Dale Basescu Has Died
Dale Basescu, one of triathlon’s earliest pioneer professionals, has died at the age of 60. A report, unconfirmed, is that he died during a training session in the pool.
Dale became a top competitor as early as 1983, very shortly after the rise of Mark Allen and Scott Molina. He was a swimmer by original sport, growing up in Boulder, Colorado. “Dale just popped on, up in the front group,” according to Mark Montgomery who was a top pro at the time. "He picked up the other two sports pretty quick.”
He along with fellow pros Bill Leach joined very few others at the time, bucking a trend back in triathlon’s formative decade by resisting the assumption that all roads lead to Kona. He was a confirmed short courser, never feeling the need to do an Ironman. He was considered annually a top-10-in-the-World athlete over the International (what would become the Olympic) Distance.
He suffered scarring in his lungs after a freakish chemical accident that caused him to retire from triathlon before the close of the decade of the 80s. Tragedy struck Dale as his wife, a former model, died in her sleep with Dale sleeping at her side.
He was multi-talented, a touring musician, and with upwards of a dozen acting film credits according to IMDB. He put himself through chiropractic school and has been a practicing chiropractor in Beverly Hills.
Dale announced to his old pro triathlon friends several months ago that he intended to return to triathlon. He resumed training and came to the Slowtwitch compound for a bike fit session. Combining his athletic history with a toe always in the film and entertainment industry, he was to be the subject of a documentary about his return to triathlon. He spoke of an interest in pointing to age-group nationals. Within the past month he notably won the 60-64 AG in the Ventura Breath of Life Triathlon, with an eyebrow raising Oly distance time of 2:19.
Dale Basescu joins Marc Suprenant as two of triathlon’s early bright personalities who added energy and verve to the sport of triathlon, and who no longer survive. Taken with Klaus Barth, George Wright, Cliff Rigsbee and Ron Smith, along with pioneer triathlon journalist Bill Katovsky, a number of the formative personalities of triathlon’s first big decade have passed.
