The Daily Populous Tuesday April 21st, 2026 morning edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by AudibleNod

A Brazilian fitness influencer died during a triathlon in Texas, authorities said Monday, shortly after she told followers to savor every moment of life — which she likened to a train that could, at any moment, "drop you off at the eternal station."

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Brazilian Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, vanished during the swim portion of Ironman Texas, held in Lake Woodlands just outside of Houston on Saturday.

The woman was found in about 10 feet of water later that day and the Montgomery County Sheriffs Department on Monday named the victim.

"MCSO can confirm that Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, of Brazil died while competing in the Ironman event in the Woodlands on Saturday," according to a sheriff's statement to NBC News. "Preliminary investigations indicate she drowned during the swimming portion of the event.

The victim had more than 60,000 followers on Instagram and posted a picture of herself standing on railroad tracks on Wednesday.

"Enjoy this ride on the bullet train that is life," she wrote in Portuguese. "And even with the speed of the machine blurring the landscape, look out the window — for at any moment, the train will drop you off at the eternal station.”

Araujo was an experienced triathlete who had completed at least nine other events over the past nine years.

A representative for the event could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.

"We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time," race organizers said in a statement on Saturday. "Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance."

Ok-Airline-8420 on April 20th, 2026 at 18:50 UTC »

I'm a lifeguard and also qualified as a water safety manager for events like this. I don't know what happened here, but reading the comments below I feel like I should chip in a bit.

There are a lot of safety issues surrounding tri's over the last decade or so, mostly surrounding the start. Big mass starts are super dangerous, and big mass starts where everyone jumps in the water at the start are dangerous too.

Main reason is something called the gasp reflex. You're standing about getting hot in your wetsuit and then suddenly dive in cold water. You will gasp involuntarily and swallow water.

A similar problem is it can mess up your heart. Your blood pressure will drop and at the same time your heart rate goes up and this can trigger heart attacks. This is an interesting one as it generally shows up after a few minutes of swimming so 400metres out people start getting in trouble.

Lastly, a LOT of these events don't have lifeguards trained in open water, and inadequate cover. Pool lifeguards are not qualified. A bunch of volunteer kayakers are not qualified.

Looking at the photo attached to this post, that boat is completely useless. You have no chance of getting an unconcious casualty into that boat. I'd put money on the prop being unguarded, so you can move into the swimmers to get to them. I don't see any boards or tubes on board, and no-one is prepped and ready to go over the side.

Also tons of stuff on water quality, weather, visibility...at least they've all got nice bright caps on here.

Happy to answer any questions.

Edit - reading the post on Lazar Dokic someone posted. That's almost a classic - run on a hot day and then straight into cold water is asking for casualties for the reasons above. I'm surprised there wasn't more.

prisbear on April 20th, 2026 at 18:25 UTC »

I did triathlons for a few years a while back, and I would hold off at the start for like 30 seconds to avoid the chaos. People will just swim right over top of you if you're in their way and you will get slapped and kicked, unintentionally but still can mess you up. Lost my goggles one race from some one hitting me, in a saltwater swim, so I was swimming pretty blind at that point. I wasn't winning so I was ok giving up 30 seconds on the start to avoid all that.

HopandBrew on April 20th, 2026 at 18:19 UTC »

I swear the same thing happened a year or so ago in Ft Worth. The whole thing was live streamed too and you could tell in the video that the person was struggling.

Sounds like these events need more lifeguards in the water.