Posted on 10/22/2022 8:46:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A 36-year-old Singaporean man died after encountering difficulties during a triathlon event in Portugal on Oct 15.
The man, identified by Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao as Mr Derrick Tee, was participating in the Ironman Portugal-Cascais race. Cascais is a coastline town in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, Ironman Portugal confirmed the death of a race participant during the triathlon, which comprised the full distance (3.8km swim, 180km bicycle ride and 42km run) and 70.3 event (1.9km swim, 90km cycle, 21km run).
“During the swim portion of Saturday’s race, the athlete required and received medical assistance before being transported from the event,” it said.
“Despite best medical efforts, the athlete passed in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. We share our greatest sympathies with the family and friends of the athlete and will continue to offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time.
“We thank the swim safety personnel and first responders who worked quickly to provide the athlete with medical support.”
According to the Ironman website, Mr Tee was the only Singaporean participating in the race, which reportedly featured 4,800 participants.
Lianhe Zaobao reported that the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Singapore in Lisbon is assisting Mr Tee’s family.
According to information on the triathlon website CoachCox, Mr Tee had participated in six other Ironman races between 2016 and 2019, in Vietnam, the Philippines, Sydney (twice) and Bintan (twice).
Former national triathlete Mok Ying Ren, who is a doctor at a public hospital, noted that triathlons “are taxing on the body and sudden deaths during or after races are rare, but it happens”.
“The advice is always to go for pre-participation screening, especially if a person is sedentary and is looking to start (in such strenuous activity),” he added.
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“Having said that, even if you do the right preparation, practice due diligence and race within your limits, (complications) can still happen.”
Dr Mok, 34, won the triathlon gold medal at the 2007 SEA Games. That year, he was part of the SEA Games selection race where teammate Thaddeus Cheong, 17, collapsed after crossing the finish line following a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run. Cheong was pronounced dead hours later after being taken to hospital.
Mr Tee is the fifth recorded fatality at an Ironman triathlon since June – three of the other cases were in races held in the United States while one was in England – and all involved participants who had suffered issues during the swimming leg of the race.
Said Dr Mok: “Swimming is naturally difficult because you’re out in the sea, and in a race you have people thrashing around so help (often) cannot be delivered quickly, especially if you’re drowning in the middle of the pack. So it’s particularly challenging.”
Killer Whales.
Like other folks on FR, I have done quite a number of tri’s. A 1/2 Ironman was my biggest.
Interestingly, the swim is the first of the three disciplines that the triathlete faces. The deaths in the swim are a bit of a mystery because the crisis is not caused by exhaustion or over-exertion. There is some physical response to the combination of cold water, a bit of fear of the water, and the sudden exercise of the muscles that makes the athlete’s body”seize up.” The start of the swim is usually a scrum with a lot of pushing and kicking - most of which is inadvertent.
I’d be interested in the follow-up to this incident. Unfortunately, the msm will just send this down the rabbit hole once the headline has lost its appeal to the casual reader.
Oldplayer
Cushing, OK
Not a good idea to do bursts if high intensity exercise if you have asymptomatic myocarditis. Problem is you feel absolutely fine at rest. Undiagnosed myocarditis is a real concern in young people following mRNA vaccinations.
Nobody ever died from resting too much.
This healthy stuff’ll kill ya.
**This healthy stuff’ll kill ya.**
I had a neighbor in rural NW IL that got obsessed with running. He started out jogging a couple miles a day, then gradually increased it to 7 miles. Eventually he would do a half marathon once a week, then twice a week, still doing 7 on the other days. After 27 yrs of marriage his wife left him.
He told me, “very few people can do this”. I thought, “yep, and the majority of folks don’t want to, and more don’t care.
Pride can be a killer. I rode a bull in a rodeo just one time. Dad warned me: “it’s got nothing to to with ranching or horsemanship, it’s just gladiator stuff”. I took me that one ride to admit he was right. I realized that it was just a pride ‘sport’.
I rode a bull once.
A bit after the owner said, hey man you paid for two rides.
I said, no I didn’t…
Actually, all sports are a matter of pride. But since all other rodeo events are derived from working cattle and horsemanship, somehow bull riding seemed to be connected. But it’s not at all.
No, it’s just wild. I learned how strong a bull is that day.
I still remember, and that was in 1998…
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