A glam influencer who drowned during the swim portion of a Texas Ironman had been battling the flu beforehand but ignored friends who urged her to withdraw from the grueling race, a close friend said.
“She was sick before the trip — she wasn’t well,” said Luis Taveira about his friend Mara Flávia, 38, who died during Saturday’s event in The Woodlands.
“My wife and I told her she was too weak to compete, but when we spoke a couple of days ago, she insisted she felt fine,” Taveira added of the Brazil-born influencer, according to sports site The Spun.
Triathlon enthusiast Mara Flávia had been struggling with poor health in the lead-up to Saturday’s Ironman race, a friend revealed.
“I still can’t believe what’s happened. She had the flu,” the friend said.
Despite feeling unwell, Flávia continued “training hard” while weakened by the illness, according to those close to her.
Just two days before the competition, she shared a photo of herself sitting poolside in a pink swimsuit and cap, captioning it in Portuguese: “Just another day at work.”
Her Instagram feed featured numerous posts of her training — from gym sessions to swimming and outdoor runs.
In one motivational message, she wrote: “Not every victory is photogenic, not every growth is pretty to watch. Sometimes evolving means being quiet, stepping back, saying no, crying behind the scenes, and returning the next day more aware.”
The fitness enthusiast was also pictured in an orange swimsuit in other posts, often sharing insights into her training mindset.
She wrote that skill “only develops with hours and hours of work” and described sport as “the best tool for transformation.”
The Ironman Texas race includes three stages: a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon run. The women’s event began shortly after 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, and about an hour later, emergency crews were alerted to a missing swimmer.
Flávia’s body was recovered around 9 a.m. in water roughly 10 feet deep.
Officials have said the preliminary cause of death was drowning, as loved ones paid tribute to her life.
Her sister, Melissa Araújo, said Flávia “lived life intensely,” adding that a part of her was now gone.
“You were always synonymous with determination, courage, and a strength that felt limitless,” she wrote on social media.
“You never did anything halfway, and that’s why you left such a deep mark on everyone who knew you.
“A piece of me is gone, and I will have to learn to live without it. The pain is beyond words.
“It’s a strange silence — a void that feels like the world itself has lost some of its color.”
Flávia’s partner, Rodrigo Ferrari, also shared an emotional tribute, calling her his “love” and expressing the pain of waking up without her.
“You were the best person I have ever met,” he wrote in a message posted online.
