Three Orange County Triathletes Qualify for the World Meet

Three Orange County triathletes have qualified for the World Triathlon Championships today 6at Avignon, France.

Joan Jeter of Costa Mesa and George Wright of Los Alamitos qualified to join the United States National Team, or Team USA, in the 45-49 age group, and Bill Leach of Irvine qualified in the 40-44 age group.

The competition will be at “international distances”--a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40K bicycle ride and a 10K run.

To qualify for the World Triathlon Championships, athletes had to finish first or second in their respective age groups in triathlons at Dallas, Columbus, Ohio, or Chicago. Leach and Wright qualified at Dallas, and Jeter qualified at Columbus.

Jeter said many professional triathletes are not attending the championships because no appearance fees are being paid. However, professionals Mike Pigg, the Triathlete Magazine’s Triathlete of the Year in 1988, and Mark Allen, Triathlete of the Year in 1986 and 1987, will be there.