PROVO — The Ironman triathlon may never return to the murky waters of Utah Lake, and an endangered sucker fish could be blamed.
For the second year in a row, the swimming portion of Saturday's race was sabotaged by strong winds, leaving competitors upset and the future of the Utah Half Ironman in Utah County in question.
Race organizers had planned to hold the swim in the Provo boat harbor, which is partially shielded from wind but were forced to move when dredging of the shallow harbor was stopped days before the event began. State wildlife officials worried work in the harbor could disrupt the spawning period of the June sucker, a fish native to Utah Lake.
"If it had been in the harbor, everybody would be going home right now saying it was a great race. Instead they will go back and say they couldn't swim," said Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert. "If the dredging had been done, the race would have gone off without a hitch."
Henry Maddux, a field supervisor for the state's fish and wildlife service, said he sent biologists to the lake when he heard state park officials had started dredging the lake in preparation for the race.
Biologists determined dredging could kill or chase June sucker fish away from the harbor area, where many had gathered to prepare for a trip up the Provo River to spawn. Maddux ordered the dredging to stop.
"We're not opposed to dredging. It needs to have some of that muck removed," Maddux said.
"But it needed to be done before or after the spawn."
Utah State Parks Director Courtland Nelson said officials in his department did not realize their permit to dredge the harbor this summer did not apply during the spawning season. They dredged about 50 yards before they were stopped, leaving most of the harbor about two feet deep.
Ed Lauder, a Salt Lake City resident who competed in the race, said he doesn't understand why the dredging wasn't done during the winter when the fish weren't spawning.
"It could have been done earlier, why it wasn't, I'm not sure," Nelson said.
Fifty pro-status athletes were allowed to complete the 1.2 mile swim, but about 700 amateurs were not allowed to swim because of 15 mile-per-hour head winds. Last year, organizers called off the swim after one competitor drowned in heavy waves caused by gusts that reached 40 miles per hour.
Lauder said most amateurs, who had trained for months and paid an entry fee of nearly $200, left the race disappointed. Others swam briefly in the shallow harbor to prove to organizers they could still swim it. Lauder said he would rather swim in two feet of water, hitting his hands on the bottom, than not swim at all.
"I think unfortunately the event is dead unless they change venues," Lauder said. "If it's at the same venue, I don't think anyone will sign up."
Murray McCutcheom, a competitor from Vancouver, British Columbia, said Saturday she didn't think anyone would return to Provo for a third race.
Herbert says county leaders will also have to convince Ironman officials to return, and he thinks there is only a 50 percent chance they will.
Shane Facteau, a spokesman for the race, says it is too early to tell if the race will be back in Provo this year. He said after the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, race later this month — an event that replaced Provo's full Ironman race — Ironman officials will discuss the future of the Provo event.
The race was greeted with mixed feelings throughout the community Saturday. Some, such as Jennifer Steele, who got a sunburn watching the 56-mile bike race from her front yard, lined the course cheering on competitors, while others sat frustrated in traffic backed up by the race.
Kathryn Bichel says it took 20 minutes to get out of her south Provo neighborhood.
"We weren't very happy. I don't know why they had to have it here," she said.
Herbert wants to keep the race in Utah County, and he hopes Ironman officials feel the same way. He says the event brought $3 million dollars into the county last year and $1 million this year.
He said Ironman will poll competitors and ask them if they want to return. Facteau says he is not aware of any other spots in the county for the swim, but Herbert thinks the harbor, which should be dredged by next year, would be the perfect spot.
"We have to convince them that we can hold the swim. If we can't, then I think they're going to be gone," Herbert said. "If 100 percent of the athletes say they're not coming back, then we might just shake hands and part ways."
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