Sheila Taormina- she won an Olympic gold in swimming before she was a triathlon world champion, and after retiring from triathlon, has reappeared as one of the best modern pentathletes in the world.
How about Andy Potts…
kick ass Michagan swimmer turned kick ass triathlete.
doesn’t that count?
I think that there have been really talented athletes and there are, but I think the main problem stems from the fact that it is incredibly expensive, there is low payout to the pros, and the media just doesn’t love us like they should.
Don’t get me wrong, I love football. I grew up in the South for pete sake… my first Auburn game (sorry, not meaning to offend anyone) was when I was like 3. The joke around my parents’ house is that my first set of words were “dada,” “chocolate,” and “War Eagle”
Media darlings are big ole team sports like football, basketball, baseball… and some more individualized sports like boxing, although I could care less about boxing.
My hubby is an incredible runner. I mean, he runs a 2:28 marathon at age 35. He and his training partner are just super fast, especially for their AGs. Even the local newspapers don’t give them any love, or any of the runners in the area for that matter.
Running, cycling, swimming and therefore triathlons are true athletic endeavors… people just don’t realize the demands it takes to do it at such a high level. And the events don’t bring in the $$$$ like pro football, etc does.
I think that if Fox Sports or whoever would focus an equal amount of attention on some of these fantastic athletes, it would seem that there is domination, but for now, you only know what you read in the magazines, blogs, or see at races because, lets face it, other than IM, how often do you see TV coverage of a tri, even the local “community coverage” of the charity ones.
Sheila Taormina is close to doing it BOTH ways - coming and going. She earned an Olympic gold in swimming (1996), won triathlon worlds (2004), and is now ranked second in the world in modern pentathlon. Plus, until 1998, she had run very little and never even owned a bike. And until 2005, she had never fired a pistol, ridden a horse, or held a fencing sword.
I believe she will be the first to compete in three different sports at the olympics, in olympic history. There was an article in the paper a week ago on her.
What about the short career of Steve Larsen? He was a pure cyclist. If I recall, he ripped thru the bike, built a huge lead, then essentially hung on during the run to win IMLP a few years ago.
Andy Potts
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And if she should happen to win in Beijing (for which she has a legitimate shot), she will be the first athlete in history to have risen to the top of the world in three completely separate sports.
Don’t forget the fact that in order to be GREAT at a single sport you have to spend all of your time doing that specific sport which means you are not doing at least 2 of the other 3 elements of triathlon. Just because you can bike doesn’t mean you can run, swim, etc. Between this fact and the money side of it the answer seems clear.
G-Man mentioned Ruben Chappens from UCLA that moved to Triathlon successfully. He was my high school cross country coach at Edison High in Huntington Beach, CA in 1983/84. I heard years ago that he moved back to Hawaii and finished Kona in 5th place one year. Does anyone have any information on what Ruben is doing/where he is? I am going to Kona as a lottery winner and would love to get in touch with him. Thanks.
Stacy Taylor
konaboundstacy@blogspot.com
konaboundstacy@gmail.com
Hamish Carter didn’t “Star” in any single sport prior to triathlon.
He WANTED to be a top cricketter, but wasn’t good enough. Not sure how he got into triathlon, but he picked it up in his late teens, was instantly a hit and was at the top of game worldwide. That lasted for about 15 years or so.
Now he’s a software salesman for a company here in Auckland, of all things.
I went to one of his fantasy camps a few years ago (just prior to him winning gold in Athens) and he is a genuinely great guy. After a 3 hour run through the bush, we had a 2 hour recovery ride! There were several young pro’s also in attendance and their recovery pace was 38-40kph on the flats. I kept cramping a calf muscle. Hamish dropped back and chatted for quite a while while I struggled on. I resisted ‘interviewing him’ and we just had a good time talking sh*t about nothing at all. Very pleasant time considering my calf would spontaneously explode with pain and I’d just about fall off my bike. Luckily when we got back to the camp, we had an hour off before a 90 minute lake swim. He swam near me to keep an eye on me in case I cramped up on the swim too. Good bloke and very easy to talk to over dinner etc.
Are you implying that Lance used testosterone?.. 
Are you implying that Lance used testosterone?.. \\\
Absolutely, all us guys use testosterone, if we are lucky… I’m trying to use as much as my body can produce right now…(-;
Cool that you got to meet a legend like HC and actually train with him. I asked you why you mentioned Carter because the original intent of the thread (though I know it’s a bit ambiguous from the title) was to see if any single-sport stars in running, cycling or swimming had managed to cross over to triathlon and dominate. It looks like Taormina may be a candidate - didn’t know much about her before this.
As for your ride with Carter and those other pros - not sure how much they were “recovering” riding at 38-40kph after a 3h run, considering ITU pros usually ride at ~40-41kph in an oly distance race!
Now that’s a good call - I didn’t know much about Taormina before this thread.
Larsen probably had the potential to do it, but his tri career was so short that it would be hard to make a case for him being dominant as a triathlete.
I don’t think there was much recovery going on. The young pro’s were all testing themselves against Hamish (who they all know quite well anyway) and it was a bit of a p*ssing contest quite frankly. At one point we were passed by a tanker truck going up a shallow hill, leaving the town limits. We were doing about 38kph getting to the bottom of the rise. Nathan Richmond, who also went to Athens (and has since won several ITU races) jumped in behind the truck, and tore off, looking over his shoulder at who was going to chase him down. The other young pro’s plus some eager campers all made the jump, with MOPer’s like me just shaking our heads wondering what we’d got ourselves into.
Camp was great but I was absolutely shattered every single day. On day 3 in the morning, for example, we were supposed to do a 1/2 IM as training, but the coaches said by looking in our eyes they could tell none of us could comprehend doing the whole thing, plus the afternoon session! We got off with a swim OR run, then the bike as a group ride. I chose the swim so I could lie down! the others chose the run ride option. The van ride back to camp in the afternoon was very quiet to say the least. The session after lunch was reduced to a 5k open water swim session, with (mercifully) plenty of breaks for listening to the coach. By day 4 I was starting to come in to my own while the others were falling off the pace due to the massive effort they had all put in the previous 3 days. I actually managed to pass several people on the 10k run (unheard of) and was the fastest amateur swimmer for the 3km swim after lunch. I look back on camp and remember all ther great times, but doubt I will ever do it again as it shattered me for about 2 weeks!
Getting to know Hamish was certainly one of the highlights.
Was Hamish Carter not a rower before he was a triathlete, not dominant though.
Larsen’s as close as I can think of, Sheila Taormina on the women’s side, Olympic gold in the pool, world title at tri, and one of the top Modern Pentathletes in the world now.
Sheila Taormina- she won an Olympic gold in swimming before she was a triathlon world champion, and after retiring from triathlon, has reappeared as one of the best modern pentathletes in the world. \
I think that Julie Swail was also an olympian, not sure about the medal status though… Water Polo
I was on the cusp of being a pro bowler at age 16, does that count??? If that swim coach hadn’t grabbed me while I was quietly swimming laps to improve my surfing, I would be 200lbs now, and bowling the pro seniors tour…