Two die in the Ironman at Youghal

Furze99

https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0820/1400656-cork-ironman/

This was reported this morning and RIP to the two men who died in the swim part of an Ironman competition this morning. Our sympathies to the families of these men and their friends and also to the volunteers manning the event.

Doubtless there will be serious questions to be asked of the organisers and if they arranged sufficient rescue boat coverage for a field that would spread out during the swim.

What I found very odd though, was that the event carried on with participants cycling and running. It'd be normal enough in bike racing or motor rallies etc for the event to be cancelled when there are fatalities.

Personally I don't think I could possibly just carry on as if nothing happened. Perhaps the competitors weren't aware of what had happened behind them but they could easily have been told.

Serious questions for the organisers....

Oscar Madison

Completely agree with this!

I can't understand why the swim wasn't cancelled or even reduced to a smaller distance!

Yes they shortened the distance but surely the sea was too rough to swim with any ease?

And again, blatant disregard for participants safety just hours after a severe storm

caused havoc across the country! The 'it won't happen here' mentality strikes again!

eightieschewbaccy

Suspect the swim didn't get cancelled cause it previously got cancelled two years back. So it was half pr to go ahead with it. Definite questions around it and it feels very off continuing it after two deaths.

Rebelbrowser

Might be best not to jump to conclusions. I've been told, freakish as it seems, that they were both medical emergencies, not drownings, with one dying ever before the event commenced. Second hand info admittedly. RIP both anyway. Agree they will get a lot of grief for continuing but I think in the uber macho world of Iron-man that is probably what you do. A nuts event IMHO I hasten to add....

Edit - Have seen 9pm news since. My information must be wrong. Waves looked bad too. This story could run for a while....

Mogeely

The Swim shouldnt have happened as the current is dangerous at the best of times. The man who died in his 60s probably was going to happened but the man in his 40s would probably have been okay only for the whole lot of them were left into the water together rather than delaying the half until 10. He wasn't far from the shore and probably got a kick that knocked him out if less swimmers were in the water he would have be spotted sooner. Also I'm hearing another person has been killed off the bike.

07Lapierre

The swim was shortened so they could concentrate the safety crews closer together. The 70.3 was also mover from the Saturday to the Sunday. In short they took reasonable precautions.

Princess Calla

I'll be honest and say I know feck all about the competition bar the basics.

However does personal responsibility not come into it?

It was their choice to train and compete. From what I understand it's very grueling and puts a massive strain on the body between competing and training. Neither of them were "young".

It was also their choice to compete on a day of a storm.

This "culture" of blaming everyone and anyone needs to stop. People need to learn to make their own risk assessment and accept the consequences of that too.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004621#Comment_121004621

Oh I agree, best not to jump to conclusions. If someone collapsed enroute to event, that's a different matter. That sea looks rough in the event photo and there was a strong wind blowing today, I wouldn't have been getting in for a dip there I think.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004690#Comment_121004690

Not really, looking at the Facebook plenty of people were struggling and felt unsafe in the water because of the increased numbers.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004692#Comment_121004692

With respect, that's not quite how it works at an organised event.

If you want to go off on yer tod or with friends and swim in open water or climb cliffs etc, that's fine - you take care of yourselves and responsibility for your own safety.

The reason people are attracted to organised events and pay fees, is two fold - first to compete against like minded people and two, that it's organised and there is safety backup. The entrant offloads some of the risk and expects the organiser to be able to cope with safety coverage. You don't expect to die when you enter an organised event like this.

Mogeely

Put in Cathal Shaw Ironman youghal into Facebook and have a look at the conditions that people were expected to Swim in. I live in the locality and know how dangerous the sea is in Youghal on a good day the currents are crazy there. It wasn't fit to dip your toes in it today never mind swim in it.

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004621#Comment_121004621

All the Irish newspapers are stating that both men died in the water while competing in the event.

Purple Mountain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004731#Comment_121004731

There was a mam called in a nearby beach a few weeks ago on a "calm" day.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004731#Comment_121004731

Mad looking - strong sea running. How many rescue boats did they have out? And how did the organisers think they could monitor all entrants in that rough sea?

Could be the end of Ironman type competitions here in Ireland for quite a while.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004692#Comment_121004692

don't forget that the swim is the first event though; they should be reasonably fresh and well rested getting in.

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004731#Comment_121004731

Some serious swell there, mad to host a comp in those conditions

Mogeely

My wife and brother in law are volunteering today. My brother in law met his neighbour earlier who is in an awful state as she was on the kayak that found the man in his 40s. So many people in the water with both events together hard to see who was seriously struggling before it was too late.

Polar101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004731#Comment_121004731

Looks pretty rough.. I do wonder if it's a lot worse than previous years' conditions.

It's very hard to understand why the competition wasn't stopped.

Widdensushi

Surely anyone who wasn't comfortable with the conditions didn't have to partake, it's ironman so it's not meant to be easy, it's very sad but people have a personal responsibility,we can't always blame the organisers etc.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004814#Comment_121004814

Based on the comments of participants, conditions were worse than 2019 which had swim cancelled. Plus the overlapping of two events added to it.

trashcan

Saw the report on the news and the sea did look incredibly rough. I know people are talking about personal responsibility, but surely the organisers have a responsibility to make sure the event is safe.

TheRiverman

I don't know anything about this event, but saw the report on RTE News. It looked incredibly dangerous.

zetor 4911

Organisers have serious questions to answer here.

elperello

https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1693355869873029470/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1693355869873029470&currentTweetUser=rtenews

Definitely looks very rough.

nachouser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058310093/two-die-in-the-ironman-at-youghal

Isle of Mann TT. Everest. Ridiculous thread.

Mehaffey1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004990#Comment_121004990

Jesus that is awful. I don't have any sea swimming experience but that does look excessive. Yes there does have to be a personal choice but I'd not be swimming in that.

Pipmae

BIL did the 70.3 one and said the swim was horrendous. It's not his first rodeo either. He's done full Ironman races previously, some abroad.

His neighbour, who is a member of his athletic club (Fingal), helped to pull one of the men who died from the water. Shocking tragedy. I don't know anymore than that - I didn't want to press him as he understandably was upset.

The 70.3 race was supposed to go ahead yesterday and was postponed to today due to Storm Betty. So both races went ahead the same day.

The Irish Examiner had the names of the deceased on their article about 90 mins ago but I see they've edited it to take them out.

May they RIP.

prunudo

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I saw a post earlier (posted prior to event and incident) from Ironman organisers about an update to the schedule and the sea looked calmer so maybe it was an evolving situation and the conditions were getting worse as the event progressed.

The rise in popularity of these events has brought them more into the general populations sights but the reality is, they are a form of extreme sports.

And whether it is road racing, rallying, mountain climbing, diving, skidiving, even cycling or horse riding, etc etc, they all contain levels of risk of injury and death. In competion, most competitors know this, its in the back of their minds, its not talked about, but its there. Its part of their draw, the attraction, the sense of doing something outside the comfort zone.

If the organisers were negligent then there should be repercussions, but partipants must also enter these events with their eyes wide opens and accept personal responsibility.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121005007#Comment_121005007

Here's the thing... Perhaps if you had experience then it wouldn't look as excessive?

TokTik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004731#Comment_121004731

No one was “expected” to swim. They signed up and went into the water of their own free will. They weren’t marched in at gunpoint

07Lapierre

Sea swimming is risky. The organisers have a duty to take all reasonable precautions to ensure participants safety. The question is … did they take all reasonable precautions in this case? Remember people do die while participating is sporting events every now and then. Even if the conditions were perfect…there still could have been a fatality.