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Goodbye Dave Martin

April 25th, 2008 Categories: San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports

SOLANA BEACH– Tonight I said goodbye to triathlon club of San Diego member Dave Martin. As president of this great group it has been a very busy and emotional day for me. I came in to the position with the club when last June our president, Jim McCann, passed away unexpectedly.

Dave like many of us lived life to the fullest. When you look at the ocean as it was this evening, so serene and inviting, it is hard to imagine the tragedy that took place here in Fletcher Cove earlier. There were several heros swimming with Dave that showed great courage to do what they could to get him back to the beach. Unfortunately the encounter with the estimated 12–17’ great white caused to severe an injury.

The triathlon club hosted an open house at BnL Bike in Solana Beach so that it’s members could get together and support each other and those that were so closely effected by this tragedy.

As triathletes, we have to remember that while the ocean is home to creatures that have the potential to be dangerous, it is also our playground. Like a bike ride or a nice run, there is not a problem in existence that can not be solved during a good swim and not having to do flip turns every 25, makes it that much nicer.

I understand the prudence behind closing the beaches and giving the experts a chance to understand the situation, but we need not be afraid. This situation is as unfortunate as it is rare. This is supported by the media circus surrounding this event. From the small local North County Times to CNN my phone and email were flooded all day and evening with request for information and interviews.

We live in paradise and Dave knew it. As we watched the sun go down today as a group I could not help but think of the importance of trying to pack as much of life into each and every minute of our day.

Goodbye Dave.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 2:56 pm and is filed under San Diego County Triathlon Race Reports, Triathlon Club of San Diego Race Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Comments »

Triathlon Training Blog » Violent Shark Attack Kills Triathlete Swimmer Training in Ocean Off San Diego Beach said:
[...] story in today’s news about a triathlete killed by a shark while training in the ocean. Click here for to read a warm tribute was written by his tri club [...]
# 26 April 2008 at 11:23 am

Bob Mitera said:
My friends, family and I were there in March. (Stayed in the condos right there.) Our thoughts are with you guys and Dave’s family.
# 28 April 2008 at 10:53 am

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