Accidental Drowning Caused Triathlon Death

Daniel Murry was excited about his first triathlon The 33-year-old had struggled with a weight problem but he trained for six months and lost 100 pounds to achieve his goal But when he started the quarter-mile swim at Pewaukee Lake on Sunday something went wrong

The Waukesha County Medical Examiner said Wednesday that accidental drowning caused his death

Murry s family tells TODAY S TMJ4 the race had been his goal for several months In an e-mail statement Murry s sister-in-law Dawn Murry writes

We just want everyone to know that he worked very hard and was very proud of himself for losing the weight that he did more than 100 pounds His family was also very proud of him He was motivated and very excited about his first triathalon He trained very hard since January when he registered for the tri He will be truly missed by many people This will be a long healing process and the family just asks that everyone keep them in their prayers and thoughts

According to West Allis firefighter Steve Peterson who was serving as a lifeguard at the triathlon Murry grabbed onto a boat to catch his breath during the swim He continued in started to struggle and then sank below the water He wasn t underwater for very long according to witnesses

I dived down I did feel him with my foot I grabbed him started helping him up we got him up onto his back Peterson said on Sunday

As they worked to resuscitate Murry the race was not stopped Organizers said it happened too fast to stop the race Peterson and several other participants tell TODAY S TMJ4 there were too many people in the water at once and several people who were not fully prepared for the event needed assistance from lifeguards

The Village of Pewaukee Police Department says they have not received any reports of overcrowding in their investigation

The triathlon was operated by Midwest Sports Events Event organizer Gloria West sent this statement to TODAY S TMJ4

We are terribly saddened by the weekend death of one of our participants in the Pewaukee Triathlon We don t have all the information about what happened but as you might imagine there is a lot of conflicting information We take the safety of participants very seriously which is why we have emergency personnel on site and in the water and they responded quickly to the situation We are working cooperatively with authorities and we await information regarding the autopsy results We extend our condolences to his family and friends In the consideration of the family we will release more information when appropriate

For many first time triathletes the quarter-mile swim is the toughest part TODAY S TMJ4 reporter Michael George spoke with Andare Fitness triathlon coach Amber Antonia

Swimming is the hardest part for everybody Everybody panics about the swim Antonia said

Antonia recommends anyone interested in training for a triathlon consult with a doctor first She said even short triathlons like the Pewaukee event require a lot of training in advance

The Murry family also thanked the volunteer lifeguards and police and fire personnel who worked to try to save Murry s life