LAST UPDATE | 22 Aug 2023
THE FUNERAL OF a 45-year-old man who died during the swim section of an Ironman triathlon in Cork is to take place on Thursday in his home town of Slane, Co Meath.
Brendan Wall got engaged to fiancée, Tina, earlier this year and was living in Solihull in the west midlands in the UK.
He and 64-year-old Ivan Chittenden died in separate incidents during the 1.9km swim section of the Ironman event on Claycastle Beach in Youghal on Sunday morning. The deaths are being treated as tragedies.
Mr Wall will lie in repose at Watters Funeral Home in Louth tomorrow from 4pm to 8pm. His funeral mass will take place on Thursday at 1pm in the Church of St Brigid, Grangegeeth in Slane, with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.
Mr Wall was a graduate of Trinity College Dublin where he studied manufacturing and mechanical engineering. He also completed an MBA in the University of Hull.
He commenced work as a sales director at Top Tubes Ltd in Wednesbury in the UK in May of this year having previously been employed by Cavan based cutting tools manufacturer, the ATA Group.
Managing Director of Top Tubes Ltd, April Pearson Myatt, extended her condolences to Mr Wall’s fiancée and family.
She said that the news of the death had been met with a “heavy heart” at their company.
Mr Wall also worked for 10 years in London with Elements Material Technology where he was a sales director and then a general manager.
He is survived by his fiancée Tina, parents Oliver and Gertrude, brothers Martin and Joe, sister Maria, extended family and a large circle of friends.
The bodies of Mr Wall and the second man who died during the event, Ivan Chittenden, were released to their families yesterday.
Ivan Chittenden was a native of Brantford, Ontario and had studied business at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada. He was a senior partner in Ernest and Young prior to his retirement two years ago having first started in the London, Ontario office as a co op student in May 1979.
He was a keen triathlete and had previously competed in Ironman events. Mr Chittenden, who was married with a family, also ran in the Boston and Dallas marathons.
Eleven time Ironman champion Lisa Bentley has said she was “blessed with the gift” of coaching Mr Chittenden.
She said that while she taught Ivan in the sport of triathlon and honed his marathon running for 12 years her role was more about “walking beside him as a friend”.
“And guiding him as he aspired to do his first triathlon, then his first half Ironman and ultimately his first Ironman. And he did it all again and again and even ran all six of the marathon majors in Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago, New York City and Boston.
He was my friend. He was my family. Those are not words. That is a fact. I will miss him very much.”
“I know in my heart that he was doing what he loved when he left us. Ivan was in the shape of his life. He kept getting faster as he got older.”
She said that “Ivan lived more in the last twelve years than many of us live in a lifetime. He got out of his comfort zone”.
“He travelled. He trained. He raced.”
She added: “Ivan lived full. He was happily married – so happy. He got to travel the world. He accomplished his goal of racing triathlon, racing multiple Ironman events, racing multiple Boston marathons and the six World Marathon Majors. He was a gentleman.”
Triathlon Ireland released a statement yesterday evening in which CEO Darren Coombes said that they did not sanction the race. The governing body for triathlon in Ireland said that their technical officials attended before the start of the event in Youghal on Sunday to review the conditions and to carry out a water safety assessment.
“Due to adverse conditions on the day, Triathlon Ireland Technical Officials confirmed to the race organisers that it was not possible to sanction the race.
As there is an investigation ongoing, at this stage it would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment only to state that Triathlon Ireland will provide any assistance that the authorities require.”
Triathlon Ireland offered their deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. They added that the loss of the two men has also had a “devastating effect” on the triathlon community in Ireland.
The Ironman Group also shared a statement yesterday in which they that following the safety protocol checks on Sunday morning it was decided it was safe for the swim to go ahead.
“Due to the prevailing weather conditions, a decision was made, however, to shorten the distance of the swim as a further precaution to ensure that the significant water safety assets – such as kayaks, lifeguards and medical boats – could be concentrated over a smaller area while also allowing swimmers the ability to swim with the help of a more favourable current and incoming tide after the first 100m.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the family and friends of the two athletes who passed. We are providing ongoing assistance to their families and we will continue to offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time.”
Winnie Moore was one of those who took part in the Cork Ironman and it was her fifth Ironman event.
Moore told RTÉ’s News at One that she decided it was “not worth it” and left the water after seeing a “very distressed” young girl in the water who was “uncontrollably crying”.
Moore added that she and the young girl were “very well looked after” by the Ironman crew after leaving the water.
Keith Sullivan also took part in the Cork Ironman event and he told the News At One that the conditions were “not something that we have ever trained in”.
“The waves were crashing so high, they were driving people directly onto rocks,” said Sullivan.
He said it was his opinion that “nobody should have really been in that water”.
Sullivan added that people had to “battle through 12 foot waves” and that there was a “sense of panic”.
“People were screaming out, they were terrified and really suffering with fear and there were people being pulled out of the water.
“It wasn’t a place for people with any type of inexperience or any nervousness.”
Sullivan said he had “never been in a sea like that before” and that it should have been called off “days in advance”.
He added that he was “disappointed to hear that it went ahead when it wasn’t sanctioned by Triathlon Ireland.
Speaking to reporters today in Dublin, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said questions need to be answered in relation to safety measures at the event.
“Unquestionably, there are very serious issues that need to be addressed. I noted the statement of Triathlon Ireland yesterday evening with interest and indeed with some concern. There seems to be a a difference between what Ironman Ireland were saying and what Triathalon Ireland are now saying, we want to get to the truth of that,” the Minister said.
“My sincerest sympathies are with those families and we need to move now to a stage whereby we can find out what happened – was there any deficiencies in the planning of the event and the safety arrangements put in place? And that needs to be done expeditiously,” he added.
With reporting from Jane Matthews.
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