DAVAO CITY: City Sports Development Division Head Mikey Aportadera said the city is currently looking into the death of Jerry Kasim, a 49-year-old swimming coach, who succumbed to heart attack during the swim leg of the Ironman 70.3 on Sunday morning, March 26, here.

Aportadera said the city government, together with the Ironman 70.3 organizers, extended help to the family of the deceased, including the assistance for the Islamic burial of Kasim on Monday, March 27. It is a common Islamic ritual that the burial takes place as soon as possible after death.

Other forms of assistance for the bereaved family are also being prepared by the city, according to Aportadera.

“We already required some of the safety cluster to provide us with the matters of information,” Aportadera said.

Meanwhile, a moment of silence was offered for the deceased during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony at the Davao City Hall.

Aportadera said that in the world of extreme sports, fatalities and injuries are unavoidable. He said that deaths and injuries were also recorded in previous stagings of the Ironman 70.3 in different parts of the world.

Still, the city’s sports chief needs to see the clear picture.

“The races before in different countries around the world, basta Ironman, there are some fatalities and some injuries,” Aportadera said.

“But as a city, we would not want that to happen. Nobody did. We will look into the matter at least there is clarity for what happened.”

Aportadera further said that upon initial evaluation, there was no failure in the numerous safety measures set in place during the race, and that the incident may be a result of circumstances that were beyond the capacity of the security and safety cluster.

“The city has installed the MACC, the Multi-Agency Coordinating Center. All the agencies including air assets, water assets, medical assets, and security were all together,” he said.

According to reports, the emergency responders were able to instantly reach the distressed swimmer during the incident.

“Our water assets were able to attend to him right away. And divers were able to see him right away. There were a lot of coast guards, there were lifeguards on the surface and divers below. That was why he was immediately attended to and brought to the hospital,” Aportadera said.

He added that medical responders were able to resuscitate the swimmer and take him to a hospital where he eventually succumbed to what was reported by a family member as a heart attack.

Ironman 70.3 covers 1.9 kilometers of swimming, 90 kilometers of biking and 21.1 kilometers of running, or exactly half the length of an Ironman triathlon.

The city, meanwhile, also extended assistance to 18-year-old Gerald Tayag who suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a bicycle during the bike leg of the race in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.

Aportadera said the city is currently in close coordination with the Panabo Medical Center to monitor the boy’s status.