in September. The plan was to swim the river course, bike part of the route, and run the Greeneway. Standard prep on a day to just enjoy each other.

Jonathan did his research, and knew his athletes abilities, so the group went in with neon swim buoys for support, entering the water from the same SRP Park dock where the actual Augusta swim starts.

About 60 yards out, Jonathan felt something hit his right side. He thought it was a log. Then the pain hit and he realized an alligator had its jaws and front foot clamped onto his upper arm.

His instinct kicked in immediately, and it’s the instinct that probably saved his arm. He didn’t panic, didn’t try to yank away and risk the alligator going into a death roll. He grabbed the animal’s head, found the snout, and drove his thumb into its eye. It let go.

“I just knew the eyes were what you should target,” Jonathan said.

He swam for a nearby dock, yelling for his athletes, Jared, Will, and Matt to get out of the water. Everyone made it out safely. On the dock, one of his athletes, Matthew Davis, a certified wilderness first responder, ripped the cord off his own swim buoy and turned it into a tourniquet on the spot.

EMS were called and Jonathan needed a medical procedure and a number of stitches for the 4-to-5-inch wound. Doctors told him only skin and fat were damaged; no nerve or tendon involvement and that he should stay out of the water for three to four weeks. But as of now, Jonathan still plans to race IRONMAN Augusta.

Now, if we’re being honest: if anyone in that water was going to walk away from this, we’d bet on it being Jonathan. He’s an experienced swimmer that doesn’t rattle and knows his own body under stress. It definitely could have been way worse if instead of him, it was maybe someone who wasn’t as strong in the water.

This wasn’t recklessness. The group didn’t provoke anything, didn’t see the alligator beforehand, and wasn’t doing anything other than a standard, supervised training swim in a river that hosts an actual IRONMAN event every year. Sometimes you can do everything right and still get bit.

If you’re swimming in open water anywhere in the southern states, assume there’s wildlife in there you can’t see. Swim with a group, never alone. Know what lives in the water you’re training in before you get in it. And if the unthinkable happens, do what Jonathan did; go for the eyes, don’t panic, and get to shore, fast.

Get well soon, Jonathan. We’ll see you at the start line.