[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 30, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING WORLD CHAMPION TRIATHELETE JUDY FLANNERY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 1997

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late 
Judy Flannery, 57, who was killed tragically April 2 when a car, driven 
by an unlicensed 16-year-old boy, struck her as she was riding her 
bicycle in Seneca, MD. Flannery was a biochemist retired from the 
National Institutes of Health and a weekly volunteer at the local soup 
kitchen, So Others Might Eat. The role she most cherished, according to 
her husband Dennis, was that of mom to her five children, ages 22 to 
31.
  While Maryland mourns the loss of Mrs. Flannery, the sporting world 
mourns the loss of one of its greats for Judy Flannery was a legend in 
the sport of triathlon. Triathlon is a grueling sport requiring arduous 
training in the three disciplines of swimming, bicycling, and running 
and Judy was one of its best. She didn't begin running until the age of 
38. Soon she was racing and winning. Three times she completed the 
Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, a Herculean test consisting of a 2.4-mile 
ocean swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon run, all 
through the sweltering lava fields of the Hawaiian Islands.
  Four times she was crowned world champion in her age group. Six times 
she was named national champion. In 1996, she was the oldest woman ever 
to be named Masters Female Triathlete of the Year. She also defended 
her world triathlon title and added to it the world duathlon--bicycling 
and running--championship.
  This spring, Judy was training to join three friends in the 3,000-
mile Race Across America, a cross-country bicycle ride from Irvine, CA, 
to Savannah, GA. She organized the group's ride to raise money to 
combat domestic abuse. Now, the women will ride wearing pink armbands 
in her memory and the money they raise also will go to combat drunk 
driving.
  For women across the country and around the world, Judy was a beacon 
that radiated the message: you can do it! Judy took particular joy in 
bringing novices into the sport of triathlon. She freely gave advice 
and coached and counseled women much younger than she, coaxing them to 
reach high for their athletic stars.
  Judy worked hard to establish the USAT Women's Commission within USA-
Triathlon, the national governing foundation of the sport, to ensure 
women their rightful place in the sport. As chair of the commission, 
she saw to it that the women were nurtured and encouraged to 
participate. She was particularly pleased that triathlon will be, for 
the first time, an Olympic sport in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 and that 
the women's triathlon is to be the opening event.
  Six hundred friends, family members, and triathletes gathered 
recently in Bethesda for a memorial service for Flannery. A lone 
bicyclist led the procession of cars from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic 
Church, where Judy, Dennis, and their children celebrated life's 
passages, to the Gate of Heaven Cemetery where Judy was laid to rest.
  I extend my sympathy to Judy's family and friends and to the world 
and women of triathlon where I know she will be missed but not 
forgotten.

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