Tragedy struck Melbourne’s young Farlecas family last Sunday, after father and husband Peter Farlecas died of an apparent heart attack while competing in his first ever Ironman triathlon.

The 39-year-old from Ormond was pulled unconscious from the water at Mooloolaba beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, towards the end of the 1.9 km swim leg of the Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast Triathlon.

He was competing with 15 other work colleagues from an IT systems availability business, as part of their team building project.

Despite the efforts of bystanders and the event’s medical team, after half an hour he was pronounced dead at the scene.

He died in front of his wife Luisa and three daughters, who had accompanied him on the Queensland trip and were on the beach that morning to support their hero.

Mr Farlecas’ sister Helen Vaias told Neos Kosmos the family has lost its happiest and always smiling face.

“Peter was always the happy one in our family, really friendly, very personable. He always had lots of friends and people around him; always made an effort to make sure that everyone was having a good time. He was the fun brother.”

Behind him, Mr Farlecas left a beautiful young family – wife Luisa and three girls, Mia, 9, Kiara, 7 and Juliet, 5.

Just the night before the tragic death, the Farlecas family had celebrated Juliet’s fifth birthday.

Sister Helen still can’t come to terms with what happened to the youngest of three siblings, as Peter had undergone an eight-month training schedule for the Ironman race.

“It was part of a team building work exercise. He worked for a group called Interactive as a senior sale director.

“He was the healthiest he has ever been. He smoked many years ago but he was not a heavy smoker. There is no history of heart disease in the family.”

Peter’s grandfather, at the age of 92, is still in life, and was devastated to hear his grandson left this world before him.

“‘I wonder does God have eyes? Why didn’t he take me instead?’, he told us.

“Peter always wanted to compete in this Ironman race. He always said to me, ‘Helen, I just want to do this so I am fit and I am healthy and I am there for my girls.”

With the devastated family and Peter’s parents Nick and Maria Farlecas mourning the loss of their youngest joy, brother George Farlecas told Neos Kosmos his younger brother was a committed family man and a paragon of an ideal brother.

“Peter was the definition of what a brother should be.”

Talking to News Corp, friend and colleague Tony Parissis described Mr Farlecas as a “strong swimmer and a family man”.

“The girls were really excited to have a holiday in Queensland,” he told News Corp.

Ironman Asia Pacific CEO Geoff Meyer told ABC News that Farlecas suffered a suspected heart attack during the swim stage of the Ironman 70.3 event at about 7.30 am on Sunday.

“He had lost a significant amount of weight and had been training for six months.”

Ironman Asia Pacific are set to conduct their own review to ensure all new protocols of the triathlon were directly followed.