The One Who Made Me Want To Do It...

As I said in yesterday's blog post; I made this list. Yesterday I blogged about my favorite professional triathlete. Today's blog post gets more into the "who" that made me think about doing triathlon back what seems like ages ago. I have two triathlon idols. This first one is no one other than...
I bet you may have heard of her. She started out as a swimmer. After not qualifying in 1988 or 1992; she represented the United States at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta where she won a gold medal as part of the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. She then entered the sport of triathlon where she made the 2000 Olympic Team in Sydney Australia; in which triathlon made it's inaugural debut. She went on to get 6th place for the women. I remember how excited I was that one of my favorite swimmers represented in sport I knew nothing about. Sheila then went on to represent the United States again in 2004 in Athens Greece. She placed 23rd that day for the women. I was still super stoked for her.
So going back to why I put her down on my triathlon idol's list. Well she's the one; the one who got me thinking about doing triathlon one day. I said to myself; "If she can do it so can I". I was a sophomore in college at the University of North Texas in Denton Texas. I was swimming on a masters team at the time under a coach I really really did NOT like. When I was at the recreation center at school one day I saw a sign for the UNT Triathlon Club. I didn't tell anyone that I was going to attend the meeting to find out what it was all about. Not just did I join the UNT Triathlon Club in January 2004; but I completed my first sprint triathlon with my new triathlon friends in March 2004 at the Athens Texas Sprint Triathlon. I completed my first triathlon; placed third in my the 19 and under gals age group and was HOOKED on the sport and it was not just because I podiumed. To this day I THANK Sheila for being the reason I started this wonderful sport. My friends; that is why Sheila Taormina is one of my triathlon idols.

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