Thoughts go out to the family just down the road from me.
http://www.statesman.com/...hlon-remember/nWgZq/ American-Statesman Staff
A day after he died during a California triathlon, Austin attorney Ross Ehlinger was remembered by friends as a passionate advocate for youth sports who once appeared in court with a black eye after being hit by an errant baseball. Ehlinger, 46, suffered an apparent heart attack Sunday, moments after the start of the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, race officials said. The race began in the cold and choppy water of San Francisco Bay.
Friends said Ehlinger, who grew up in San Antonio and attended St. Mary’s University School of Law, loved adventure. He and his wife, Jena, had three children: Sam, 14; Jake 12; and Morgen, 10.
Family friend Steve Harren said Jena used to joke about her husband’s desire to do triathlons, calling him an overgrown kid. “In a loving way she’d say, ‘Look at my crazy husband doing a tri at age (almost) 50,” Harren said.
But Ehlinger prided himself on staying in shape, and he had recently returned to the sport of triathlon after taking a few years off to focus on coaching. He was director of the Westlake Pop Warner football league and had coached for the Western Hills baseball league.
“Every kid in Westlake knows Ross Ehlinger — there’s not one boy or girl whom he doesn’t know or hasn’t coached,” said Ehlinger’s training partner, Lance Thompson. The two competed in another California triathlon last August, and they prepared together for the Alcatraz event. They traveled to San Francisco with their wives together for Sunday’s race.
“There’s nobody like Ross. He’s a country boy living in a city town. He’s the type of person you hope your kids are like,” Thompson said. He noted that Ehlinger rarely spent money on himself and liked to post favorite quotes around his house for inspiration.
Ehlinger had tried a dozen cases in front of County Court at Law Judge David Phillips. “He was a spectacular human being. I never saw him lose a case, whether he was on the plaintiff or the defendant’s side,” Phillips said. “Juries loved him because he was so genuine, and they could tell he was not telling them anything he didn’t believe himself.”
The attorney, who specialized in insurance litigation, loved to talk about coaching and was teased for wearing short-sleeved shirts under his suit coats. “If he could have got away with a clip-on tie, he’d have worn it. He was uncomfortable in a lawyer-type uniform,” Phillips said.
Family friend Paige Alam said that for Ehlinger, “His family was his everything, his whole world. When we’d go paragliding with the kids and we were all nervous, he’d yell, ‘This is supposed to be fun!’ His heart was so big, he was such a gift for us all.”
Ehlinger had competed in triathlons — including the Escape From Alcatraz event — before. Because of a bad knee, he had planned to skip the run portion of the Alcatraz triathlon.
Water temperatures Sunday were 51 degrees. The race took place about three months earlier than in previous years, but even in June water temperatures typically hover between 52 and 56 degrees, said race director Bill Burke. Ehlinger was wearing a wetsuit, and Burke said he didn’t believe the cold water contributed to his death.
The death was the first at the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, which includes a 1.5-mile swim from the site of the former federal prison, an 18-mile bike ride and an eight-mile run. Triathlon support crew noticed someone in distress shortly after the 7:30 a.m. start of the race, Burke said. They performed CPR while pulling Ehlinger to shore and on land, but could not revive him, he said.
Burke directs several other triathlons, including the Aquaphor New York City Triathlon, which has recorded three deaths, all cardiac related, in recent years. Most deaths that occur during triathlons occur during the swim portion of the race, where there’s little time to react if anything goes wrong.
About 1,700 athletes started the Alcatraz race on Sunday, and about 25 dropped out after getting in the water, Burke said.
“My hearts and prayers are with the family and friends. It was just a sad day yesterday,” Burke said.
A 2012 study by USA Triathlon, the sport’s governing body, found a death rate of one per 76,000 participants in the sport. Most were attributed to sudden cardiac death.
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