War of words over Ironman fatalities as organisers asked for full account of tragedy

Flowers left in memory of the two Ironman athletes who lost their lives in Youghal. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Cork County Council has asked Ironman organisers for a full account of Sunday’s double tragedy in Youghal as a row erupted last night over when the governing body told race organisers it could not sanction the event.

Ironman claimed in a statement on Tuesday evening that representatives of Triathlon Ireland, the sport’s governing body, told Ironman Ireland officials on the ground in Youghal that they would not approve the sanctioning of the event “several hours” after the swim was completed.

Ivan Chittenden, aged 64, from Toronto, and Brendan Wall, aged 44, originally from Meath, both died after getting into difficulty in separate apparent medical emergencies during the swim in heavy seas off Youghal’s Front Strand on Sunday morning.

However, Triathlon Ireland told the Irish Examiner that its technical officials confirmed to the Ironman race organisers “before the start of the race” that it was not possible for them to sanction the race because of the adverse weather conditions.

Brendan Wall and Ivan Chittenden.

Experienced triathletes have spoken of the fear and panic among competitors during Sunday’s event.

One competitor, Keith O’Sullivan said of the 10m-12m high waves at the start of the race: “The challenges we faced coming off the beach were not something that we have ever trained in or that any professional triathlete would normally train in, because the waves were crashing so high they were driving people back directly onto rocks.”

He told RTÉ radio that even the spotters and kayakers who were part of the safety teams were struggling to stay upright in the heavy swell.

Read More about #Ironman

Sunday’s event was Winnie Moore’s fifth Ironman race. She said that after making it 200m out from shore, she began to panic after noticing the large swell in the water.

Another swimmer stopped to ask if she was OK, and called one of the safety kayaks to her, before it had to go to the aid of another distressed swimmer.

She swam on a bit further but decided to call for help. She was retrieved by a safety boat, which then plucked four men to safety.

“I just said it’s not worth it, I didn’t have to prove anything to myself,” she said.

Cork County Council has said its position as host sponsor of the Ironman event will be determined by a full report which it has demanded from organisers into Sunday’s double tragedy.

Sports Minister Thomas Byrne has asked Sport Ireland to liaise with Triathlon Ireland and to provide any suitable support required.

“It is important to allow the relevant authorities to conduct their investigations at this time in the interests of obtaining adequate answers as to how these tragic deaths occurred,” said Mr Byrne.

An aerial shot from the start of the swim at the Youghal Ironman 2023. Picture: Tri Coach Bjorn

Questions remain over why the swim went ahead, and why an alternative swim race course in the more sheltered waters of Youghal Bay, which was flagged to competitors last Thursday as Storm Betty bore down, was not used on Sunday.

Cork County Council said Ironman owns the event and has “sole responsibility” for its management and co-ordination, and that this responsibility “includes to run the event with due care, skill, and attention”.

It said the responsibility of Ironman extends to providing all race-related equipment, supplies, personnel (including volunteers and a local race director), training of personnel, racecourse set-up, route determination and design, and all other technical and operational aspects of the race.

“Cork County Council does not have any responsibility for the management and operation of the event and any decisions related to the races proceeding, nor indeed the different elements of the individual races,” it said.

It is understood Ironman’s review of the event will feed into the Garda files in relation to the deaths, which will be prepared in due course for the coroner’s court. It could take up to a year before the inquests are held and the full facts made public.