Becoming a triathlete was an easy transition for me. I was a distance swimmer in college. My senior year, I qualified for nationals, earning All-American distinction in the one-mile race. At the end of the season, I wasn’t ready to hang up my athletic career. My college swim coach suggested I try a triathlon, so I did. I knew nothing about triathlon training but learned the basics, got a bike, and signed up for a sprint triathlon in western Maryland, close to my school. I won the triathlon overall and was hooked. Now I had something else to compete in!
I spent the next few years racing in Maryland and Delaware and eventually on Long Island when I moved back home. My first Ironman was in 2001, at the age of twenty-four. I won my age group and qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii!