Dede Griesbauer

Ultraman World Champion

Dede's athletic career began in the pool. She swam at Stanford University, accumulating some 10 NCAA All-American honors. As captain, she led the 1992 team to an NCAA Championship. Individually, Dede represented the United States as part of the USA Swimming National Team between 1989 and 1994. She was a gold medalist at the 1989 Pan Pacific Championships and at the 1991 Pan American Games in the 200 meter backstroke. She swam in two Olympic Trials in 1988 and 1992.

Dede retired from her swimming career in 1994 and returned to school where she earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked on Wall Street for eight years as an equity trader.

In March 2005, Dede decided to set aside her Wall Street career and return to a career in sport after just two years of participating in triathlon as an Age Group athlete. Dede is a three-time top-10 finisher in Kona in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In 2007 and 2009, she was the top American finisher at the IRONMAN® World Championship.

Dede started 2020 with a win (2nd overall) at Ultraman Florida where she set a world record for the Ultraman distance of 22 hours, 48 minutes and 31 seconds. It was a record by some 1 hour and 18 minutes.

And in 2022, at the age of 52, Dede became a World Champion, taking the title at the Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii. She set a course record of 23 hours, 22 minutes and 58 seconds. She broke the course record by 45 minutes and finished 3rd overall. She won the women's race by nearly 1 hour, 45 minutes.

Dede lives in Boulder, CO with her husband, Dave and yellow Labradors, Piper and Charley. She is a coach with the JD Crew and is part of the IRONMAN® live commentary team.