Julie Leach (born February 23, 1957) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Olympic

Kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

athlete who competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, then switched to

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

. After winning numerous races she won the Oct '82 Hawaiian Ironman World Championship. Julie has two children with Bill Leach: Shane (3-23-88) and Hayden (7-1-93). She taught

Earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

Arnold O. Beckman High School Arnold O. Beckman High School is a public school in Irvine, California, United States, serving 3,013 students from grades 9 through 12. The original $69 million facility (equivalent to $ million in ) was opened on August 30, 2004. The Wor ...

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until 2012.

Canoeing career

Julie started her paddling career in 1971 and in 1974 she competed in the Jr. World Championships Poznan, Poland. In 1975 she finished 7th in the K-1 finals and followed that up in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

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, finishing 7th in the women's K-1 500 m event. She also won the Molokai to Oahu Outrigger Race in 1986 as part of the Off Shore Outrigger Team from Newport Beach, Calif., the first time a non-Hawaiian team won the World Championships. This was the first of several victories that Off Shore, coached by Billy Whitford, won over the next decade. In 1987 she won the Molokai to Oahu Surf Ski race; considered the World Championship of the sport at the time. After teaching fitness and PE classes at Irvine Valley College Julie was hired to coach the IVC inaugural Men's and women's Cross Country in 1991. The women's team won their first California State Community College Championship in '91 and again in '93. For that feat she was recognized as the Calif State CC Coach of the Year. She now lives in Hawaii with her husband Bill.

Triathlon career

Leach switched from flatwater canoeing to triathlon, winning the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consider ...

in October 1982. In 1986 she competed in the Molokai Ooutrigger Race with Offshore Canoe Club of Newport Beach and placed 1st Overall, the first time a non-Hawaiian Team won the World Championship. In 1987 she won the Molokai Surf Ski race which is considered the World Championship in that sport. The race leaves from the West End of Molokai and ends on Oahu. She continues to train to stay in shape through riding a bike and weight lifting and enjoys boogie boarding during the summer.

Lottery and Scam

A different US woman named Julie Leach won over 300 million dollars in a 2015 lottery. Many scammers are using her name for fake social media accounts, usually on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, claiming that she is giving away tens of thousands of dollars. There are many of these accounts, which is very suspicious to skeptical users. If you are contacted by one of these scams, do not agree to the money, as it is fake and you will not get it.

References

1957 births American female canoeists American female triathletes Canoeists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Educators from California American women educators Ironman world champions Living people Olympic canoeists for the United States Sportspeople from Long Beach, California 21st-century American women {{US-triathlon-bio-stub