Two athletes lost their lives on Sunday while competing in the Ironman 70.3 Mossel Bay triathlon.
The two men, aged 29 and 58, experienced problems during the swimming leg of the event and had to be pulled from the water.
Ironman SA made the announcement on social media, expressing condolences to the men’s families.
“During the swim portion of the event, safety personnel responded to two separate incidents about 15 minutes apart.
“One athlete was extracted at about 400m and the other at about 1,000m.”
The athletes were taken to the designated extraction point for urgent medical care before being transported to hospital.
“Our hearts go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and together with the triathlon community, we mourn the loss of two fellow athletes.
“We will continue to offer our support to the athletes’ families as they go through this very difficult time.
“We also extend our sincere gratitude to the safety personnel and first responders who worked quickly to provide medical support,” Ironman SA said in the post.
Police spokesperson Sgt Christopher Spies said a postmortem would be conducted later this week to determine the causes of death.
“Mossel Bay police opened two inquest dockets,” he said.
“The men, aged 29 and 58 were retrieved from the water at about 7.40am.
“They were taken to a nearby medical facility where one was declared dead on arrival. The other man was declared deceased later.”
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