We Noticed: Shark Attack Victim’s Body Found, New Sponsor for Geens and More

It’s only day 2 of 2026, but we do still have a few news items to catch up on as we get started on the new year.

Missing Triathlete’s Body Recovered

This is a bit of old news, but I figured we could at least provide some updates from this tragic story that broke over the holidays.

Erica Fox, a 55-year-old triathlete from Pebble Beach who, according to reports, had finished two half-distance races and had competed at the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon for 20 years, disappeared during a group swim at Lovers Point in Monterey, California on Dec. 21, 2025. Fox was one of the founders of the group, the Kelp Krawlers, over 20 years ago. According to reports, Fox wasn’t close to the rest of the group when she disappeared, but according to Scripps News, two people on shore witnessed Fox being attacked. The Pacific Grove Police Department and Monterey Fire Department responded to a call of a “human-shark encounter” shortly after noon, and the search for Fox continued until 8 pm that night. The search continued the following day, but it wasn’t until almost a week later (Saturday, Dec. 27) that her body was found near Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County. Officials confirmed that it was Fox on Dec. 29.

According to Fox’s husband of 30 years, Fox’s body was found with her white Garmin watch on her wrist and a “shark band” designed to deter shark attacks on her ankle.

In case you were about to look up how often shark attacks take place, they are extremely rare – experts say that there are only “60-65 unprovoked shark bites each year … only about six a year are fatal.” You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying from a shark attack.

Sara Rubin, one of Fox’s close friends, had this to say in a touching tribute to her friend the day after she disappeared:

Before today, if I was trying to make sense of a senseless loss of life in the ocean, I would have called Erica Fox to talk it through. She would be calm and reasoned; she understood the risk of swimming in an ocean habitat that is home to white sharks, and she understood the risk in context. I think she would be horrified to see the frenzied news coverage of this incident. 

She would also certainly object to framing this as an attack, and she would urge us to instead call it an incident—an animal’s behavior is just that. I have found myself searching for something to be angry at in facing this loss, and then feeling a little confused when I can come up with nothing—it is unreasonable to be angry at a shark. In the absence of anyone or anything to direct anger toward, I’m left just with sadness. 

Erica was a bright light of a person who was quick to laugh and seemed to be always smiling. There’s a feeling of shock to lose someone so vital, and a grief resonating through the community of swimmers she helped create. My heart aches for everyone who knew Erica, including everyone who she helped learn to love the ocean.

Jelle Geens Signs with Mauna Apparel

Photo: Eric Wynn

After taking his second-straight IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, Jelle Geens has signed with a new apparel partner – Mauna Apparel. It’s a big jump for Mauna, the company said in a release today, describing the multi-year deal as “its first sponsorship at the world champion level.”

“Changing partners is not something I take lightly,” Geens said in today’s release. “I am chasing a third world title, and I am also thinking carefully about what comes next in my career. That means every decision has to support performance at the highest level, both now and as the demands evolve.”

In addition to the financial component to the deal, the partnership will include “aerodynamic testing as well as ongoing refinement base on his feedback from training and racing as well as ongoing refinement based on his feedback from training and racing,” Mauna officials said. “The real value lies in collaboration.”

BMC Pro Triathlon Team Announces 2026 Roster

Antonio Benitez Lopes on the bike at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Still no word on what company will be replacing BMC as the title sponsor of the BMC Pro Triathlon Team (we reported that BMC was not going to be involved with the team any longer before the holidays, and assume there will be a new name coming soon), but we do know who will make up the six-member team in 2026. There are three new members – Brits Daisy Davies and Cameron Main, along with Germany’s Finn Grosse-Freese. Moving on from the roster are Thor Bendix Madsen, Clément Mignon, Sam Dickinson and Lucy Byram.

Here’s the information on the 2026 team, which continues to feature a mix of long- and middle-distance triathletes, along with one draft-legal specialist:

• Daisy Davies (UK): 2025: European Champion Long Distance Triathlon, second at “The Championship (Challenge) in Samorin, third at Challenge Gran Canaria, third at Challenge Mallorca. 2024: Challenge Vieux Boceau and Challenge Wales champion.
• Finn Grosse-Freese (GER): 2025: Ironman Austria and Ironman Copenhagen champion.
• Miguel Hidalgo (BRA): 2025: Second at the World Triathlon Championship Series, Second in the World Triathlon World Rankings, WTCS Alghero winner, second at WTCS Karlovy Vary, third at WTCS French Riviera and WTCS Yokohama, Ironman 70.3 Brasilia champion, Mallorca Olympic-distance champion. He has 14 World Triathlon career wins and 29 podium finishes.
• Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP): 2025: World Champion Long Distance Triathlon, second at the North American Ironman Championship Texas, fourth at T100 Vancouver, 2024: World Champion Long Distance Triathlon, Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz champion.
• Laura Madsen (DEN): 2024: Ironman 70.3 Les Sables D’Olonne champion, Ironman 70.3 Valencia champion, Challenge Samerkand champion, second at “The Championship.”
• Cameron Main (UK): 2025: Ironman Western Australia champion, Ironman 70.3 Knokke-Heist champion, second at Ironman 70.3 Jesolo

Tags: