Did this one bloody hot year & a Michigan pro named Rob Wood won it, with the eldest DeBoom brother (Todd, an M.D. recently retired), taking second. This was before either Tim or Tony DeBoom were household names--so met Todd afterwards with his dad. I never heard of Tim or Tony at that time. Years later, I was swimming laps at my local pool and who should ask to hop into the lane? Todd (just getting out of Med School--had moved here with his 2 brothers & they were household names at that point.) Of course, Rob (the winner) had also moved to the same town! Small world, good people--show up at the darnedest places seemingly so randomly.

Oddly enough--that same year I had met another amateur triathlete named Rob Wood (not related to the one who won OA at Muncie), who also lived in town. Todd & pro Rob I'd see regularly at the pool--Muncie is where I met 2 of the 3 of these gents. I do think Todd had the potential to race pro as well--he was an amazingly fast AG'r. We all recalled how our shoes were sticking to the asphalt like glue that year (and alledgedly, same went for other years). Great race though--lots of fun.