| 09/19/2020 | WOWSA 5k OWS | |
| 08/23/2020 | Ironman Mont Tremblant | |
| 08/02/2020 | Pier to Pier 2.2 mi swim | |
| 08/01/2020 | Tour de Big Bear | |
| 06/20/2020 | Pier 360 1.2 mi Swim | |
| 03/14/2020 | Solvang Century | Ended up being a 50mi trainer ride due to COVID-19! |
| 02/08/2020 | Tour de Palm Springs | Completed my first century ride!!! |
| 02/02/2020 | Surf City Half Marathon | 589 |
Hermosa Beach, California
| Main Focus | Triathlon |
| Bucket List Race | No individual race, but I would love to participate in an Xterra triathlon, and a marathon swim race |
| Post-Race Drink | Beer (anything other than an IPA, unless its dogfishead 60 min and I'm eating a juicy burger :) ). |
| Off-Day Activity | ocean swim, rock climbing, mountain biking |
Hello! While I am fairly new to the triathlon and open water swim world, the water has been a huge part of my entire life. As a young kid in beginner YMCA swim lessons, I cried each lesson for probably about 2 years but still wanted to continue them. I eventually joined the swim team when I was old enough, but decided that the start gun was too loud and scary after the first season and quit. Despite that I continued in lessons, hung out each summer at the local YMCA outdoor camp (both as a camper then later on just hanging out and swimming), and was drawn back into swim team in middle school, continuing on all through high school. I was unfortunately not fast enough to compete at the college level, but I continued my aquatic associations as a lifeguard and swim instructor for various organizations. When I went to graduate school, I was lucky enough to go to the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts. There I met a couple of friends who were both swimmers (one of whom was also a triathlete) and would join them for both pool and ocean workouts. The salt would make me nauseous at first, which led to seeing some of the most beautiful fish, and my spark for open water was lit. After moving back to the states, it was several years before I lived close enough to the ocean, but thankfully nearly 4 years ago I jumped at the opportunity to move to Los Angeles, where I met Bryan Mineo and joined SMOG. I also met Cliff Scherb, my triathlon coach, and joined his team, Tristar Athletes. My love for open water swimming and triathlon has continued to grow, and this year I happily participated in the World Open Water Swim Association Festival that was held in Redondo Beach, and raced in the 1k swim. I hope to eventually work up to the 5k and 10k distances!
Open water swimming is such a blissful release for me. As with many careers, my life at work is often very stressful and hectic, so to be able to come home to the ocean (or even the pool at times) is like therapy. I can work out frustrations from previous shifts during a hard interval set in the pool, or just bask in the feel of the salt water on my body in the ocean and let my stress melt away.