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SINGAPORE: Tragedy hit the OSIM Singapore Triathlon event at East Coast Park on Sunday as 42-year-old Lee Wee Sing died after he competed in the swim leg of the relay race.
Mr Lee was the CEO of Deutsche Telekom Asia in Singapore, and it was his first time taking part in a triathlon.
According to a press release, Mr Lee was spotted struggling and disoriented during the swim by a marshal at 1:06pm.
He was competing in the Olympic Distance Mix/Open relay category.
He was immediately brought to shore by a jet ski.
When he reached the shore, he was foaming at the mouth and unconscious, and paramedics immediately performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him.
Two doctors also rushed to the scene and subsequently took over the CPR and applied an automated external defibrillator on Mr Lee.
He was transferred to the Changi General Hospital (CGH) at 1:25pm.
CGH informed the organisers at 2:35pm that Mr Lee had died.
Friends and team mates were distraught and shocked at Mr Lee's sudden death.
Mr Lee is said to have been a good swimmer, but it is not known if he was used to swimming in the open sea - where the swim leg of triathlons are commonly held.
Mr Lee's team mates told Channel NewsAsia he was not known to have any underlying medical conditions and was said to be very healthy and fit.
They said he had been training for the event and was well-prepared.
Said Allen Yeo, one of Mr Lee's relay team mates: "Among the three of us, he's the most active and he had been training a lot, so we were all ready for this event. We really wanted to clear this event and take the Osim medal."
"He's been training at least for the last two weeks regularly on a daily basis in the pool for the distance that he's competing,” said Ernest Chua, another relay team mate. "And he's been monitoring his progress on a daily basis and updating us so I think he was quite prepared for this event."
The Triathlon Association of Singapore said all safety precautions were in place.
Said Mark Tay, president of the Triathlon Association of Singapore: "He was about 100 metres from the second yellow buoy - that means he only had about 350 metres left...
"In triathlons, the swimming leg is the most so-called dangerous leg because in the sea there're a lot of uncertainties, a lot of under currents and all that so we had deployed a lot of safety canoes, life guards on boats and even paramedics."
The last death that occurred at a triathlon was in 2007 when 17-year-old Thaddeus Cheong died.
A lack of a defibrillator and ambulance on standby was cited as one of the reasons the teenager's life could not be saved.
Mr Lee's body has been sent to the Singapore General Hospital for an official coroner's enquiry to investigate the cause of death.
Mr Lee was married with a 12-year-old daughter.
- CNA/yb
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