A 'motivation to inspire'

SANDUSKY — Terry Gates is a lifelong swimmer and athlete. He's participated in multiple triathlon races, both domestically and abroad, in his time. And, this week, Terry will take on another challenge at Sandusky's Ironman 70.3 triathlon. How he started Chris Gates, his son, challenged him to compete in the Reeds Lake Sprint Triathlon in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, back in 2011. Terry, a 69-year-old Alto, Michigan, resident, was a strong endurance swimmer and a strong biker. He swam across the 3.5-mile Straits of Mackinac in 2007, 2015 and 2019. He had one month's notice to train for the Reeds Lake Sprint competition, and was not in good physical condition. Terry's main experience being in swimming and cycling, the prospect of a long-distance run was daunting. "Being a swimmer and biker, the swim and bike were easy, but to run 5 miles with only a month's notice to train was hard," he said. After the race, Terry encouraged his son to do an Olympic Distance in the spring, a half-Ironman in the fall and a full-Ironman race in the following year. Terry's first Ironman was in Louisville, Kentucky in 2015, where he finished 4th place and attended "The Roll Down" ceremony for a chance to race in Kona Ironman. Gates qualified in 2014 for the Team USA World Championship in Sweden. Since then he has done three World Championships: Spain in 2019, Amsterdam in 2021 and Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St George, Utah in 2022. Triumph over adversity On July 1, 2023, Terry was involved in a traffic accident when a truck cut in front of him turning into a gas station. He suffered a severe concussion, a broken collar bone and eight broken ribs. Due to his injuries, he was out of commission for the remainder of the 2023 triathlon season and couldn't return to competition until this year. Terry did not start his triathlon training until mid-January of this year. He hired a coach who helped him get back into shape to compete in Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, California on April 6. With only two months of training, Terry won first place as the youngest in his age division. "My motivation is to inspire others that you can come back after adversity and to keep in good physical shape in my 70s," Terry added. Terry is set to compete in Ironman 70.3 Sandusky in hopes of getting the opportunity to compete in his sixth World Championship in Spain in November 2025. "I am looking forward to an exciting race in Sandusky on (Sunday), appreciating the fact I can still do hard things," Terry said.