By Allison Ashley

“’Splash!’ was the sound I heard as we dove into the water. The 50-degree water slapped me in the face, sending me into shock. ‘I can’t do this’ I muttered under my breath, deep down knowing that wasn’t true. So I kept pushing. I pushed until I was out of breath and filled with about a gallon of salty, seaweed-filled water.”

This was how freshman Conner Ebert described the sprint triathlon that he competed in on September 6th at Pacific Grove in Monterey. Along with his mom, dad, brother and sister, Conner finished a quarter mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a two-mile run. It was the family’s third triathlon and they look forward to doing many more together.

The Ebert family started doing triathlons together in 2010 as a fundraiser for the kids’ elementary school in Sonoma. Since then, the “Sharks” team has grown to 15 triathletes. They meet every Sunday morning for swim practice at the San Francisco Bay and go on bike rides and runs together to train.

On race day, still wearing their signature aqua blue shirts, the “Sharks” cheer each other on as each triathlete runs across the finish line, followed by an after-party back at the hotel.

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