From harktheherald.com
Officials worried Utah may lose Ironman
CALEB WARNOCK The Daily Herald on Thursday, June 05
PROVO – The Half Ironman Utah triathlon competition may not return to Utah County for a third year – unless county commissioners can convince athletes to give Utah Lake another chance.
In the past two years, the event has been plagued by uncertain safety conditions on the lake. In the June 2002 event, a sudden storm resulted in the drowning death of a 55-year-old California man.
A week before this year’s event on Saturday, an 18-year-old man drowned in the lake. On the day of the event, officials canceled the amateur portion of the swim due to dangerous water conditions.
The competition had originally been scheduled to take place inside the Provo boat harbor, but water levels were down to 2 feet, causing some preliminary swimmers to hit the bottom as they swam, said Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert. The swim event was forced to move into the open lake, but was canceled to amateurs when winds reached 15 mph. Just more than 800 athletes participated this year, compared to the 1,200 that had been expected. Last year, 1,550 people participated.
The competition had been a financial boon to the county, bringing in an estimated $3 million for the 2002 race, Commissioner Jerry Grover said.
Provo spokesman Mike Mower said the city was “hoping for a resolution that will benefit everyone. It’s always been about more than money; we’ve been pleased to host a premier athletic event.”
Herbert said it remained to be seen whether or not “we can overcome the negative feelings, we’ll find out. This may be a case of two strikes and you are out, but we are working to say, ‘If we can dredge the harbor for next year, would you come back for a third time?’”
Herbert said that in discussions with Graham Fraser, president of Ironman North America, Fraser had indicated two conditions must be met in order for the competition to return to Utah County for a third year. Ironman officials did not return calls for comment.
“They need to know two things,” Herbert said. "Will the athletes come back when they feel like they have come here twice and the swim portion has been canceled? And will the company that licenses Fraser allow him to come back?’
“If nothing changes I believe they won’t be back because it’s just not tenable,” he said. “They would probably say the lake was too unpredictable. Frankly, I think if everybody could believe in their heart there would be a full competition, then they will come back, but we clearly have an uphill battle.”
The county has a year-to-year renewable contract until 2006 to host the triathlon competition, in which participants swim, bike and run, he said. Ironman officials can opt out of the contract, though the time frame for doing so wasn’t immediately clear.
“They would have to make that decision pretty quickly,” Herbert said.
Caleb Warnock can be reached at 344-2543 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9.