Swimming, biking, and running; in other words, triathlon, to some a daunting challenge, but to me a part of everyday life. Gaining popularity around the world, triathlon is now implemented at NCAA college-level athletics. I have been blessed with the opportunity to continue my career in the sport and compete at a college level as well as an international level. Triathlon has taken me all over the world and given me opportunities I never could have had in competitive swimming alone. All this, the ups and downs, as well as experiences came with extreme risk and confidence that I could make my athletic goals happen. I believe that risks are important because they can lead to fulfilling and prosperous outcomes.

As long as I can remember, my life had a heavy emphasis on swimming. Jumping in a freezing pool at 5:30 am three mornings a week and doing it all over again right after school was the lifestyle I loved. The crisp smell of chlorine never left my skin or hair after intense steaming showers. I participated in what swimmers call dryland, weight training, the three mornings I was not in the water, excluding Sunday for a day off, all with one goal in mind: getting faster in the pool. It is true what the stereotypical child swimmer's life is like. The number of times I recited, “I can't, I have practice,” is countless. I loved competitive swimming, with an undeniable passion. Doing something as simple as going back and forth in a pool has brought me joy, I found nowhere else. Throughout middle school and my first year of high school, Swimming brought me success. I qualified for Illinois State Championships in nearly every event, podiumed in various events at a state level, and was on track for an NCAA swim career.

As I grew older and began my years as an upperclassman in high school, my competitive swimming passion subsided, I started to dread getting in the pool before the crack of dawn, and my swimming success no longer fulfilled my pursuit of excellence as it once did. Then I was introduced to triathlon by a friend, who is now a fellow Sun Devil. The thought of quitting swimming was daunting. I would risk all the work I had put into swimming, all the mornings I was awake before anyone else I knew, my NCAA swim potential, and my passion for competitive swimming all for a challenge at a new sport.

The daily sacrifice continued in the triathlon world, for example, spending my entire weekend cycling for four to five hours at a time. Moreover, I began running an average of 25-30 miles a week and waking up the next week to do it all again. The endless cycle of sweat, occasional tears, and sometimes blood is always there to greet you at bedtime hours. Falling asleep knowing that the alarm clock will be going off in 6 or 7 hours is mentally challenging, but I have learned to love it.

I made the switch to triathlon in my junior year of high school because I was confident that I could be great at the sport. Despite the risk of starting a new sport at such a relatively late age compared to my competitors, and quitting competitive swimming, I stuck with triathlon. I was dedicated to my new sport every waking and sleeping hour. My confidence in my body's ability gave me the passion to keep training to see what I was capable of.

Years of confidence in the risk I took started to pay off in the 2021 triathlon season. The junior elite series I competed in had five races. The season opener in March, in Sarasota, Florida, brought competitors from all over North America. Despite then having a less-than-perfect race, I ended up 5th out of about 75 competitors. Taking what I learned, I went into the Richmond USA triathlon junior race, the second race in the series, with a new outlook. I had proven to my competitors, friends, coaches, parents, and myself that I belonged in triathlon. I can compete with the top girls in the nation that have competed longer than I have. With this added confidence, I went into Richmond ready for further improvement from the last race.

On that overcast day in Richmond, I broke the tape to my first triathlon. Off the bike, I came out of the transition area last in my bike pack and ran my way up. The run course was a two-lap out and back. I vividly remember my coach yelling as I took the lead, “This is all you. You have worked so hard. It's your time.” My confidence skyrocketed. I felt like I could run forever. Floating across that finish line was a feeling I will replay in my mind often. Immediately after, I hugged my coaches in the finish shoot, and I didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.  I had won a USA junior elite national series race at the age of 17, and only a second-year junior.  

I continued the season with my added confidence to win the rest of the USA junior series. I won the remaining three races before the national championships. Having a nearly undefeated season, going into junior nationals my confidence was at an all-time high. I continued to show what the risks I took had given me and outran the field at nationals. For the first time, I could call myself a national champion. My hard work and risks were paying off.

The timing was impeccable. Around that 2021 season, college recruits were looking for possible athletes for the upcoming year. Because of my successful season, I was named the number one recruit in the nation for the class of 2026. I was also awarded a sport to represent the USA in the 2021 Junior World Championships in Portugal that fall. This race was unfortunately moved to a further date, so I could sadly not participate, but this left me hungry for more.  

My 2022 season was arguably more impressive, I won every USA triathlon junior race in the series, including the national championships. Making me a two-time, back-to-back national champion. I was also awarded opportunities to represent the stars and stripes in races in Austria, Germany, and Canada. I came away from these races with knowledge and experiences I have used in my everyday life.    

My new triathlon career and the risks I made were like financial investments. By choosing to switch to triathlon from swimming, I was going all into a new opportunity, “stock,” that could possibly give a higher yield than the “money” that was sitting in my savings account. This means, the opportunities I possessed in swimming were solid and weren’t going to change much. but as I took a chance and started something new, that led to new opportunities, ones that were much greater than they would have been in swimming.

Some may say investments are risky and taking such chances are not worth said risk. Although investments can be risky, especially when you have an amount of “money” and there is potential to lose it, sometimes the rewards are greater than the risks. In my case, this is magnified true. I took this chance switching from competitive swimming to triathlon and I am here today because of it. The risks I took when I was already an established swimmer to move on, finding something that I love even more, show how much those positive outcomes in the potential risks outweigh the negative thoughts on the risks. I believe that risks are important to take because they can lead to more fulfilling and prosperous outcomes.