A Youghal Ironman competitor has spoken of her horror and trauma at the chaos of Sunday’s tragedy, reports RTE.
Speaking to RTÉ News, a man who made an official complaint to both Ironman and Cork County Council said it was “very traumatising” to learn that Triathlon Ireland did not allow sea swimming.
Two men, 45-year-old Brendan Wall and 64-year-old Evan Chittenden, were killed in the incident.
The competitor traveled to Youghal last Friday and was immediately concerned that “despite intense rain and wind due to the emergence of Storm Betty, the only communication received was an email at 12.06 saying that the swim route would be changed to minimise the impact of swells and currents,” reports RTE.
Upon arrival, he said the bad information made it “difficult to figure out where to park to go to the registration tent”.
He said in his letter of complaint: “This was incredibly stressful as we checked in and set up our things in gale force winds and rain,”
On Sunday morning, at “around 7.30am the pro-women and men finally went off, and you could see that the currents and waves were difficult even for them”, reports RTE.
He said: “I got in, battled the initial waves, and started strongly swimming towards the orange buoy. All around me people were struggling to battle the waves and currents. They felt huge and it was really difficult to see the buoys over the large waves. Already I could see people trying to get the attention of kayakers for help,” reports RTE.
He added: “Around 200 metres out from the orange buoy I heard shouts as I turned my head to breathe, so I stopped and looked up to hear the kayakers and all of the swimmers shouting ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!’ before even reaching the orange buoy. The swim route was being changed whilst we were in the water because of how strong the swells and currents were. As we were turning the sea became utter chaos as hundreds of people scrambled to get away from the orange buoy and onto this newly changed route. People were swimming on top of each other, something I myself experienced, with stronger swimmers pushing weaker ones out of the way. It was aggressive, chaotic, and terrifying,” reports RTE.
Swimmers with ear-plugs would not have been able to hear the warnings, he noted.
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