Article and Pictures by Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
Sommer Sports celebrated its 40th year anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a South Lake Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours celebration. The festivities were held on Thursday, March 9th at the Waterfront Park on the beautiful shoreline of Lake Minneola in Clermont.
Sommer Sports began in 1983 when founder Fred Sommer participated in his first triathlon and fell in love with a sport so new that it did not have official rules or distances for each of the three components. Much has changed since that long-ago race. Courses have been laid-out, distances have been confirmed and a variety of competition categories have been established.
Sommer Sports will celebrate 40 years this weekend with the Annual Great Triathlon, Florida’s traditional season opener featuring an international (Olympic) distance triathlon with a 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and a 10K run. Other events include a run-bike-run duathlon along with a relay team competition. The Great Clermont Triathlon is held in conjunction with the Florida Challenge-Intimidator Triathlon, which takes place on Sunday, March 12th. The Florida Challenge features the intimidator, a 74.3, half-iron distance triathlon, a sprint triathlon, a long course aqua bike, relays, and a 1.2-mile open water swim.
Registration and event details can be found at AdventHealth Great Clermont Triathlon (trisignup.com)
