Two participants of this weekend’s Port Dickson International Triathlon 2018 ran into serious trouble during the swimming portion of the event, with one man having been found drowned during the event, and the other missing until he was recovered this morning.
Tharm Wei Wong, from Penang, drowned earlier that morning when participating in the swimming portion of the event.
Hong Kong native Yuen Chi Yuen, known to his friends as Jeffrey, was reported missing at 11:55am yesterday morning, after he failed to report back after the event was over.
A search and rescue operation (SAR) for Jeffrey was launched, and later extended a further five kilometers from where they had previously been searching. Twenty personnel, four boats and jet skis, as well as local fishermen, participated in the SAR mission, including firefighters, members of the Water Rescue Team (PPDA), the Marine Police, officials from the Malaysian Civil Defense Force and Port Dickson Municipal Council.
His body was recovered early this morning, a day after he was reported missing.
Jeffrey’s wife, Chan Wai Yong, was the first to sound the alarm over her husband’s disappearance. Working as a triathlon technical officer, she did not see her husband on the beach after the swimming portion of the event. She searched the beach, their hotel and a nearby dining area before reporting him missing to PDIT officials.
Triathlons are not without their dangers, and a recent study found that deaths during such events caused by cardiac arrest or trauma, were far higher than previously thought.
In fact, according to the study’s lead author, the majority of triathlon deaths occur during the swimming portion of the event.
A cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Dr Kevin Harris explains that this part of the event is particularly precarious for athletes.
They will “likely experience an adrenaline surge as they enter the water and are competing in close proximity to other athletes. Iin some cases with environmental conditions that are difficult to prepare for,” he wrote. “We don’t understand the exact cause of death in each athlete, and some swim deaths may be related to drowning.”
