A HAMPSHIRE sports club is in mourning today after a popular triathlete died during a race.

Fellow competitors desperately tried to save the life of Tim Wilks after he collapsed close to the end of the gruelling “Swashbuckler”

event in the New Forest.

But the popular 52-year-old died at the scene, leaving his family and friends devastated.

Mr Wilks, who had competed in some of the toughest triathlon races on earth during his lifetime, has been described as a “great man with a big heart and a huge appetite for life”.

The tragedy happened during the final 14-mile running section of the triathlon in woodland close to Buckler’s Hard.

Having already completed the 1.2- mile swim and 48-mile cycle ride, he told a companion runner to meet him at the finish line after feeling cramps and taking a rest.

But he died shortly afterwards from a suspected heart attack.

Racers said he had been in good spirits during the early stages of the event on Sunday, which had been the hottest day of the year with temperatures soaring up to 26C (78F).

His death has come as a huge shock to the Southampton Triathlon Club, where he spent a great deal of time training and competing.

A flurry of messages of condolence had been posted on the group’s website yesterday, telling of a “gentle, kind-natured” man.

Mr Wilks, from Exton in the Meon Valley, had won the respect of his peers by completing a series of top events – including international “Ironman” competitions where a 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile cycle is capped off with a marathon.

In 2008, his exploits in the French version of the event featured in the Daily Echo when he and two colleagues raced in aid of The Rainbow Centre charity in Fareham.

His friend Peter Jordan described a man with an “exceptional” sense of humour who had gone from “strength to strength” as an athlete.

“He loved and in many ways lived for triathlon and the training that went with it,” he said.

“I for one will train and race with happy thoughts of my great mate for the rest of my days as his spirit was so strong that he will never fade from my memory.”

In a message thanking triathletes for their support, Mr Wilks’ wife Sissa said: “He’s there in my mind’s eye, clad in his Lycra, with his clippy-cloppy shoes, astride his bicycle, and most importantly, alongside his friends.”

Mr Wilks also leaves two grownup children, Lucy and Harvey.