Rest In Peace...

I was recently informed that one of the triathlete which took part in the PDIT drowned and died during the swimming event... He was a 55 year old Malay male first timer in a triathlon... It was only realized at 1.30pm as stated in the news report which was 5 hr and 30 minutes after the flag off time for the event.
I was actually shocked as the event was almost towards its end by 12.30pm.. How could it be that all officials and organizers failed to discover or realized this up to such a late stage...
The title of the news was "Basikal Lumba Petunjuk Maut" in Harian Metro... to read this article click the link http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Monday/Setempat/20070723091659/Article/index_html
If the racing bike was indicative of the missing person, this should have been realized at a much earlier time... The average time for all the swimmers to complete the 1.5km swim was 30-45mins or so... If all the bikes were already collected except that one last one... Something should have triggered the organizers that something was amiss... It seems that no one noticed until they took count of all the participants who were returning after completion of all 3 segments of the race and found out that they were one short...
In events as such whereby there were participants of all ages and for some were their first time, more safety precautions should have been taken. There was no lifeguard available monitoring the entire stretch of sea which was marked for the swimming event. Being that the route chosen had a turning point where all swimmers with be blocked from view from the flag off point, there should have been some lifeguards stationed at certain intersections just to make sure everything is in order...
Hopefully the organizers will learn from this... Especially when it is an international event, we should portray a better side of us to the world... One that is more concerned on the safety of everyone... There were parties who tried to keep this matter under wraps but it still leaked out. It seems that, that is what we do best... Hide the truth... We should improve ourselves.. not hide what we dont want seen.... How are we to grow if we are always sheltered from the truth?

It was really an unfortunate incident and my condolences to the family of the deceased. May he rest in peace.