LONG BEACH, Calif.

— The third annual Toyota Legacy Triathlon was held on Saturday in Long Beach, California, as triathletes raced at Alamitos Beach, the proposed site of the triathlon competitions for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028. The Toyota Legacy Triathlon was held for the first time in 2019, as USA Triathlon became the first National Governing Body in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement to bring a new annual event to the Los Angeles footprint ahead of the 2028 Games.

The Toyota Legacy Triathlon offers another local race for the thriving multisport community in Southern California, the birthplace of triathlon. The triathlon racing action continues on Sunday with the Toyota USA Paratriathlon National Championships and Americas Triathlon Cup Long Beach.

Age-group competitors in Saturday’s Toyota Legacy Triathlon raced a sprint-distance triathlon, consisting of a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run.

Jenna Haufler (Mill Valley, Calif.) won the women’s overall title on Saturday in a time of 1 hour, 5 minutes, 33 seconds, while Rayan Jamshidian (Irvine, Calif.) took the men’s overall win in 57:58

A former collegiate swimmer at Pomona College, Haufler recorded the field’s second-fastest swim of the day in 9:54 and averaged 23.58 miles per hour on the fast, flat bike course to secure the overall win, her first-ever in a triathlon, she said.

“It was beautiful. Winning a race in California feels awesome. I went to school 40 minutes from here, so it does feel like I’m winning in my backyard and winning for California as a whole,” Haufler, 29, said.

Haufler ran a 20:53 5k, just fast enough to hold off her two star competitors on the overall podium — Olympians Julie Ertel (Irvine, Calif.) and Michellie Jones (Carslbad, Calif.).

Ertel, 50, finished second overall, just 13 seconds behind Haufler, in 1:05:46. She is a two-time Olympian, who won silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney for the U.S. as the team captain of the women’s water polo team. She then transitioned to triathlon and competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Jones, 53, took third overall on Saturday in 1:06:06 . She won Olympic silver in women’s triathlon for her home country Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games where triathlon made its Olympic debut. She then won Paralympic gold as a guide for Australian visually impaired elite paratriathlete Katie Kelly at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio where paratriathlon made its Paralympic debut.

“I’m so humbled to have each of them here and to be able to race them and compete with them. I’m in my 20s, they’re in their 50s, and I hope by the time I’m in my 50s I’m still competing just as they are,” Haufler said.

In the men’s race, Jamshidian, 19, made his move on the bike, recording the field’s fastest split in 29:21, before clocking the field’s second-fastest 5k in 16:18. The young triathlete was able to hold off 28-year-old Kyle Warrick (Chula Vista, Calif.), who finished second in 58:03 and 32-year-old Chris Depew (La Verne, Calif.) who took third in 59:04.

“In the swim I was just trying to hang on and I was able to, for the first time. In the second lap of the bike I pulled away and created a gap and I just tried to hold on during the run,” said Jamshidian, who plans to race at next month’s Toyota USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In addition to the individual race, Saturday’s Toyota Legacy Triathlon also featured a relay option where teams of three athletes complete the race — one person completes the swim, another rides the bike and the final athlete completes the run. The traditional three-person relay format is a beginner-friendly way to introduce athletes to the sport of triathlon and the multisport lifestyle.

The team of Edgar Macias (Lawndale, Calif.), Kenneth Westling (Marina del Rey, Calif.) and Jasmine Moezzi (Rolling Hills, Calif.) representing the triathlon club,

South Bay Squad won the relay division with a time of 1:09:36.

“We have a great group with the South Bay Squad. It’s an awesome community. You have people who are hardcore to people who just want to do triathlon for fun and get in shape. It’s a great organization. I feel like it’s not really a team, it’s more like a family,” Macias said.

With more than 800 finishers, Saturday’s Toyota Legacy Triathlon featured a diverse field of veteran and beginner triathletes.

Among the first-time triathletes included Militza Urdaneta (Los Angeles, Calif.), who trained with Elevate Women 4 Tri, a training group and affiliate club of the LA Tri Club. Led by USA Triathlon Certified Coach Deb Carabet of Los Angeles, Elevate Women 4 Tri is a triathlon community for women training for their first triathlon. Urdaneta found community and strength from the supportive group of women and enjoyed her first triathlon on Saturday. She was greeted by cheers from her family members as she crossed the finish line.

“Completing a triathlon was my dream for a long time, but I thought it was something impossible,” Urdaneta said. “I turned 57 and I thought, ‘why not?’ This is a good goal for me, a good way to live and I wanted to try it. I definitely felt a sisterhood (with this group). We feel so much love to help each other. Every single one of us has our challenges, but we help each other out and it’s amazing. It’s beautiful. I had so much fun today and I’ll be here next year for sure.”

Following the age group race, USA Triathlon hosted a free Youth Splash & Dash for youth ages 7-18. About 30 local youth participated in the fun, non-competitive event that featured a 100-meter open water swim and 1k run.

Also on Saturday, the South Bay Squad hosted a One With the Ocean Play in the Waves event, providing disabled children from the underserved KEEN LA community the opportunity to swim in the ocean for the first time and run through the finish line of the Toyota Legacy Triathlon.

Coming Sunday: Toyota USA Paratriathlon National Championships and Americas Triathlon Cup Long Beach (Elite Event)

Sunday’s Toyota USA Paratriathlon National Championships begin at 8:40 a.m. PT, and will feature the nation’s fastest paratriathletes, including Tokyo 2020 Paralympians Chris Hammer (PTS5; Gilbert, Ariz.) and Kyle Coon (PTVI; Colorado Springs, Colo.) racing for national titles in six paratriathlon sport classes. For the third time in the history at the Toyota USA Paratriathlon National Championships, the race will feature a professional prize purse of $36,750, provided in equal parts by USA Triathlon,

Toyota and the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). Competitors will cover a 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run.

Top finishers will also have the opportunity to qualify for the Toyota USA Paratriathlon Development Team, designed to identify and develop athletic potential leading into the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

Along with Hammer and Coon, more than 45 paratriathletes are scheduled to race, including up-and-coming paratriathletes Emma Meyers (PTS4; Pensacola, Fla.), Jacie King (PTWC; Burr Oak, Mich.) and Skyler Fisher (PTWC; Dallas, Texas), who are all on USA Paratriathlon's Junior & U23 Development team.

Preceding the Toyota USA Paratriathlon National Championships at 6:10 a.m. PT, nearly 120 elite triathletes and Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Olympic hopefuls will compete in the second annual Americas Triathlon Cup race. For U.S. athletes, the race will serve as the Under-23 National Championships.

The multi-loop course is held in the draft-legal format, in which athletes work together in tight packs on the bike. Athletes will cover a 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run.

Top U.S. elite men racing includes Austin Hindman (Wildwood, Mo.) and Drew Shellenberger (Indianapolis, Ind.), who are members of the USA Triathlon Project Podium men’s elite development squad.

Top U.S. women include Gina Sereno (Madison, Wis.), Madisen Lavin (Vermillion, S.D.), Grace Walther (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Faith Dasso (New Braunfels, Texas).

Click here

for the complete men’s start list, and

here

for the complete women’s start list.

For complete Legacy Triathlon information, including a schedule of events and course maps, download the digital event program and visit the event website at thelegacytriathlon.com.

Toyota Legacy Triathlon

750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Complete Results
Female Overall: Jenna Haufler (Mill Valley, Calif.), 1:05:33

Male Overall: Rayan Jamshidian (Irvine, Calif.), 57:58

F15-19: Micole Legaspi (Mexico), 1:09:51

M15-19: Rayan Jamshidian (Irvine, Calif.), 57:58

F20-24: Isabella Buenting (Excelsior, Minn.), 1:09:15

M20-24: Noah Wales (Springville, Calif.), 1:03:00

F25-29: Jenna Haufler (Mill Valley, Calif.), 1:05:33

M25-29: Kyle Warrick (Chula Vista, Calif.), 58:03

F30-34: Melanie Clark (Chandler, Ariz.), 1:14:36

M30-34: Chris Depew (La Verne, Calif.), 59:04

F35-39: Brittaney Wyszynski (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1:08:05

M35-39: Robert Gally (San Diego, Calif.), 1:07:46

F40-44: Christine Houser (La Jolla, Calif.), 1:15:04

M40-44: Andrew Raynder (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1:01:16

F45-49: Becky Mintz (Irvine, Calif.), 1:14:54

M45-49: Mike Buenting (Excelsior, Minn.), 1:05:26

F50-54: Julie Ertel (Irvine, Calif.), 1:05:46

M50-54: Dan Smedley (Costa Mesa, Calif.), 1:07:16

F55-59: Audra Mallow (Pacific Palisade, Calif.), 1:21:13

M55-59: Robert Skaggs (Dunedin, Calif.), 59:49

F60-64: Kelly Dippold (Irvine, Calif.), 1:10:10

M60-64: Andy Seitz (Poway, Calif.), 1:07:04

F65-69: Maggie Riley-Hagan (Carlsbad, Calif.), 1:31:18

M65-69: Jeff Holt (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), 1:15:08

F70-74: Laurie McLennan (Del Mar, Calif.), 1:55:42

M70-74: John Towart Solana Beach, Calif.), 1:18:30

F75-79: Susan Krupa (Paradise Valley, Calif.), 1:52:21

M75-79: Roger Freeman (San Diego, Calif), 1:18:55

F80-84: Sarah Ingersoll (Pasadena, Calif.), 3:01:59

M80-84: Neal Genda (San Marino, Calif.), 2:00:55

Athena 39 & Under: Dawn Malone (Gardena, Calif.), 1:56:35

Clydesdale 39 & Under: Alex Pawlowski (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 1:25:30

Athena 40-54: Paige Baumgartner (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 1:38:15

Clydesdale 40-59: Riccardo Mapelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 1:14:47

Athena 55 & Over: Angela Lee (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1:39:29

Clydesdale 60 & Over: Craig Donahue (Indio, Calif.), 1:50:56

Relay Division

1. South Bay Squad (Lawndale, Calif.) 1:09:36

2. GoGoGo (Brea, Calif.), 1:15:20

3. But First Coffee (Ventura, Calif.), 1:23:33

More than 800 Triathletes Compete at Toyota Legacy Triathlon in Long Beach, Including Beginners, Clubs and Olympians

Loading...

Loading...