Noah Dellas and Lisa Rumer are celebrating Sunday afternoon at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.
Dellas, a 17-year-old from Cape May Court House, won a gold medal in the triathlon — a first-time event at the World Games.
Rumer, a local triathlete and program supervisor at the Ocean City Aquatics and Fitness Center, helped lobby to add the sport to the Special Olympics, and she brings home a world title as coach of the first USA team.
Dellas was first out of the water and never looked back in the event, which was held at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, Calif. The triathlon included a half-mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) run.
After the event, Rumer said Dellas, a strong swimmer, had planned to lead from the start. She said he was extremely excited about the victory, and handling multiple interviews with poise.
Rumer brought four competitors, all from New Jersey, to the World Games.
The team also included: Courtney Dreyfus, 18, of Scotch Plains, Union County; Ben Heitmeyer, 25, of Iselin, Middlesex County; and Amy Noctor, 27, of Washington Township, Warren County. She said all performed well in the event.
Heitmeyer took 12th place among the men, and Noctor and Dreyfus were silver and bronze medalists for women.
Rumer helped bring a spotlight to the sport and to the local athletes with interviews on ESPN, which filmed a montage in Ocean City, where the team trained. The segment is expected to air on ESPN or ESPN2 (local Comcast Channel 29/30 or 850/851) at 7 p.m. Monday (July 27).
Read more: Lisa Rumer to Bring Local Triathletes to World Stage.
- See video of ESPN interview with triathlon team coach Lisa Rumer
- Follow images and updates on the triathlon team on Facebook
- Check complete results of Sunday’s triathlon
More than 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 170 countries are competing in the World Games. The triathlon is just one of 25 sports in the nine-day competition.
Rumer, 50, was a track and cross-country star at Ocean City High School, where she graduated in 1983. She started volunteering with special-needs athletes not long after she first came to the Aquatics and Fitness Center 23 years ago.
Dellas, a student in the Cape May County Technical School District, said in a recent interview that he hopes to attend Rutgers University, where he wants to study architecture and agriculture, as well as join the swim team.
Dellas, Rumer and the triathlon team will remain in Los Angeles through the conclusion of the Games on Sunday. The triathletes were invited to compete in individual events included in the triathlon. Dellas will compete in a one-mile open-water swim.
One of the highlights of the Games for him, Rumer said, was meeting his idol, Michael Phelps.
