Career
Born Barbara Müller in Saint Johann in Tirol, Austria to Hans and Ingrid Mueller, she and her identical twin sister, Angelika Drake, left their farmhouse at 14 for high school in Innsbruck and then, at age 17, went on to study art history at the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in Florence, Italy. They took occasional modeling work before moving to Mexico City in 1965, where they began modeling full-time, eventually opening a school, agency and design boutique. Warren began performing under the stage name Barbara Angely, abruptly ending that career out of dissatisfaction with a jet-set lifestyle.
Her family moved to Brownsville, Texas, in 1980.
In 1983, Warren began running recreationally. By 1985, Angelika and her family had moved to San Diego, California.
Calling themselves "The Twin Team," the sisters began participating in a number of endurance sports, including their first standard triathlon in 1987 and their first Ironman Triathlon in 1988. All told, Warren completed 13 Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii, winning her age group in the 2003 Ironman Kona.
In addition to her at-home counseling practice in Pacific Beach, a suburb of San Diego, Warren self-published three motivational books, Unleash the Power to Complete Your Goals, Become Exceptional, and Do What You Don"t Want to Do.
On Saturday, August 23, 2008, Warren broke her odontoid process and the cervical vertebra 2 and was diagnosed as paralyzed from a bicycle crash that happened on a descent during the Santa Barbara, California, triathlon. She was put on life support at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. According to what her family told the San Diego Union-Tribune, she communicated through blinking that she wanted her ventilator turned off, and, at the request of the family, a doctor removed her ventilator on August 26.
The Santa Barbara Triathlon"s Barbara Warren Community Spirit Award is named in her honor.
