Victorian man dies of suspected heart attack during Ironman event on Sunshine Coast
A competitor in an ironman race on Queensland's Sunshine Coast who died of a suspected heart attack had undertaken a six-month training regime, according to reports.
The 39-year-old Melbourne man, named by several media outlets as Peter Farlecas, died during the swimming leg of the Ironman 70.3 race on Sunday morning.
Competitors swim 1.9km before cycling 90km and running 21.1km.
"It's been a real tragedy, we have had a death in the swim today," Ironman Asia Pacific chief executive Geoff Meyer told ABC radio yesterday.
Paramedics and water safety officers were called to Mooloolaba shortly after 7am and attempted to resuscitate Mr Farlecas for half an hour.
"The team did an amazing job but were not able to revive him," he said.
"The thoughts from the medical team is that it was a heart attack."
The Courier Mail reports Mr Farlecas, a sales manager, had travelled to the Sunshine Coast with his wife and three daughters.
A friend and colleague, Tony Parissis, said Mr Farlecas was competing in the race with around 15 other colleagues from an IT systems availability business.
"He was excited," Mr Parissis said. "It was six months of hard work coming to a culmination. He trained very hard for this event."
Morning news break – September 15
