Triathlon Ireland says officials told race organisers it could not sanction Ironman swim

TRIATHLON Ireland says its officials told the organisers of Sunday’s Ironman event in Youghal that they could not sanction the race after carrying out a water safety assessment.

Two men died in separate incidents during the swim portion of the 70.3km event. Ironman said standard safety protocol checks which were completed ahead of the event “determined water conditions were safe for the swim to take place”.

The men have been named as Ivan Chittenden, 64, who lived in Toronto, Ontario, and Brendan Wall, 45, of Cardrath, Slane, Co Meath, who was based in Solihull in England. Postmortems were due to be carried out yesterday.

A statement issued by Triathlon Ireland CEO Darren Coombes said the organisation was “reeling” from the tragedies and that “the triathlon community is a very close community and this loss has had a devastating effect on all of us”. 

“For the Ironman Cork event, in line with normal practice, Triathlon Ireland technical officials attended before the start of the race to review the conditions and carry out a water safety assessment. Due to adverse conditions on the day, Triathlon Ireland technical officials confirmed to the race organisers that it was not possible to sanction the race.”

Triathlon Ireland is the national governing body for triathlons in Ireland, a role which includes providing sanction for club and commercial races to proceed.

The statement continued: “In our almost 40-year history, the sport in Ireland has an impeccable safety record.

“As there is an investigation ongoing, at this stage it would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment only to state that Triathlon Ireland will provide any assistance that the authorities require.

“Finally, we reiterate our deepest condolences to the families of Ivan Chittenden and Brendan Wall.”

In a statement on Sunday confirming the deaths of the two participants, Ironman Ireland expressed its sympathies to the families of the men who died.

SAFETY CHECKS

A further statement issued yesterday by Ironman said that “standard safety protocol checks” were completed and assistance was being offered to the families of the deceased.

“With all Ironman events, our utmost priority is the safety of our athletes and all others involved in the event.

“The weather conditions were monitored carefully over the Ironman Ireland, Cork and Ironman 70.3 Ireland, Cork triathlon weekend, with the Ironman 70.3 triathlon being rescheduled to take place on Sunday, alongside Ironman Ireland, Cork to provide a safer race for athletes.

“On the morning of Sunday, August 20, Ironman Ireland officials and the specific on-swim safety team carried out all standard safety protocol checks that are completed at every race and determined water conditions were safe for the swim to take place.

“Due to the prevailing weather conditions, a decision was made, however, to shorten the distance of the swim as a further precaution to ensure that the significant water safety assets — such as kayaks, lifeguards, and medical boats — could be concentrated over a smaller area while also allowing swimmers the ability to swim with the help of a more favourable current and incoming tide after the first 100m.

“We are providing ongoing assistance to their families and we will continue to offer them our as they go through this very difficult time.”

Yesterday, Finance Minister Michael McGrath expressed his condolences to the families of the two competitors who died taking part in the Ironman event in Youghal on Sunday and said it is important that the “full facts” of what happened are ascertained.

Mr McGrath made the comments while speaking to reporters in Cork.

“It’s a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the families of the two persons who tragically lost their life in Youghal yesterday [on Sunday],” he said, reflecting on the double tragedy at the sporting event.

'TERRIBLE TRAGEDY'

“I know that Ironman Ireland will, of course, be carrying out their own investigation to establish the full circumstances of what happened and of course the postmortems will take place today [Monday] and that will feed into the coroner’s court hearing eventually into this but it’s a terrible, terrible tragedy.

“It’s clear that the conditions were particularly challenging in the water from reading the testimony from many of the other participants but it’s just a terrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the families.

“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the families who must be in a terrible state of shock and in mourning at this time.

“But, of course, when two people lose their life in circumstances such as this, it is important that the full facts of what happened are established and that any questions that are being asked are comprehensively answered, so I have no doubt the organisers of the event will conduct a comprehensive investigation into what happened.

“Cork County Council is a lead sponsor of the event and I have no doubt that they will want a full of what happened as well and it may well be the case that Water Safety Ireland will also be asking questions and wish to fully understand the facts and the circumstances of what happened,” he said.

The two men died in separate incidents on Sunday morning during the swim portion of the event.

Brendan Wall worked as a sales director at a steel tubes manufacturers in Wednesbury in the UK having previously been employed by an industrial machinery manufacturing firm in Cavan. He was a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the University of Hull where he completed an MBA.

Mr Wall is survived by his fiancee Tina, parents Oliver and Gertrude, brothers Martin and Joe, sister Maria, extended family, and circle of friends. Funeral details will be announced at a later date.

Ivan Chittenden was a keen triathlete and marathon runner who had competed at events in various countries. He retired two years ago having been a senior partner at multinational firm.