Canadian accountant, 60s, and Meath native, 40s, who died in Ironman swim named locally

Athletes at the start of the swim at the Youghal Ironman on Sunday. Picture: Cork Triathlon Club

An accountant from Canada and a Meath native living in the UK lost their lives during the swim stage of the Ironman event in Youghal on Sunday morning.  

Ivan Chittenden from Toronto in Canada, who was in his 60s, and Brendan Wall from Solihull in England, who was in his 40s, died in separate medical emergencies during the event. 

The men were both attended to by emergency personnel but were pronounced dead at different scenes on Youghal's sea front. The remains of the two men were initially removed to a makeshift morgue in the town, before being transferred to the Cork City Morgue. The office of the State Pathologist was informed and post mortem examinations will be conducted today to determine the cause of the men’s deaths.

The Ironman event continued and up to 2,000 athletes crossed the finish line to discover that two of their fellow participants had lost their lives. Thousands of spectators lined the streets to cheer on the endeavors of family and friends at the end of the course in the east Cork town.

Saturday's Ironman half triathlon had been postponed until Sunday due to flooding and debris on the cycle course through east Cork as a result of Storm Betty overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning. As a result, both the full and half events took place yesterday.

While those who completed the swim, run and cycle were basking in their achievement, many spoke of the difficult sea conditions for the swim part of the event.

A Kildare participant said he heard people shouting for help in the water, and that some others didn’t feel safe and had turned around.

Killian Vigna from Nass said he found out after the event about the two deaths when he had completed the half Ironman.

Participants lining up at the start of the event on Sunday.

He said swimmers were battered by the high sea swells, adding that “it was tough”.

Robert Larkin from Dublin described the sea as “scary” during the swim part of the event. He said: “When we got in there, the waves were smacking us.” He added: “The waves were coming up over my head. But once you got to the buoy and turned your head and saw the lighthouse, it was grand.” He said he knew people who got back out of the water “because they were getting nowhere” because of the strength of the current.

His mother Jackie said she was proud of her son for competing the half Ironman but admitted she was particularly worried for him while he was doing the swim leg. She pointed out that it was impossible to know how he was getting on as she could not pick out her son in the water amongst all the swimmers.

She said: “It was very frightening actually, looking at it. You just wanted them all to be finished.” 

Glanmire man Matthew Browne of the East Cork Tribe described the sea conditions as “the worst I have ever been in”.

He continued: “Getting out to the first marker was insane because you were going backwards – you were being blown back.” He said it was a day of personal joy for his family as his wife Leona completed the Ironman 70.3 despite having sustained a broken ankle two weeks ago.

Ironman, who have responsibility for staging the event, issued a statement after the deaths, saying: “We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of two race participants at the IRONMAN 70.3 Ireland, Cork 2023. During the swim portion of Sunday’s race, safety personnel provided immediate medical attention upon recognising the athletes were in need of assistance.” 

“We share our greatest sympathies with the families and friends of the athletes and will continue to offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time. We thank the safety personnel and first responders who worked quickly to provide the athletes with medical assistance. In respect of the families and athletes’ privacy, we will have no further comment.” 

However, Ironmen did not respond to questions posed in relation to the safety concerns raised by participants, including who made the final decision to allow the event to go ahead.

In a statement, Cork County Council offered deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the dead men.

It said: “Our thoughts are with those who have been affected, and we are currently offering every assistance required to the IRONMAN GROUP and all those impacted. We wish to express our gratitude to the response agencies involved, including our dedicated Fire and Emergency personnel, for their unwavering efforts during this difficult time."