YMCA Wrightsville Beach Sprint Triathlon

The YMCA Wrightsville Beach triathlon first held in 1979 was the brainchild of Karl Sutter, then a resident of the beach. Karl was competitive by nature and had been college swimmer , then a few years after college had taken up running to get back in shape.  While running one day he sprained his ankle and turned to cycling as an outlet for fitness while his injury healed. When reading Sports Illustrated in the spring of ‘79 he noticed a small article about the first Ironman triathlon with it’s 12 participants that was held in Hawaii the prior fall. Karl approached the Wilmington YMCA which was under the direction of Jack Morris at the time and a new event for the area was born. This triathlon named the Pepsi/Ymca Triathlon would become the first and longest running triathlon on the east coast of the US with its start of 99 participants that September, 1979.