MANHATTAN — The triathlete who died while competing in the Ironman competition last week has been identified as a Hong Kong cop, according to news sources.
Andy Naylor, 43, died Saturday after experiencing problems during the grueling 2.4-mile swim in Hudson River, the first leg of the U.S. Ironman Championship.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Naylor, who had a wife and three daughters, was a police superintendent in Hong Kong, the New York Daily News reported, citing a report in the South China Morning Post.
"It gives me some comfort that Andy died doing something he loved but we will miss him sorely," Naylor's wife, Lynn, was quoted as saying in the Chinese newspaper.
Race organizers decided late Friday to go ahead with the competition even after a sewer in Westchester broke and discharged millions of gallons of waste water. A spokeswoman said the waters were tested and declared safe.
The Bergen County's medical examiner office, which was set to perform the autopsy, declined to comment on what caused Naylor's death.
His funeral is scheduled to take place in his native Britain, according to the Daily News. Relatives are planning a memorial service in Hong Kong, too, the paper reported.
