“We are saddened to confirm the death of a race participant during the swim portion of today’s IRONMAN Texas triathlon,” organizers said on social media. “We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time.”
The swimmer’s identity was not immediately released.
The Woodlands Fire Department received a report of a lost swimmer on Lake Woodlands at 7:36 a.m., Fire Chief Palmer Buck told the Houston Chronicle. The first swimmers had started that leg of the race, the first of the event, at about 6:30 a.m., he said.
Starting at 7:38 a.m, fire officials searched for the swimmer with rescue boats and located the victim using side-scan sonar at 9:07 a.m., Buck said. Divers from the North Montgomery Fire Department pull the swimmer out of the water at 9:39 a.m., and the swimmer was pronounced dead at 9:44 a.m.
Buck said finding the swimmer was challenging because “visibility underwater is zero, lot of people and watercraft roiling up the water, and there’s always a constant current making searching difficult.”
The water was about 77 degrees on Saturday morning, Buck said, so temperature did not seem to be a factor in the swimmer’s death.
The annual Ironman Texas triathlon comprises a 2.4-mile swim in North Shore Park and Lake Woodlands, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run also around Lake Woodlands, according to the race website.