Ironman Competitor Dies: Peter Farlecas Seemingly Suffers Heart Attack During Swim Leg Of Race

An Ironman competitor died Sunday during an event in Queensland, Australia. Peter Farlecas, 39, is believed to have suffered a heart attack during the swim portion of the event. Though a medical team worked on him for some time, they were unable to revive him.

According to 7 News, the Ironman competitor died after he was seen going slightly off-course during the swim section of the event. Reports indicate that Farlecas was near the end of the leg when it became clear something was wrong. The Courier Mail notes that some saw Farlecas struggling, and by the time he could be reached, his head was down in the water. Fellow competitors are said to have swam to him and he was loaded into a rescue boat. He was said to have been unconscious when the other competitors reached him.

Once Farlecas was back on the shore, medical personnel worked on him for about half an hour. Unfortunately, they were not able to save him. The rest of the event, which included the swim, a bike ride, and a marathon-length run, went on as scheduled. The water was said to be calm during the event that morning.

The Daily Mail notes that the Ironman competitor who died was a married father of three young children. Farlecas was participating in his first triathlon and he had been training for it for about six months. It seems he was participating in the triathlon with about 15 other IT systems colleagues. Sadly, many of those colleagues learned about the death as they crossed the finish line for the competition.

Farlecas, a sales manager, had traveled to the Ironman 70.3 event with his wife Luisa and their three daughters. A colleague, Tony Parissis, said that Farlecas was a family man and his daughters were excited about having a vacation in Queensland. The family is from Victoria. It seems Farlecas had been excited about the competition and he was looking forward to seeing the culmination of the hard training he had put in during the months leading up to the event.

This is not the first time an Ironman competitor has died during a race, but it is not a frequent occurrence. The organization running the event will do a review of Peter Farlecas’ death to ensure the proper protocols were followed, but the police have indicated there is nothing suspicious about the Australian Ironman competitor’s death.

[Image via e Canada Now]