Retired Stanford University Water Polo coach Dante Dettamanti, 80, was killed while riding his bike on Cañada Road in San Mateo County on Tuesday, friends of Dettamani told this news organization.
At around 4:05 p.m. on Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol received a call that a man had crashed into a San Mateo County Public Works Department street sweeper parked on the right shoulder of the road about a half mile south of state Route 92, said Art Montiel, a spokesperson for the Redwood City CHP area.
Dettamani's decadeslong coaching career at Stanford began in 1976. He helped the team bring home eight NCAA championships and was named NCAA Coach of the Year five times, according to USA Water Polo.
Dettamanti, who swam and played water polo as a student at University of California, Davis, was elected to the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2002.
Upon retiring, Dettamanti became involved in winemaking in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to an interview with Stanford.
Comments
Registered user
another community
on Oct 27, 2022 at 12:45 pm
Registered user
on Oct 27, 2022 at 12:45 pm
Can we get some reporting here instead of simply restating what CHP says? Was the vehicle parked illegally? How many cyclists die on this road - is it too dangerous? Did CHP really call it an "accident"? Per CHP's website, vehicle collisions are not "accidents": Web Link
Registered user
College Terrace
on Oct 27, 2022 at 5:03 pm
Registered user
on Oct 27, 2022 at 5:03 pm
I completely agree with Joe. If you can't get the complete investigative information for your article at this time, please wait and give the readers the full story later. Was it really, an accident, meaning the street sweeper was not at fault?
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Oct 27, 2022 at 7:23 pm
Registered user
on Oct 27, 2022 at 7:23 pm
I agree with the comments above. I am an avid cyclist. While crashes with bikes and vehicles obviously happen, sometimes ending a tragic death, it would be strange for a competent adult, paying attention to what one is doing, to simply crash into a stationary vehicle. Usually it's because the vehicle starts to move, or someone opens a door or if the cyclist skids on gravel or something like that and then hits the vehicle; but in the last case, unless one was going quite fast it would rare to be killed. Broken bones yes, but killed would be odd. Another possibility, which happens occasionally, especially in older people, is that the rider has a medical event, like a cardiac arrest or major stroke or something else that is devastating and thus loses all control or is for practical purposes dead before the crash even occurs. Sometimes the medical issue can be determined from an autopsy; but not always.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Oct 27, 2022 at 9:49 pm
Registered user
on Oct 27, 2022 at 9:49 pm
Roadsweepers when moving can be unpredictable and the driver could focus just as much on the sweeping as with the other traffic. The fact that they have flashing lights signal to other road users to beware. However, a stopped or parked roadsweeper is unlikely to be unpredictable, but they can stop where other vehicles are not allowed to stop since they are work vehicles. So there are questions. Was the driver in the roadsweeper at the time? Was the roadsweeper facing the wrong direction? It is unlikely that a bike rider went into a stationary vehicle at such a speed unless there was something else going on.
I suspect a medical issue which occurred at the unfortunate time and a parked vehicle happened to be in the path. It may be that the parked vehicle prevented the bike from moving into traffic flow preventing a worse situation from happening.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Oct 28, 2022 at 6:22 am
Registered user
on Oct 28, 2022 at 6:22 am
My first thought when reading this is that there are hundreds of people who interacted with Dante through water polo who will care about the fact that he has died. And then I thought good for him for being out and cycling at age 80. That's impressive.
Registered user
another community
on Oct 28, 2022 at 8:14 pm
Registered user
on Oct 28, 2022 at 8:14 pm
[Post removed.]
Registered user
College Terrace
on Oct 28, 2022 at 9:54 pm
Registered user
on Oct 28, 2022 at 9:54 pm
[Post removed due deletion of referenced comment.]