Elderly Yakima Kayak Racer Dies in River Following Accident

The Yakima Gap to Gap multi-event competition has been staged for the last 40 years. Saturday, the event was taking place when one of the competitors died.

84-year-old man found in river

The Yakima County Sheriff's Office is reporting an 84-year-old man died after being pulled from the river. He was competing in the kayak portion of the Gap to Gap event, which consists of a 1 mile field run, 6.5 mile kayak event, a pair of bike events (road and mountain) and another 4.5 mile road run. The competition is conducted between teams, whose members perform the various events.

Around 9:35 AM, a race participant was seen trying to pull the elderly man from the river. The rescuer, who was in the Gap 2 Gap event, said he'd seen the man in the water.

With help from the YCSO who was flagged down and Marine Patrol helped bring him to shore. It was determined the elderly man was one of the Gap participants. He was rushed to a nearby hospital after EMS performed multiple live-saving treatments, and it was continued at the hospital, but he could not be revived. The YCSO did not say if the man was wearing lifejacket.