About Dede
Dede Trimble Griesbauer was raised in Short Hills, NJ. She attended high school in Wallingford, Connecticut at Choate Rosemary Hall. While at Choate, Dede set pool, school, New England, and National Prep School records in the backstroke and individual medley events.
Dede went on to swim 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. In '92, she placed 5th in the 200 meter backstroke, narrowly missing the Barcelona Games team.
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. Her last role was as a vice president at MFS Investment Management in Boston, MA.
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.
Highlights from her career as a Professional Triathlete include 3 Ironman wins. The first came in 2006, in only her second year as a pro. Dede won Ironman UK, setting a new course record in the process. Her second win came in 2009 at Ironman Brazil; a race she has placed second in on two other occasions.
Dede is a 3-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.
In 2011, Dede had a near career ending crash during Ironman Germany. She broke 6 bones; an elbow, 2 ribs, her pelvis in 2 places and her hip. She was told she’d never run again. By mid 2012, she was back on the race course.
Dede is the 2016 12-hour Time Trial World Champion, pedaling 258 miles in 12 hours.
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,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.