Two men who died during an Ironman event in Co. Cork yesterday have been named.
65-year-old Ivan Chittenden from Toronto Canada was holidaying in Ireland when he decided to take part in the event in Youghal.
Brendan Wall aged 44 was originally from Co. Meath but was living in Solihull in the UK.
Post-mortems will take place on the bodies of both men today. Investigations are underway into their deaths.
The organisers of Ironman say they're 'deeply saddened' to confirm their deaths.
The men had been taking part in the 1.7km swim portion of the event when they got into difficulty.
Both men were removed from the water by emergency services and were pronounced dead by medical personnel. The swimmers were among several thousand competitors who entered the water at the Front Strand in Youghal.
Post Mortem Examinations
Ironman Ireland says safety personnel provided immediate medical attention when they recognised the athletes were in need of assistance.
Their bodies were removed to University Hospital Cork where post mortems will be carried out today.
At the moment its thought both men suffered personal medical emergencies which contributed to their deaths.
Southern Correspondent with the Irish Independent Ralph Riegel says questions are being asked about why the event was allowed to continue.
"A number of swimmers said that they found the very first section of the swim quite challenging because of the waves and the currents
"One it was known that there were fatalities involved, should the event have continued as it did."
Mayor of County Cork Frank O'Flynn says many of the other athletes had no idea the double tragedy had occurred.
"I was talking to some of the athletes, they didn't even realise until they had actually finished afterwards, when the radio stations started to break the news.
"Then joy became reality when they found out what had happened.
"A lot of people didn't know exactly what had happened but some athletes knew that there were some issues in the water."
By Michael Bolton
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