Arturo Garza was born in Mexico City on July 15, 1977.

When he was eight, his mother got him involved in swimming and he soon met Juan Carlos Luji, the then No 1 ranked Mexican Triathlete. "I was not so good at swimming," Garza said. Luji introduced Garza to his 1st coach, Marcelino Merida. "I started to do triathlons because I loved cycling and running and then I improved in my swimming," Garza said. When he entered and won his first elite triathlon, his talent was obvious to all.

"All of those people were like, `he is only 18 years old and the other competitors are all about 25'."

After completing a degree in Management Information Systems at Mexico City University in 2002, Garza decided to follow his dreams and become a full-time Triathlete.

"I love it, it is my passion, I love this sport."

His sporting hero, Lance Armstrong, epitomizes what it takes to excel in the sporting arena.

"He (Armstrong) is mentally tuned for winning."

Mental strength played a big part in succeeding in sport, up to 90%, Garza said.

"You can be really good physically but if you don't have the mental strength you cannot do the rest."

Brazilian football star Edson Arantes Nascimento, better known as Pele, is another athlete Garza holds in high esteem.

"I like the history of his life and more than that he is transcending and still working for the benefit of kids and his people."

Garza's current coach is Dr. Nicholas Romanov. According to Garza, he is "the one that put me on the central american games, the one that made me win the national championship series".

Winner 2004, 2005 and 2006 Key Biscayne Trilogy Series
Winner 2004, 2005 Huntington’s Disease Olympic
Winner 2005 and 2006 Tri-Miami Olympic Distance
Winner 2005 Coca-Cola Classic Miami Beach Sprint Triathlon
2nd Place 2006 Coca-Cola Classic Sprint Series

Winner Coca-Cola series 2006 Championship

2007 A1A Half Marathon, Miami FL - 8th place

Manuel is in his third year as a professional triathlete. He is currently a member of the USAT Resident Team in Colorado Springs and the U23 National Team. Over the last five years He has been competing in triathlons for 5 years. My athletic career started in 1997 when I emigrated from Havana, Cuba to Miami, Florida. In 2005 I made National Team Squad were I lived and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I am currently attending the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on the path to a degree in Education.
As a Junior Elite athlete, I won the 2002 National Championships in triathlon and duathlon. From 2001 to 2003, I was a USA Triathlon All-American.

2006

2005

U23 National Team Member
USAT Resident Team Member

2004

Youngest ITU Podium Finisher
USAT All-American U23
World University Games Athlete

2003

World Junior Elite Team Member
Collegiate All-Conference Cross
Country Runner

2002

National Junior Elite Champion
USAT Junior Elite of the Year

Fernando Marrero - 30 years old Cuban native, resident of Miami Florida since 2006. Due to the line of work that he is in at the City of Hollywood & Miami
Ocean Rescue Team, he got motivated and started his triathlon practices. He is being actively involved in competing for the past 3 years only - and the results speak for themselves. He has qualified for the Duathlon world championship for the past 2 years. He has participated in several fund raising events for people with disabilities.

2007

A1A Half Marathon, Miami FL - 3rd place

2006

Trilogy Key Biscayne – 2nd Place in the series

Runner's High Tri Miami Sprint Triathlon - 1st place

Cooper City 5K - Overall Winner

Mercedes Benz Corp. Run - Overall Winner

USAT Regional Floridian Champ. - Overall Winner

Battle of the Sexes Duathlon - 1st Overall

INF Marathon - 4th in division

2005

Tri Miami Sprint Triathlon - Overall Winner

Cycle Mobility Triathlon SBR - 2nd Overall

8th Annual Rotary Holiday Run Half-Marathon - 2nd

Turkey Trot 10K Tropical Park, FL - Overall Winner

Mercedes Benz Corp. Run - 2nd place

Marrone Rotary 5K - Overall Male Winner

USAT Regional Floridian Champ. - Overall Winner

2004

Tri-America Triathlon Series, Miami FL - 2nd age group

Turkey Trot 10K Tropical Park, FL - Overall Winner

Mercedes Benz Corp. Run - 2nd place

Cooper City 5K - Overall Winner

"One of my goals is to be involved in races to help disabled individuals, specially children and represent the United States in the World Championship, and last but not least qualify for the Hawaii Iron Man"

Birth Date: March 21, 1981
Place of Birth: Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil
Place of Residence: Gainesville (FL), United States

Height: 5'7'' (1.70m)
Weight: 132 lb. (59 kg)
Marital Status: Single

Estimated Body Fat (%): 5.8
Lean Body Mass (lbs): 123
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Light Brown
Heart Rate: Resting - 36 bpm
Max - 202 bmp
Hematocrit: 50.0% (June 2005)
46.2% (Dec. 2006)

First year in triathlon: 1996
Nickname: Junior
Favorite Leg: Running (" That's where we separate the men from the boys")
Hobbies: Playing with my dog Joseph, watching movies, cooking for my girlfriend

Favorite Food: Barbeque Chicken Pizza
Favorite Drink: Dr. Pepper ( I keep them in business!)
Favorite Music (To train to): Good Charlotte, Eve 6, New Found Glory
Favorite Music (To listen to): Counting Crows, Dave Matthews, Ben Harper
Favorite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart
Favorite Books: Rich Dad, Poor Dad ; Every Second Counts

Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese and basic French
Coach: Marc Becker / Brett Sutton (Excalibur Coaching)
Best Place in the World: Home

Quotes: " Go Hard or Go Home" , and " The miles aren't going to do themselves"

Matt Miller began competitive swimming in 1983 at the young age of 7, and completed his first triathlon in 1988 at age 12.  Over the next 20 years, Miller would compete at the national and international level for both triathlon’s and swimming, highlighting his career with a 4 year collegiate swimming career at James Madison University. 

In 2001, Matt created the C Different Foundation, http://www.cdifferent.org, and on June 26, 2005, Matt and four other guides assisted 5 legally blind athletes through the grueling Ironman Triathlon in Couer d’ Alene, Idaho.  Matt assembled a documentary squad of all-star proportions and equipment to document the entire week, and produced the feature length documentary film “Victory Over Darkness.”

Matt moved from Los Angeles to South Florida in December of 2004 in order to pursue a career in the construction industry in wake of the recent year’s devastating hurricanes.  Matt runs the FL division of Cedar Valley Exteriors, http://cedarvalleyexteriors.com, a roofing company which specializes in assisting homeowner’s with their insurance claims.

Matt returned to racing in the 2006 season with 4 weeks of training under his legs and proceeded to place 2^nd in his age group at the Escape From Miami triathlon.  4 weeks later, Matt guided 63 year blind athlete Charlie Plaskon through the Florida Ironman in a blazing 12 hours, 46 minutes, a world record time for a visually impaired athlete.

To learn a little more about Matt and his life, there is 5 minute video which his university created when they honored him with the Inez Greybeal Roop Distinguished Alumni Service Award for the charitable work that he does with his organizations.

Watch the Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZp7UjE6VvE&eurl=
Streaming Windows Media
Windows Media Download, 5mb

Name: Leandro González Bonet
DOB.: 09/27/1977

Originally from: Patagonia, Argentina.
Weight: 68kgs.
Preferred Style: Triathlon

2nd Place, 2nd Brazil Triathlon Fit Cup (BR) 22/08/04
29th Place, World Cup - Rio de Janeiro (BR) 06/11/04
2nd Place, Triathlon Circuito Olimpo, (Chile) 26/02/05
20th Place, Pan-American Triathlon, Bogota (Colombia) 06/08/05
8th Place, Triathlon Nissan X-Terra, (Brazil) 27/07/06
3rd Place, Triathlon "Iron Desert", (Chile) 09/09/06
1st Place, Triathlon "Escape to Miami", Florida (USA) 15/10/06
1st Place, Triathlon "Medio Ironman del Canal de Panama", Panama 2/11/06
3rd Place, Triathlon "Piedra Roja", (Chile) 03/12/06
4 times Argentinean Triathlon Champion (2003-2004-2005-2007)
2 times Argentinean Triathlon Sprint Champion (2005-2007).

Rafael was a competitive swimmer since very young, he started his competitive career at age seven. He was the Argentine national champion in 200 IM, 200 and 400 Freestyle (as an age grouper) and National Champion overall in open water swimming (1979/1980). He started competing in Triathlons in 2003, immediately becoming champion in his age group, from there he has dominated completely the masters category and usually ranks in the top 5 overall. His swimming ability has allowed him to come out of the water in the first place overall in several races. For Rafael his family represents the most important thing and it is his inspiration, he manages to balance a career (as a supervisor for the Ocean Rescue department in Miami Beach), a beautiful family and his training and racing. He is truly an inspiration for a lot of age groupers, coworkers, friends and students (he goes often to different schools to teach about water safety and fitness).

Overall Series Champion: South Florida Triathlon Series by Multirace.com

2007 St. Anthony's Triathlon, Florida, 3th Overall Masters

2006 Tri Miami sprint Triathlon, 1st Masters, 3th Overall
2006 Tri Ft. Lauderdale Triathlon, 1st Masters, 2nd Overall
2006 Spring Training Triathlon, 1st Masters, 3rd Overall
2006 Singer Island Triathlon, 1st Masters, 3rd Overall
2006 Key Biscayne Trilogy No. 2, 1st Masters, 3rd Overall
2005 Singer Island Triathlon, 1st Masters, 5th Overall
2005 North Beach Triathlon, 1st Masters, 4th Overall
2005 Key Biscayne Trilogy No. 2, 1st Masters, 4th Overall
2004 Miami Aquathlon Series, 3rd Overall
2003 Coca-Cola Triathlon Series, 1st Clydesdale 40 and over.

Birth Name: Rebecca Anna Witinok-Huber

Hometown:  Iowa City, Iowa

Age:  22

Degrees: BA. Biology from UVM

Years Swimming: 18

Years Cycling: 4

Years competing in Triathlons: 5

Rebecca is one of those scholar athletes where she graduated on the honor roll while at the same time leading her swim team to conference championships.  Rebecca has been swimming most of her life and was honored with the Jeff Stone Award in 2006 as the female leading athlete, regardless the sport.  Rebecca has been racing NCCA in her school and leading the women’s team to Women's A category 1^st places in Criterium, Circuit and Time Trial races.  Her successes in cycling and swimming has led Rebecca to start racing in triathlons and in her first long distance event placed 1^st.  Now Rebecca has set her sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.  She is truly one of the only athletes of this age (25 and under) that has success in endurance racing.  This experience coupled with speed and strong work ethic is what makes an Olympian.

*Rutgers Classic Race Weekend – Led UVM team to weekend championship by finishing as first

*UVM participant in Crit, Circuit and TT

*Columbia University Grant’s Tomb Criterium – Led UVM team to team win

Triathlon

*1^st Overall Female – 2007 FAU Wellness Triathlon, Boca Raton, Florida

*1^st Overall Female – 2004 Espirit Ironman, Montreal, Canada

*2^nd Overall Female – 2006 Richmond Sprint Triathlon

*3^rd Overall Amateur Female – 2006 Duxbury Beach Triathlon