September 24, 2012
Three is a Magic Number
BY: Jon Frank
A triathlon is an athletic competition comprised of three events – a swim, a bike, and a run – that must be completed in sequence. Last week, while Nautica hosted Oceana at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon for the 4th year in a row, we tackled a sequence of our own: completing the race, raising funds, and gathering petition signatures.
And, this year, we set a couple of personal records (that’s “PR” in triathlon parlance), having both a relay team and an individual take the podium as top 5 finishers in their respective classes, and raising over $6,000 for our conservation work. What’s more, we gathered over 200 signatures for our petition encouraging the National Marine Fisheries Service to add the Northeastern Pacific population of white sharks to the Endangered Species List.
None of these fine accomplishments would have been possible without perseverance (I’m thinking of the volunteer who rode a bus 4-hours from West Covina to help gather petition signatures), preparation (I’m thinking of the Team Oceana athletes spending countless hours perfecting their ocean swims), and commitment (I’m thinking about Nautica’s 4 year track record of supporting Oceana’s mission to protect and preserve the oceans), but for the sake of being thorough, please allow me to thank the following people:
Our Fantastic Athletes: Mark Armen, Wendy Ciovacco, Jo Feldman, Jeff Landau, Brandon Musselman, Aaron Ostergaard, Hollie Sandlin, Michael Steinmann, Julia Van Cleave, and David Yamamoto.
Our Exceptional Volunteers: Christopher Erwin, Jocelyn Heaney, Janet Heinle, Michael Lin, Ann Northrop, Mark and Dylan Strickland, and Jon Wouters.
And, our generous partners at Nautica, including Nina, Rosalind, Jason, Scott, Kaite, Amy and Karen.
Thanks everyone and email jfrank@oceana.org if you’re interested in participating in the 2013 Nautica triathlons in South Beach or Malibu.