With the Ironman Wales now confirmed to go ahead as planned this Sunday, the organisers of the triathlon have given a statement to alleviate concerns that had been raised this week over ‘raw sewage’ being pumped into the sea nearby, only days ahead of the sporting event which will take place this Sunday.

The organisation ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ - reported on Monday (September 5), using their interactive map which monitors sewage discharges on the UK coastline, that discharges in locations such as Tenby’s Castle Beach, along with Wiseman’s Bridge had been flagged-up.

People took to social media to raise their concerns, with one person posting on Twitter: “Raw sewage dumped into the Tenby sea one week before 2k+ people head into it for Ironman Wales. Surely a serious health risk to all those involved?”

Another on Twitter commented: “Disgusting, these are some of Pembrokeshire’s most family-friendly beaches.”

The Ironman Wales triathlon will start on Tenby’s North Beach early on Sunday, with competitors entering the water at 6.55 am on Sunday, with the 2.4-mile swim course taking athletes twice around Goscar Rock, before the leave the water and head to the bike ride transition.

A spokesperson for the organisers stated: “Ironman Wales is aware that Surfers Against Sewage has reported recent discharges at a nearby beach in Pembrokeshire.

“We have received confirmation from Pembrokeshire County Council’s pollution team that there is currently no abnormal situation that would lead to the Council advising against swimming at Tenby North Beach.

“We are carrying out routine water tests to confirm the venue meets the high water quality standard set for our events and will continue to monitor water quality at North Beach in the lead-up to Ironman Wales on Sunday.

“The most recent testing carried out at North Beach has shown results well within the excellent standard,” they added.

A spokesperson for Welsh Water confirmed that heavy rainfall meant its combined storm overflows (CSOs) temporarily operated at Castle Beach at the beginning of the week.

“Heavy rain hit large parts of Wales over the weekend which would have meant some of our combined storm overflows (CSOs) temporarily operated,” said the spokesperson.

“This is what they are designed to do when the wastewater network in an area reaches capacity due to the volume of rainwater in it to prevent sewers from flooding customers’ homes and businesses.

“We have checked the CSOs which operated and found that they operated in compliance with our permit to operate them and as we always do with these CSOs we sent notifications to Surfers Against Sewage so that they were aware and could notify their members.

“We can confirm that our CSO at Castle Beach in Tenby operated due to the heavy rainfall experienced,” they added.