Andy Irons - 1978-2010

Photo: ASP
Andy Irons competing in Tahiti this September at the
Billabong Pro. It was his first ASP win in three
years.

Andy Irons, 32, and three-time World ASP Surfing Champion died Tuesday.

The surfing legend and native of the Hawaiian island of Kauai had planned to compete in this week's Rip Curl Pro Search event in Puerto Rico, the ninth stop of the 2010 World ASP Surfing Tour, but decided to withdraw.

Phil Irons, the father of the 32-year-old surfer, confirmed his son's death to the Associated Press. The cause of death was not immediately known.

The younger Irons was found dead in a hotel room in Dallas, where he was on a layover en route to his home on Kauai. He was returning from Puerto Rico, where he was to have competed in the 2010 Rip Curl Pro Search.

UPDATE - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH

Yesterday it was reported that the Medical Examiner in Tarrant County were investing the death of Andy Irons as a methadone overdone because a pill containing methodone was found inside a container on Irons's nightstand. Late yesterday the Examiner's office released a statement that said:

"A complete postmortem examination performed at the Tarrant County Medical Examiners's morgue on 11-03-2010 was essentially negative for trauma and fouled play is not suspected. Both the cause and manner of death are pending completion of postmortem laboratory studies."

In addition the Dallas-Fort Worth Police released its report of the discovery of Irons body. In it one officer reported that "Two prescription medications (Alprazolam and Zolpidem) were found in the room."

Alprazolam is a form of the drug more commonly known as Xanax.

Two prescription medications (Alprazolam and Zolpidem) were found in the room.

UPDATE - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD - 8:25 AM PST

New reports are surfacing that shed light on Andy's untimely passing. The Honolulu Star Adviser newspaper has gained information that the Dallas Medical Examiner in Tarrant County is investigating the the surf star's death as a possible methadone overdose. A pill containing methadone was found in a container on Irons's nightstand along with other medications including Zolpidem, typically used to treat insomnia.

An autopsy is scheduled for today but exact cause of death might require toxicology tests which could take 60 to 90 days to turn around.

ORIGINAL POST - TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2ND

According to Surfer Magazine, Andy Irons, 32, and 3-time World ASP Surfing Champion died today. The Kauai-born native and surfing legend had planned to compete in this week's Rip Curl Pro Search event in Puerto Rico, the 9th stop of the 2010 World ASP Surfing Tour.

Reports indicate Irons felt too ill to compete in the early rounds of the competition and opted to bow out and return to his home in Hawaii.

While en-route Irons had a layover in Dallas, TX. Though the official cause of death is unknown sources connected to Irons family say the surf star had contracted Dengue Fever.

Apparently too ill to board his connecting flight home, Irons was grounded in Dallas. Unconfirmed reports say he later passed away in his hotel room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Upon not responding to his wake-up call ho he failed to respond to a wake-up call, the medical examiner's office said. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at 9:46 a.m. and was found by a hotel employee around 10:00 this morning.

Irons had been one of surfing's most prestigious athletes. A world champion in 2002, 2003 and 2004, Irons was at the forefront of competitive surfing and held a famous rivalry with famed 9-time champion Kelly Slater.

Irons leaves behind a wife, Lyndie, who is seven-months pregnant with the couple's first child, and younger brother and former world tour competitor Bruce Irons.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Andy's family, friends and fans.

This is a breaking story. More details to come as they become available.