A triathlon coach was ferociously attacked by an alligator while swimming in a river during a training session for an upcoming race.

Jonathan Bruney, 31, was swimming in the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia, with several other athletes for a race rehearsal on Sunday when he suddenly felt a blow to his right arm.

While he initially thought he crashed into a log, he soon felt a “cold pain” shooting on his side and then spotted the 4 to 5-foot gator with its mouth on his arm, he told WRDW.

“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.

Panicked, he grabbed the alligator by the head, shoved his thumb into its eye and wrestled himself 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.”