I lost one of my best friends today at Ironman New York.
I know there is a thread on this but I couldn't bring myself to read much of it. I thought I should let people know what happened. I hope then people can remember him and respect him.
My friend and I flew into town from overseas especially for this event. This was the sporting highlight of his year. He was one of the fittest people that I knew. Ex-special forces, counter terrorism and senior law enforcement, trained in surviving in adverse situations including in water. He was also an accomplished athlete, a 2:30 marathoner and was always on the podium. Most importantly, he was a loving husband and a father of three young girls. He was the guy who was always there to help, no matter how big or small the problem was, and was one of the pillars of our community.
We started the day together and he was fine. We talked for a long time before the race. When we got on the starting barge together he had a grin from ear to ear. He shook my hand, said "good luck, see you on the finish line", and we jumped in together. I never saw him again. They pulled me aside at T2 and told me, then took me back to our wives and children.
From what I saw the race was well organised, well handled and they did everything correctly. We can't come to terms with what happened, especially to someone who was at the top of their game in life as a father, husband, member of our community and as an athlete.
I'm posting this to try to end speculation, and I'd ask people to respect his family's wishes for privacy and to keep any personal information out of the public eye.
We will all miss him. I can't put into words how it feels.
I know there is a thread on this but I couldn't bring myself to read much of it. I thought I should let people know what happened. I hope then people can remember him and respect him.
My friend and I flew into town from overseas especially for this event. This was the sporting highlight of his year. He was one of the fittest people that I knew. Ex-special forces, counter terrorism and senior law enforcement, trained in surviving in adverse situations including in water. He was also an accomplished athlete, a 2:30 marathoner and was always on the podium. Most importantly, he was a loving husband and a father of three young girls. He was the guy who was always there to help, no matter how big or small the problem was, and was one of the pillars of our community.
We started the day together and he was fine. We talked for a long time before the race. When we got on the starting barge together he had a grin from ear to ear. He shook my hand, said "good luck, see you on the finish line", and we jumped in together. I never saw him again. They pulled me aside at T2 and told me, then took me back to our wives and children.
From what I saw the race was well organised, well handled and they did everything correctly. We can't come to terms with what happened, especially to someone who was at the top of their game in life as a father, husband, member of our community and as an athlete.
I'm posting this to try to end speculation, and I'd ask people to respect his family's wishes for privacy and to keep any personal information out of the public eye.
We will all miss him. I can't put into words how it feels.