Any number of feats in Dede Griesbauer’s life – including her remarkable career as the oldest active pro triathlete, an Ironman champion and world-record holder in the punishing, multi-day Ultraman event – would be worthy of their own story.
You could start with the 54-year-old New Jersey native returning to the site of her first pro event 20 years ago when she competes in the 42nd St. Anthony’s Triathlon in St. Petersburg on Sunday, April 27. “My physiology is much more suited to longer distances but there’s a certain poetry to coming back to the site of my first pro race,” she said by videoconference from her Boulder, Colorado, home.
That full-circle moment is a special one, indeed, in the eyes of St. Anthony’s Triathlon Manager Patrick McGee: “After her storied career, we’re honored to have Dede come back to the place where it all started for her,” he said. “So many athletes have used our race to start their journeys into the world of triathlon. Our scenic course is suited for everyone.”
Of course, that’s simply one of Griesbauer’s many life chapters. You could also focus on her heralded collegiate swimming career at Stanford University, where she made the team as a walk-on and wound up as captain of an NCAA championship squad. She only missed out on a spot on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Games swim team because her Stanford teammates included future Olympic gold medal superstars Jenny Thompson and Janet Evans.
You might, instead, zero in on her decision to leave competitive swimming in 1994 to study business at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School. She learned about finance, met the man she would marry and dabbled in marathons. She also followed a new course as an equity trader for Lehman Brothers, then served as vice president of a Boston investment firm.
Or you could chronicle her extraordinary later-in-life success as a triathlete, including three Ironman wins; twice being the top American finisher at the Ironman World Championship; and winning the grueling, three-day, 320-mile 2022 Ultraman World Championship, smashing the course record by 45 minutes, after setting the world record in the 2020 Ultraman Florida race.
But to fully understand what fuels Griesbauer, you should begin with a sleep-away summer camp in New Jersey when she was 8-year-old Dede Trimble.
Persistence and Determination
“At the time, I was a pretty good swimmer, but instead of heading to the lake to try to get all my swimming badges, for some reason I loved archery,” she said. “I don’t know why, because I was terrible at it. In all of our free time, I would be on that archery range. I wasn’t very good at hitting the target…
“So the last night of camp, when they handed out all the activity awards, I didn’t get a single one. But my counselors made this cutout of orange construction paper with the letters “PD’ written on it. I thought, ‘What is this? The Loser Award?’ But then they explained what the letters stood for: Persistence and Determination.”
Those two words would forever define Griesbauer – going from an unknown to a world-class backstroker and Stanford team leader, flourishing in the male-dominated Wall Street world of the ‘90s and embracing painful training and constant travel. She even battled back from a near career-ending Ironman Championship bike injury in 2011.
Now, consider one other “scene” from the narrative of Griesbauer’s life. During her second year at Wharton, she was feeling stressed during finals week before winter break and turned on the TV. NBC was televising the Ironman Championships from Hawaii and Griesbauer was riveted as Boston’s Karen Smyers made up an enormous gap for a dramatic win over perennial champion Paula Newby-Frazier.
From Wall Street to Triathlons
That inspired Dede to try an Ironman event in Florida – and she won the amateur race. With that, she decided to compete in Hawaii. A Wall Street friend, however, insisted that she first call and consult with a pro he knew: Karen Smyers.
“I was like, ‘Dude, yeah, right, I’m gonna call Karen Smyers,’ ” she recalled. “But he gave me her email address and I wrote to her to see if she could help me. She emailed me back in like 30 seconds! And she agreed to coach me.”
Smyers became not only her coach but a friend and mentor and is the person who suggested Griesbauer compete in the 2005 St. Anthony’s Triathlon to start her pro career. Smyers no longer coaches her but they keep in touch.
“Dede is so determined in everything she does,” Smyers said. “And I think she had a little bit of frustration of being one of the best swimmers in the entire world, but because there were a few Americans who happened to be top of the world ahead of her, she didn’t make an Olympic team. I think in any other country, she would have. So, I felt like she had a little bit of unfinished business in her. And as soon as she found triathlon, she was off to the races and living her best life.”
Added Griesbauer’s husband, Dave Griesbauer: “In high school, Dede’s coach said she couldn’t swim a 10,000-meter butterfly. So, of course, she went out and did it. It wasn’t a matter of proving somebody else wrong but proving to herself how much she can do when she puts her mind to it.”
As for that orange construction paper award inscribed with “PD,” Griesbauer keeps it tucked in a desk drawer – a faded reminder of what still drives her forward on her amazing, age-defying triathlon journey. Griesbauer and other pros will join elite athletes, weekend warriors and first-time triathletes at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon, which includes Olympic- and Sprint-distance events, on Sunday, April 27, and a Meek & Mighty race on Saturday, April 26. Register to participate or volunteer at SATriathlon.com.