INQUIRER Sports

NAGA CITY?THE BODY OF THE Ironman 70.3 triathlon participant who died during the swimming portion of the three-event challenge was brought back to Manila Sunday.

Dr. Jose A. Amanse, assistant vice president for medical services of the Mother Seton hospital here, said Monday that Miguel Vazquez, 51, president of Permanent Plans Inc., a preneed company, was declared dead on arrival when he was brought to the hospital Sunday morning.

Amanse said Vazquez?s death was initially attributed to drowning as he was fished out unconscious underneath the shallow lake.

His teammates noticed he was missing after the swim portion of the competition at the Camsur Watersports Complex Cable Park lake.

Medical personnel tried to revive Vazquez when he was found but there were no vital signs, prompting them to rush him to the hospital. Amanse said the cause of Vazquez?s death could only be determined through an autopsy.

According to Alaska chief executive officer Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, whose Sunrise Events Inc. organized the Ironman, Vazquez joined them recently in an open water swim in Batangas.