The organisers from Sunday's tragic Triathlon event in Youghal which claimed the lives of two participants of two people have seemingly conflicting accounts of how things transpired.
Ivan Chittenden, aged 64, from Toronto, and Brendan Wall, aged 44, originally from Meath, both died after getting into difficulty in separate apparent medical emergencies during the swim.
Triathlon Ireland, and Ironman, have clashed over the circumstances of the Cork race. Due to the weather conditions, Triathlon Ireland said it confirmed to Ironman they could not sanction the race.
Experienced triathletes have also spoken of the fear and panic among competitors during the race.
But who are the parties behind Sunday's event?
Triathlon Ireland
Triathlon Ireland are the national sporting body behind triathlons in Ireland. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, they have resumed a full care calendar for 2022 and 2023, with 19 events this year.
To compete in an event in the Triathlon Ireland National series, members, must have purchased Triathlon Ireland membership, competed one Sprint Distance event in the Triathlon National Series, competed in one Standard Distance event in the Triathlon National Series and two other events in the Series.
As of 2022, there was an 18 per cent increase on membership on 2021 members, with 18,873 people registered as full members.
The next event in the calendar is the Dublin City Triathlon on August 26th.
The organisation maintains they did not sanction the race on Sunday, saying its technical officials carried out a safety assessment before the race and decided weather conditions were too dangerous.
In a statement by the governing body said: "For the Ironman Cork event, in line with normal practice, Triathlon Ireland Technical Officials attended before the start of the race to review the conditions and carry out a water safety assessment. Due to adverse conditions on the day, Triathlon Ireland Technical Officials confirmed to the race organisers that it was not possible to sanction the race.
"As there is an investigation ongoing, at this stage it would not be appropriate for us to make any further comment only to state that Triathlon Ireland will provide any assistance that the authorities require.
"Finally, we reiterate our deepest condolences to the families of Ivan Chittenden and Brendan Wall."
Ironman Group
The organisers of Sunday's event, Ironman triathlons was set up in 1978, and organises over 150 events worldwide. Its owner is New York-based family business Advance. The firm has a diversified portfolio of companies including publisher Condé Nast, Stage entertainment, and is among the largest shareholders in Warner Brothers, Discovery and Reddit.
The Ironman 70.3 event in Cork, had 512 participants, and despite the tragedies that took place, they are already advertising for the 2024 event on their website.
The event consists of a 1.9k swim, a 90km cycle and 21.1km run.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, an Ironman inspection ruled deemed it unsuitable, and rescheduled the event for Sunday. Despite dangerous weather conditions, another inspection by the group deemed it suitable, with a shortened swimming section for the race.
Despite criticism of allowing the event to go ahead as it was not sanctioned by Triathlon Ireland, Ironman said on Tuesday evening that the safety of the participants was its main priority.
"Ironman has extensive and stringent, industry-leading safety guidelines and protocols, honed to the highest international standards, and implemented at events worldwide.
"Weather conditions for this past weekend’s Ironman Ireland, Cork and Ironman 70.3 Ireland, Cork were monitored carefully. On Saturday morning Ironman Ireland officials and swim safety experts declared the swim course unsuitable for racing and decided to reschedule the Ironman 70.3 triathlon for Sunday, alongside Ironman Ireland, Cork to provide a safer race for athletes.
"On the morning of Sunday, August 20th, Ironman Ireland officials and the specific on-swim safety team carried out all standard safety protocol checks that are completed at every race and determined water conditions were safe for the swim to take place.
"While conditions were improved from Saturday, out of an abundance of safety, it was decided to shorten the swim course for both races."
