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34 | August 16, 2018 | Malibu surfside news SPORTS
malibusurfsidenews.com
Getting a leg up for the triathlon
Select Nautica
Malibu Triathlon
participants
prepare at clinics
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
Jordan Wilimovsky swims in the 2018 USA Swimming
Open Water National Championships.
Mike Lewis/Ola Vista Photography
Wilimovsky takes gold
and silver at Pan Pacs
Chris Megginson
Freelance Reporter
Team USA swimmer
Jordan Wilimovsky won
his first Pan Pacific Championships
gold medal
Thursday, Aug. 8, winning
the 1,500-meter freestyle.
The 24-year-old Malibu
native claimed the top spot
on the podium at the Tokyo
Tatsumi International
Swimming Center with
a time of 14 minutes and
46.93 seconds.
The time was just shy
of 2 seconds better than
his winning time at last
month’s Phillips 66 National
Championships
(14:48.89) and 1.9 seconds
off his 2016 Olympic time
of 14:45.03.
“I was just excited to
race,” Wilimovsky said
in a statement from USA
Swimming. “We got here
Sunday night, and I’ve
been getting ready for the
1,500 and looking forward
to it. The time was a little
off what I wanted to go.
I think I went out a little
hard — a little rushed on
the rate and spun a little
bit. I’m always happy to
try and get to the podium
for the U.S.”
In the 800 free, he
finished with a time of
7:45.19 for second place
on Sunday, Aug. 12.
The performances qualify
Wilimovsky for the
1,500 and 800 at the 2019
FINA World Championships
in South Korea.
Wilimovsky’s gold was
one of five gold medals
won by the United States
on Day 1 of the Pan Pacs,
and one of 11 total golds.
He also was to compete
in the 10K open water
swim Tuesday, Aug. 14,
at Hojo Beach, but results
were not available at press
time.
Year after year, thousands
flock to the annual
Nautica Malibu Triathlon
in Malibu.
Now, with the Sept. 15-
16 event approaching, several
competitors are gearing
up through weekend
swim clinics being offered
to those who have met certain
fundraising thresholds
($350 for corporate team
members or $500 for noncorporate
team members).
The clinics began on July
28 and will continue each
Saturday through Sept. 8 at
Malibu’s Zuma Beach.
The motivations for competing
in the triathlon vary,
but many enlist because
of the event’s charitable
component: supporting
pediatric cancer research
at Children’s Hospital Los
Angeles.
The cause is a personal
one for many, including
Billy Becerra, who is back
for his second consecutive
appearance at the Nautica
Malibu Triathlon.
“My son, Rex, was born
with a heart defect and he
had open heart surgery
when he was one week
old,” Becerra said as he
emerged from a swim on
Aug. 4.
Rex ultimately died April
4, 2017. However, that
hasn’t stopped Becerra’s
significant involvement in
supporting the good works
of Children’s Hospital Los
Angeles. He said he has
Katie Godec, one of two instructors for the intermediate group, offers advice before the
swimmers head out into the ocean during an Aug. 4 swim clinic.
Photos by Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media
Michael Epstein (far right), who started the Nautica Malibu Triathlon 32 years ago,
speaks to the swim clinic participants, offering direction and safety information.
raised $100,000 for medical
research at the hospital,
and he also seeks to raise
both awareness of the lifesaving
cancer research and
clinical trials that Children’s
Hospital conducts.
“The Children’s Hospital
is a place I wish that no
one ever had to go to, but if
you have the need for pediatric
care, you can have the
confidence that the doctors
at the hospital are capable
of doing amazing things,”
Becerra said. “I saw a lot
of kids walk in who never
should have been able to
walk out healthy, but due
to the dedicated staff, they
did, indeed, walk out. The