Pro Talk: Katie Zaferes on Olympics, Triathlon, Resilience, and Legacy Ep 83

Two-time Olympic medalist Katie Zaferes, shares her unique journey from a variety of sports to elite triathlon competitions. She reflects on her experiences at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, discusses the impact of personal loss, and embraces her new role as a coach, focusing on nurturing future talents through the Auxo Collective.

We also discuss:

• Transition from childhood sports to competitive triathlon 
• Qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics and lessons learned 
• Experiencing the Tokyo Olympics amid COVID-19 
• Insights into ITU racing and the mixed relay format 
• Transitioning to coaching  
• Emphasizing the importance of community and resilience 
• Cultivating a positive, explorative mindset in racing 

Katie emphasizes gratitude while encouraging aspiring athletes to value their journey over their outcomes.

Also, check out the raw video footage of our interview here: https://www.theenduranceedge.com/pro-talk-katie-zaferes-on-olympics-triathlon-resilience-and-legacy/ 

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Transcript

Speaker 1 1:34

All right. Welcome back y'all to the Find your Edge podcast. I have a special guest today. I am so excited to welcome Olympian Katie Zafiris. So welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 1:47

Thank you, thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 1 1:49

Awesome. So ever since I was a little girl, I was like, oh my gosh, I want to be an Olympian. Like ever since I was a little girl, I was like, oh my gosh, I want to be an Olympian. So what? And of course that never panned out, but in my, in my mind, in my heart, I can like pretend to be an Olympian. So what was that process like for you to go through training and racing and then actually being there, what was that like?

Speaker 2 2:13

It's funny because I never grew up with that dream to be an Olympian. Like I did sports all growing up. A lot of them when I was younger were more team sports, so soccer, lacrosse and swimming was also a main one at that point. But I pretty much did any any well, not every sport, there's so many but like quite a variety. Variety.

Speaker 2 2:35

And then, like, as I kind of like got through high school, I really shifted to like running, only to stay in shape for soccer. That was the beginning, that was the, that was the focus. And then I ended up being pretty good at it and going to Syracuse University, which is Division one for running, which is division one for running, and so I never really like. Even then, like it was like, okay, I'm going to do this in college, I'm going to run. And then I was going to school to become a physical education teacher for K through 12, got my degree in. That was looking.

Speaker 2 3:08

And during that time I got recruited by USA triathlon for their collegiate recruitment program and that was like for their collegiate recruitment program and that was like, I guess a little bit of a shift because the program is made to like find the next Olympians and to recruit from single sport, like athletes or like talent ID basically. So the fact that I was a runner in division one and had a background in swimming, that was what. That was the reason they were recruiting me. But even when they were recruiting me and I knew like it was tied to the Olympics but as we were actually talking about before we went on air with the podcast like world triathlon draft. Legal Olympic racing isn't actually that well known and like that common here, and so I had no idea what I was saying yes to, like when I was like, okay, I'm being invited to the Olympic Training Center to train for triathlon, but I don't actually know what it is and obviously, like mainly through doing I kind of figured it out, but there was a huge naivety to it and I think that actually benefited me because it wasn't ever like getting ahead of myself and my goals. It was kind of like, okay, like I'm trying this out, I'm seeing what I can do, and that was really like my first couple years and I started in 2013. And ended up up.

Speaker 2 4:35

Uh well, 2013 was my first professional year. I guess I did like between I think I was recruited in like the fall of 2011. So between like the fall of 2011 and 2013, like I'd done age group races I did Chicago try. I did a whole bunch in upstate New York that I mean I like love local triathlons so like I was getting a little bit of exposure.

Speaker 2 5:01

But started 2013 as a professional and ended up qualifying for 2016 Rio Olympics and even going into that I was like still felt new, even though I'd had like quite good results on the world stage for like where I was at and how long I'd actually been in the sport. But I I felt like I was still like learning and getting my bearings. And so it was really like after that that I feel like I really engaged with like oh wait, like I'm a professional here, I can, I'm world leading, I'm, we're at the top of like the um, the rankings, and so then it was like okay, like let's see like how to take more ownership in this, how to like make myself even better, and I think it was pretty much so it took to answer your question in the like long winded way.

Speaker 2 5:53

It just took me a really long time to get to the, to get to the point of like really taking it all in and even like my first olympics, like in rio, I I one of my biggest not I don't know if I'd call it disappointments, but at the time, like I went to the race, I was like focused on the race, not the olympics. We were staying and not in the Olympic Village because we were. That was around like 90 minutes or two hour drive away from our venue. So we actually stayed at a hotel on the beach and like I could really just focus on the race and like kind of like tunnel vision to the point where I lost.

Speaker 2 6:30

I knew I was at the Olympics, obviously, but like lost sight of like the whole experience. And then I raced, I I was disappointed, I was sad, and then the Olympics were over because we were the second last day and I was like, well, I just like missed the Olympics, like I just like went and participated, and when people from the outside and like, look at it, it's just this really incredible experience and I just felt like, oh, I didn't really get that and so my goal was, if I ever got to qualify for another one, I would make sure that that wasn't the case, no matter how my performance was, no matter what like I ended up doing in triathlon that I was going to take in that I actually get to experience this and I'm one of like not very many people who gets to go to the Olympics and much less choice and I did so. I redeemed myself in experience and performance, which was great.

Speaker 1 7:22

Yes, and in the 2020 slash, 2021 Olympics which holy smokes. Like. What the heck was it like training and racing in the midst of a pandemic? Do you feel like that? I mean, it sounds like you enjoyed the experience, but from an outset, from my point of view, I'm like, oh my gosh, that looks really hard to like not have your friends and family there. Everybody's wearing masks, like you've got all these protocols in place, so did it feel that way to you, or was that a different experience?

Speaker 2 7:49

It was a complicated experience overall in the sense that, like 2019, I, world champion, had climbed the rankings like one, one step at a time for the few years before that. Then 2020 hit, which is obviously like all when the Olympics was supposed to happen. So the quad from 2016 to 2020, like as athletes, like we're really counting on that being four years.

Speaker 2 8:13

yeah, like the build and it was really 2020 was a super interesting time because it's uncharted territory. Like, what do you do? And for me, I'm all about, like energy preservation. I was like, if I go hard for this year without even knowing if we're like, in the beginning we didn't even know if we'd get race opportunities by the end of the season, we were able to like race, but I I didn't want to do too much physically or mentally. That would make me not ready for 2021. The not the problem with that, but what ended up happening was I was fine with building and then, in April of 2021, my dad passed away and that was like, yeah, well, the Olympics was in July, the end of July, and I hadn't qualified yet and obviously, like at that point, like when my dad passed away, I was just like.

Speaker 2 9:06

Well, I don't even know if I want to do triathlon anymore. Like I don't know. I hope no one experiences loss like that. But you just feel like kind of frozen about, like does the? World keep going on Like is normal life ever going to like restart, and so that was probably COVID was something. But then that was probably like the wonkiest thing because it was just really uncharted territory, even more so than COVID, and just like hadn't I had no idea like how to like put myself back again.

Post-Olympic Family and Paris Pursuit

Speaker 2 9:43

And it was funny because I was actually just looking at an old planner and I was like, oh, I took like a month off of training with my dad, but I was actually like I went home, I was abroad when he passed away and I went home and then I thought I was there for a long time and I just looked at it, was there for two weeks and then back in Spain because basically I was like OK, like I can't freeze my life forever, and thankful so much in all the ways for my coach, joel Filio, because he's guided me through just in general training and racing, but also a lot of like huge life events, and it never felt like a rush I never like or concern or pressure to be back for the Olympics or like. I ended up so the I so the original Tokyo qualifier. I crashed out and like was there that crash and didn't end up finishing the race. And then the next one was Yokohama, which was one month after my dad passed away, and I actually raced it, but really not very well. And so I ended up getting discretionarily selected to race in Tokyo in 2021.

Speaker 2 10:54

To race in Tokyo in 2021. And it was crazy because I was like oh my gosh, like there was this moment before the Olympics when we had our chance to like talk to the high performance team with USA Triathlon and I was able to be like why are you like ready or whatever? And I had this. You know, when you do fake confidence and you're kind of like talking but you don't really like. Engage with. You're like this is what I'm supposed to say, but I don't actually feel it, but man.

Speaker 2 11:21

I was so confident on that call that I was going to be ready for Tokyo. To the point where I got off the phone I was like, oh jeez, like I hope this comes to fruition because I felt it and I like really believed it.

Speaker 2 11:42

But I was like that was like a lot of confidence for where like what I've done in the past, like couple months, and then, yes, for Tokyo, like it was. So it was weird because it was COVID things, but for me after Rio, like I hadn't really seen the village with people in it by the time I went to the village, it was like the last two days, like actually it was being packed up in Rio and there was nobody, was I like walked in the dining hall in Rio and nobody was there like two other people and it just felt like really desolate at the time.

Speaker 2 12:07

I mean, I went to closing ceremonies. That was incredible there, because it's like passing the torch to Tokyo, but for Tokyo it was like everybody, like all the athletes at the village, were there and actually like my family didn't get to be there, but Tommy did, because he, my husband, who works as a, and for me it was like I don't know. Obviously, I wish, like the biggest thing I wish is that my like mom and my sisters and like I don't even know who else was coming to or planning to, but the biggest thing I wish is that they were there. But as for like the other parts of the experience, like that was really good and because our well, I don't think this was supposed to happen, but because our like race is open circuit, we actually had like people, like fans, like out on the course. But so I think from the out it's funny, because from the outside I'm like, yeah, it probably looked not as great, but from, like my experience, it was it was really good.

Speaker 1 13:08

That is so cool. That is so cool. So now the fun part the most recent Olympics. What was that like? Because we know that you weren't on the Olympic team, so how did you process all that? What was that like as part of your career and your experience?

Speaker 2 13:26

So for Paris, so I had my son. So after, after Tokyo, like the idea was to start a family and I didn't really think that I'd come back to world triathlon racing, mainly because the lifestyle is very hard and the way I have come to know it, to do it successfully is really like unsustainable with a family because, like my coach is international and I thrive in a daily training environment, so like being with him, with the group. So when we had Kimball, I was like I don't, I don't know if this balance is for me, but as but as we got closer, I was like well, I like my job, I'm not tired of it and let's see how it goes. And so that's kind of what I did. And in preparing for Paris, and so I had my son in July of 2022, was racing in March of 2023.

Speaker 2 14:22

Not super well, but what was there really starting like at the bottom? Because what happened for pregnancy clauses was there wasn't one, and then they created one in January of 2023, when it started in January of 2023. So my ranking that I'd left, like with Tokyo, like what I'd done up till Tokyo and in that season in 2021, was basically just like nope, like you're, you're at the bottom. So I had to start getting with world triathlon and I know we were going to talk about this because it's a bit different than like long course, um. So we're world triathlon racing. You need to collect points to get to the races and even be considered for the Olympics, and even within your country, you have to be in the top five to get a spot on the start list. So if it's a full start list, if it's not a full start list, there's all these nuances to it. But anyways, generally speaking, I had to get my ranking up, so I had to start from the bottom.

Speaker 2 15:28

So Paris was a goal and I actually got pretty close, but I didn't didn't end up qualifying as alternate, and so it was different from being from like a different perspective and the goal really like I mean, I was actually home because they gave us the option of being in Paris or just staying at home and being pretty much on call if, like, anything happened with the athletes, and I chose to stay here and be on call a lot of it because of, like, kimball and training and just in general.

Triathlon Racing Styles and Formats

Speaker 2 16:04

So I was cheering from here and trying to do my best to support the athletes and I think it was interesting because there's a lot of things with the Olympics that are nor like, um, like the media will hype things up in a not so positive way leading into the Olympics, and it happens every single like, every single lead up, so like for us, obviously for the Paris Olympics, it was the river and I think that's a hard thing because there's a lot of like the reality of the world right now is if you're in a city and in the middle of a city, like it's really hard to find like super clean water.

Speaker 2 16:48

So it's a challenge and I't know I still don't know what the best thing to do is, but obviously for them, for the athletes there that was the biggest like kind of like weight, like figuring out and for the U S athletes in particular I mean, it's so for the U S athletes in particular I think they all like didn't have their best, finest day in the individual races. However, the relay was incredible to see, because I also think like, wow, that was quite the rebound of like putting themselves all back together and the mixed relay is such an exciting race and so, like, so cool to be a part of, so to have like a three-way sprint at the at the end with the ladies was just like cool to see from the outside.

Speaker 2 17:36

But, um, it's fun like watching all the people who, like I've come to know over the years, like I didn't really have a problem not being there. It's just like watching and cheering from from a distance so that's so cool.

Speaker 1 17:52

So we've mentioned ITU and mixed relay and we haven't mentioned super try yet. But, um, so kind. So most of the athletes around here and, side note, you are in Cary, north Carolina. We're also based in Cary, north Carolina, so it's so cool to see, like on your Instagram feed. I'm like, oh, she's at Palm Park right now, like that's so cool, you know, like right around the corner. But so many of our athletes know triathlon as, say, ironman 70.3 or Ironman or sprint triathlon. There is, you know, some knowledge of Olympic distance triathlon, but what you're talking about is very different. So walk us through what I know. You mentioned points but, like, what is ITU style racing? What is mixed relay? Cause, that is my new favorite race, but every time I say it, people are like I don't know what you're talking about. So I don't know if it doesn't have like a sexy enough name. Um, and then let's touch on super tri, because I'm kind of excited to talk about that, okay, perfect.

Speaker 2 18:52

Uh, so world triathlon, the racing style I've done primarily, is draft legal. World triathlon, super tri, is also draft, legal, um, completely different than world triathlon, so it's like a little bit confusing. So I'll start with just world triathlon racing. And world triathlon racing is basically the pathway to the olympics. So, um, you have like, yeah, you have to get points to get on the start list. It is, it's different, um, obviously, from like non-draft, in the sense that you're able to so swim, pretty much similar like you're all starting off together. Um, our start, well, our start list, can basically be like 55 to 75 I think for the for the start, and everybody goes off together. The difference is, once you get to transition and going onto the bike, you can ride in bike packs so you can draft, you can be tactical.

Speaker 2 19:47

All of our courses are really technical. So, well, I guess they all vary in the technical aspect of it, but it'll be like for a 40K bike, which is about 22 miles, it'll be like eight to 10 laps. So, yeah, short circuits, lots of corners, and then when we get off, like the bike for transition is onto the run. If it's a 10k, it's four laps typically, and so that's like our standard way of racing and, um, by getting by doing well in races, you climb the rankings. There's basically three different levels of racing in world triathlon. So, like the like entry level would be continental cup, america's cup or european cups. You get to the secondary level, it's world cup and then the top level is world triathlon championship series. So that's like the rankings you're like aiming to be at as an athlete and the highest, the highest level. So when you get, when you have a world champion, it's coming from that world triathlon Championship Series ranking and that grand final aspect.

Speaker 2 20:55

And we don't only race Olympic distance. That's the distance that's in the Olympics. We also race sprints, we also race super sprints with World Triathlon now and we also race the mixed team relay relay, which you have mentioned a little bit, and it is relatively new in the sense that actually tokyo was the first time it's ever been in the olympics. So I think that's like part of it is that just like. It's just new, it's new, yeah. And the secondary part is there's like no exposure in the uS to world triathlon racing unless you like really are looking for it because unfortunately, like right now, it's not like broadcasted to a wide range of audiences you really have to like. I can't even I've said it so many times for interviews. I can't even remember this. It's embarrassing like the hold on. I'm gonna make a shout out yeah, what do you watch it on? Yes, trap on livetv.

Speaker 1 21:57

Okay, trap on livetv cool so bad, but I'm not even tommy to the rescue.

Speaker 2 22:04

That's how easy it is to see our sport. So, like for the mixed relay, it's incredible, because so I'm trying to. So for Tokyo it was. So it's two men and two women on a team and we all do a mini triathlon and tag off like literally high five each other. So for, like when I did it in Tokyo, the pattern was female male, female male.

Speaker 1 22:29

And you're doing the whole race right. This isn't like swim, tag out, bike you're doing the whole thing and then tagging out to the next person.

Speaker 2 22:37

Exactly so you do about a 300 meter swim, 7k bike and about a 2K run, and those distances can vary like slightly and then tag off to the next person. For Paris and I think beyond, I think for this year, they're doing the same. It's going to start out male, female, male female or not start out, but start out with a men and end with a woman. So I love it because, like it's so unpredictable and you have to have like four like very strong athletes and if something goes wrong it's really, it really is impactful and that like happens for us and like, basically, the shorter the distances or like repeat distances, the bigger the impact of like blunders or things that go wrong.

Speaker 2 23:23

And so, um, like for Paris, with the, I think one of the athletes crashed for the French team who was probably one of the not probably like a medal favorite, for sure. Yeah, and they ended up getting fourth, which actually ended up like to me getting for them. After what they kind of gone through, I was like, well, fourth is like very good, but obviously I don't know and then I think the course was wet, wasn't it that day?

Speaker 2 23:48

yeah, and also for, like the um women's individual too, it was wet, wasn't it that day? Yeah, and also for, like the women's individual too, it was wet. I can't remember for the men's it was wet, but but yeah, so that's really, that's the style that I do, that's the style I like, really love and I really hope to grow in in our area, in our country. But it's hard because, like I was saying, if you want to watch it, it's not super easy to find it, but also if you want to race it, it's not super easy. There's just very few races in in our country, or even in um like the americas. So um it, so it's. It's something that is the biggest thing. I hope changes over the next few years is just like having more races.

Speaker 1 24:36

So, if anyone, listening, wants to hold a race well funny, you should say that Cause we do have a racing company. So and that is one of my goals is to get that style because it's also family friendly. You know, I mean, obviously you have like your uh, high level athletes. That's a little bit of a different category. And then there's, you know, the rest of us who are like I want to try this and I can handle, like swimming back and forth a couple of times and you know, riding I've heard it called the parking lot triathlon, uh, which I don't know if that's nice or not, but like that's my jam, like I love to go fast and then be done and go home for lunch.

Speaker 2 25:16

So super try is definitely your, your style, because that literally happens like, yes, the Malibu triathlon that had um super try Malibu, that we've done in the past and we're thinking about everyone in the fires of malibu right now and sending out lots of love to them, yeah, yeah, um, that one's all done.

Speaker 2 25:37

In the parking lot like, oh my gosh okay, the parking lot um, and so like, for for those races it's even even shorter than, like, the mixed relay. It's the closest, I would say, to a mixed relay distance for each, like the individual athlete. What an individual athlete is doing in the mixed relay is really similar to super tribe. A super tribe yeah, it's a. It's a really really cool format and just like series in general and I know they're like trying to get in more into the US and it's just so unforgiving. Um, that like style, so like super try as a.

Speaker 2 26:19

Well, I don't know if I can explain it that well, but it it has a bit more to it than a traditional track one, in the sense that, like the formats are different. There's like ways to earn like shortcuts we call them short shoots in within the race. Um, it's kind of changed a little bit over the years, so I'm not exactly sure how like this coming like 2025 format will be, but in the past we've, like in the past couple years, we've been racing more as a team and like you can get like discipline points for like fastest, fastest swim, swim, fastest, bike, fastest run, and that's kind of what earns you the short shoot or earns your team a short shoot that can then go to an athlete.

Speaker 1 26:59

It's a bit more like. It's almost like gamified in a way.

Speaker 2 27:04

Gamified? Yeah, yeah, it is, and and so like the formats that they've done in the past are kind of like enduro eliminator and so like the enduro was my favorite and it's like swim, bike run, swim, bike run, swim, bike run. There's no breaks in between, you just go straight from running back to the swim. So it's like you carry your goggle, like after you get out of those first two swims, you're like carrying your goggles and you're like swimsuit still and putting it on as you're like running because you're transitioning this time from like the run back into the water again. So like it.

Speaker 2 27:40

Really I love this format because I think it really finds the best triathlete in the in the race because, yeah, there's no room for error, there's no room for weaknesses. You have's no room for weaknesses. You have to be good at swimming, biking, running and your transitions too. Because even as, even though it is draft legal because of all the moving pieces to it, it starts to like there's not so many like big groups that just you start together, you stay together, Like it really breaks that apart and breaks it down. So, yeah, I love it. Also don't love it on a bad day, but I'm a big fan of it and like we were initially talking about, is like it's all done in such a small like space and area, and I think that's really exciting for what? Like how it can be repeated in other places and done, because the amount, like I think, logistically I I don't know, but I'm sure you know for putting on many races.

Speaker 2 28:38

It's logistically challenging, yeah, to put on a big race or to put on really any race at all, just because of, like, shutting down roads, finding the like water make it yeah and putting all the moving pieces together. So at least in my head, this one, this one is a little more manageable in a lot of ways yeah, yeah that.

Speaker 1 28:57

I saw the uh super try. I saw the um london race where you were third and um that look, it just looks brutal well, it's not nice, it's not like.

Finding Joy in Competitive Triathlon

Speaker 2 29:11

Oh, like, bringing in like professional athletes to like nice, clean, paved, like roads, like it's like chunks of roads are missing in London. Yeah, like it really. I mean to admit, as an athlete, you're kind of like, well, I wish this was a little more like flowy and nice, but it does. It just shows that like you really don't need the ideal scenario to like have a good race, have an exciting race and yeah, again, that one's done in like Canary Wharf, which is like pretty populated in London, but the amount of like imprint it puts on like the city is like so minimal.

Speaker 1 29:54

Yeah, yeah, fascinating. Well, one of the things, as we're talking about racing, it's making me think of how I've seen you race so many times and what sticks out to me is that you probably have some of the best sportsmanship I've ever seen and embody positivity and are just so gracious. Um, what, what do you think has really shaped that Like? Do you feel that way? Or is there something that's happened in your journey that has met like you just look to be so thankful to be out there racing, and I think sometimes people are just like, oh, I play second, like woe is me, I'm terrible, and that's not to say anything badly about those folks, but it just seems like you're just so joyful when you're out there and I honor that about you. So how do you think we all can embody what you are really, what you have really embodied with sportsmanship and positivity?

Speaker 2 30:58

well. Thank you very much. Um, that's a really big compliment. I think like I mean obviously, like a lot has been shaped by like my parents and, I think, like the coaches that I've had also like having a bigger focus on, like trying to get the most out of myself but not ever making it like my self-worth or like have any impact on like my day or like the value of me as like a human, and I feel like in the I've always kind of felt that way, like I was. I guess my general like theme of like sport and life for me has always been like trying to get better but never really having like a ceiling of like expectations in a way. Yeah, and I think that's benefited me in like one, like being able to achieve a lot and then two, never really feeling like like I feel like I haven't met my goals, but it'll be like it's not like well, I haven't met my goals forever. It's like I didn't meet my goals today and I think that helps with like not being.

Speaker 2 32:05

I mean I I've been sad, I've cried after races, like don't get me wrong, but I think it's just always thinking like there's another opportunity to be better, there's another opportunity to execute in a more, in a way that is cleaner, I suppose. And I guess, like the other side of that is like with my competitors or like people who I'm racing against, I would say I'm really competitive. I'm probably more competitive with like Tommy than I am with anyone like on the race, in the sense of like training wise, I'm like like I always like wow, the thing that make me get the most out of myself is like put me in a group ride or put me with Tommy and I'm like, for sure, I'm going to like try to.

Speaker 2 32:53

I'll get to the point of like pretty, pretty dang tired, but I think with there was a shift, right Like when I first started triathlon, because because I don't think I ever like planned to be a professional and kind of like fell into it in a way, like for when I was racing at division one like it was the highest level I knew at the time and I was just like again like incrementally trying to get better and trying to learn what.

Speaker 2 33:19

I was doing and how to be be a better like athlete. And then when I got to triathlon, it was new again and I was trying to learn the sport. And then when I got to triathlon, it was new again and I was trying to learn the sport. And then when it got to like a shift in that the main thing I felt when I first was standing on the start lines it's just like, oh man, like I'm, like there are so much better than me, like they're, like I put them, I put the other athletes, especially at the highest level when I was so new to it, like kind of on a pedestal of like them versus like me, not in a competitive way, but just in like kind of an isolating way. And after I don't really know what the like shift was. But then I started just being kind and trying to make friends, just being kind and trying to make friends. And then racing became a lot more enjoyable because I was like trying to get the most out of myself but racing with people I like enjoyed I like.

Speaker 2 34:15

I mean there was there's so many good memories from training and racing, but like one that just sticks out in this is like I was super nervous before Tokyo and I'd had like really like, like usually I'm a pretty strong swimmer.

Transitioning Athlete Shares Coaching Experience

Speaker 2 34:31

I had like pretty bad swim swims leading into the race in Tokyo for my like two the only two races I'd done in like 2021 before that and I was we were warming up and I was with Jess Laremont and Summer Rapoport and, I think, georgia Taylor Brown and we were just we're like so two of them are British athletes and then me and Summer Americans, and we were just doing starts together, like literally warm up for the race and like it was working out perfectly.

Speaker 2 35:03

We were like getting on each other's feet, like doing the acceleration, and then in the race, like I think that like calm, like having done that with them had like calmed me a bit to the point where, in the race, like the gun went off, drove in the water and I was straight on feet, like Jess's feet, or I think it was Jess's feet and it was so easy, like it was so easy and smooth to the point where I was like I remember thinking there must be like another pack to the left of us, like there's no way this has been this clean and this well, like executed, but it was. And then, like in the race, it's like no, I don't know it's. They don't have to be like Americans for me to feel like teammates in a race and when it comes to the run, like I'm trying to like obviously you're trying to beat everybody and on the bike I'm trying to like drop everyone like it's not like a passive mindset.

Speaker 2 35:57

It's very engaged and competitive, but I think, just like the overall enjoyment of like being with people, knowing like if I'm working with other athletes on the course, like that's only going to benefit like me and whoever like I'm working well with maybe not everyone on the course, but like like this, at least a small group and it. I think those are the things you're going to remember right like I'm not going to remember my places for very long.

Speaker 2 36:24

People forget, like what I've achieved. Like people will forget what I've achieved. The athletes I'm not going to remember my places for very long. People forget, like what I've achieved. Like people will forget what I've achieved. The athletes I'm like recruiting have no idea what I've done. Like right now, from my job that shifted Like and I think I've always like known that wasn't the most important and so like my like I think for your question that I rambled on about again, sorry, it's just like what to tell other people and it's really like focus on the process.

Speaker 2 36:56

Have like don't don't focus on the outcome. That's uncontrollable. You can't control how some, what someone else's day is like I can't control. Like I mean I guess you can control if you crash, but like there's things that happen in races that are unpredictable, like prior to it. And the thing I love about triathlon is it's so multifaceted that it's really you must be having a terrible day for it to have gone. Like nothing can be identified as something good, yeah, and on the other side, like it would have to be a stellar day to just look at and be like gosh, I crushed it.

Speaker 2 37:32

Like there's some races I've won and I've been like nah, like like not that I got lucky, but it was like well, that really could have gone a completely different way Like yeah, um, and so I think, just focusing on the process, bringing in your friends and family, I used to be like oh, I don't want to see my family before races, I don't want to engage with, like like don't come to the hotel before I race, like after the race, great.

Speaker 2 37:56

And then it like, thankfully it shifted, and especially now when I think of like my dad and passing up, like I'm so glad that mindset shifted because my dad passed away really unexpectedly, very early, like he's 60 and so, like the fact that I had, like 2018, 2019, even in 2020, we ended up staying with my mom and dad all through COVID, like all that extra time with him him because I wasn't so focused or so serious about triathlon that I missed life and I missed time with him or like with anybody really. So I think that's like, yeah, that's my biggest takeaway.

Speaker 1 38:38

Yeah, that's really cool. So you mentioned and and you are now retired officially, right? Yes, Is that weird to say?

Speaker 2 38:48

Uh, yes and no, like really I felt ready and it's like a huge reason I retired was at one point I thought, well, I'd be pretty good at long course. I still think I'd be pretty good at long course, but I'm like I don't have any goals and until I have goals again, um, I'm ready for a shift. And then obviously I'm still very involved and went straight from retirement right into like a new, new project and a new thing with coaching and starting a team here and using, like my experiences from, specifically, world Triathlon.

Speaker 1 39:23

So tell us about that. Like what? How are you involved? What's the name of the company? Like, who are you recruiting? Let's tell us about that. Like what? How are you involved? What's the name of the company? Like, who are you recruiting? Let's tell us the things.

Speaker 2 39:31

Yeah, so it's a USA triathlon program called OXO Collective.

Speaker 2 39:35

It's new, it's starting, it's based here in Cary but with the partnership of the US Performance Center in Charlotte and so we have resources through that there.

Speaker 2 40:09

So like there's the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and while I would say it's not exactly like that, like we'll be like off campus, but having like resources like that so sports meds, strength and conditioning, nutrition services, mental like sports psychology services so it's really really cool for the athletes and like a huge part of why this program evolved is a lot based off of like my experiences.

Speaker 2 40:16

So when I got recruited for the collegiate recruitment program, like they brought me into a daily training environment right away where I had a coach. I was with other athletes who were also part of the collegiate recruitment program, really like learning the sport and I thought that accelerated my growth and track like world triathlon racing so fast because of just having that like it's development, because we're obviously new and learning a ton of things, but it's at like a high level in an environment that's like have like really supported and I always felt so grateful for that and over the years it's kind of like fluctuated, with USA triathlon like doing that, but in the past couple of years it has become less centralized so that more so they're still recruiting and actually Tommy's in charge of it.

Speaker 2 41:06

He's the talent ID assistant manager and so or development manager sorry, I get a cycle wrong all the time but so he's actually recruiting the athletes and then we don't necessarily need to say like hey, like you need to be here, but it's another option for athletes to be at and so basically they come to carry, I'm, I'm coaching.

Speaker 2 41:29

We have an assistant coach.

Speaker 2 41:30

Tommy is like he has his like usa triathlon job with like recruiting and with development, but he's also going to be heavily tied with the program and then we'll work with the strength and conditioning plus the US Performance Center.

Speaker 2 41:42

So it's like a really good opportunity for athletes to be really facilitated in learning and like our goal is for all these athletes to like graduate from the program. So the idea is not to coach them for decades, it's more to be like like two to four years or some somewhere in that window, and when they start becoming like money earning professionals, it's like okay, you're probably like ready to move on and yeah, and so like it's a multi-faceted kind of program in the sense that we're working on like developing it here, bringing in the athletes here, helping them grow, but then also like helping facilitate that transition to another, another group, another area and like. So, like I said, it's all based off like my experience in the daily training environment with the collegiate recruitment program, but also that's how Joel Filio, my coach, has run, and I just think being in person with your coach for like majority of the year is so beneficial because, like I don't know, do you do online coaching as well?

Speaker 1 42:47

We do online and group coaching, so in in person at tech actually.

Speaker 2 42:52

Yeah, I knew you did that, it's so meaningful and I'm so glad you're saying this.

Speaker 1 42:56

I didn't prompt her to say any of this, but I, even on a uh, I mean, I gosh, I I don't even know if I would call us amateur. Like, apologies to all the our athletes who are listening, but like, we do this for fun. You know we're we're we're not paid to do it, but we want it to be an opportunity where you learn how to swim, bike and run and do it better, so that you feel more confident and can take these and you know strength, train and do your mobility and your nutrition and your sports psychology, so that you can embrace these tools and bring them throughout a lifetime of being active and creating that community. Like making friends, like, like you had mentioned, you know, like, hey, I started to make some friends and it made it so much more enjoyable.

Speaker 2 43:41

Like for like in person versus not in person.

Speaker 2 43:45

Like obviously, like not very many people can pick up their lives and come to be in person with, but like the amount of like mental load it takes off and like logistical, like energy that you put in as, like an individual, when you're just trying to control, like your, your schedule and your life.

Speaker 2 44:04

And like for me, as a like as a mom, my life completely changed from when I was in the daily training environment and I had to relearn, or try to relearn.

Building Legacy and Racing Mindset

Speaker 2 44:16

I don't even think I can say I successfully did it by the end by like retiring, but like how to create successful systems with my new life. And it's funny because Harry, obviously I think is like the perfect place for daily training environment, hence why we're bringing it in here, because it has everything you need and all the resources and more. But like as me as an individual, I struggled without having my team and my coach here, because it was doing facilitating everything on my own and being a mom and like I'm the type of person who like really thrives on like someone being like OK, you're going to swim at 8 am. You're going to ride your bike at 11. You're going to go run in the afternoon and having like other people. I like love having other people to like meet up with and, like you said, the social aspect of just having other people do the same thing because people are like.

Speaker 2 45:10

I think one of the common misconceptions of like an elite athlete or professional athlete is like you're motivated 100% of the time and I'm like, no, no, no, like I struggle as much as any person of like not wanting wanting to get out the door, but when you have people to hold you accountable and like a team or a schedule, like it really takes that load off that, so that those days that are probably the worst, you're not just sitting home being like when am I going to go out. You're like okay, we're meeting at this time, so yeah.

Speaker 1 45:39

Yeah, that's really cool. So you're saying you're human too. I am human. How about that? Um, so what would you? What do you want your legacy to be, as either a professional athlete or a coach, or a mom or a wife, or what does that? I know that's kind of like a massive question.

Speaker 2 45:59

It's a massive question especially when you're like as a mom and a wife too.

Speaker 1 46:05

And let's see so Kimball's two right, yeah, two and a half, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 46:10

Yeah, I think it's really exactly what you were mentioning before. I really appreciate that. It seems like maybe my legacy is heading that way of just being someone who brings something to other people while chasing my own goals, want athletes to achieve similar things to me in a similar way, in the sense of knowing they're valuable as a human outside of racing and not, and knowing that we're really just trying to help foster them being the best version of themselves, like on the field and off the field of play. So I think that's probably the biggest thing, and just as a mom and a wife is probably not that much different than just like trying to be the best version of myself every day and knowing that like one bad day doesn't really take away from that, but always like living in gratitude and yeah, just working towards being better.

Speaker 1 47:26

That's amazing. That's beautiful, katie. Any last uh tips for folks or any last shout outs or things that you want to mention?

Speaker 2 47:38

I think my biggest tip is to like use an explorative mindset for racing. I think so many people think like races determine, like success or fail, like a test, and I just feel like when you open it up to like, I always use the phrase like let's see what I can do, versus like I have to do this, and I feel like when you open it up to like let's see what I can do in a race, it opens it up to like so many more possibilities without the pressure of like I need to get age group podium or I'm like not like this is like a bad race, because I think races shouldn't be really defined by the outcome. They should be defined by like those other goals that you have within the race. So like those 10 or whatever, how. Like those other goals that you have within the race, so like those 10 or whatever, how many, what you want to write out before the race. They think that's like a big, like the big piece of it.

Speaker 2 48:30

And also like never like undervalue consistency, because that's probably the most important. Like consistency, keeping things simple, um, as as like a professional, those are probably the biggest things that my coach like, really like I don't know, I wouldn't even say he harped on, but he made possible with my training and also like my development. It was just about like consistently putting in the work, like nothing was overvalued, nothing, I mean, I don't know. I think things were undervalued actually but like nothing, not no.

Speaker 2 49:04

Huge emphasis was put on, like any one thing one race anything. So it was just like kind of just working towards the, the bigger goals day in and day out.

Future Races and Relay Strategy

Speaker 1 49:17

Yeah, that is so cool. And where can people find your sort of? Was it OXO, oxo? Yeah, and spell it for us, because that's what I'm struggling. It's not OXO like the spoon company or like oh yeah, it's A-U-X-O.

Speaker 2 49:35

It's Greek and it means gross, and so that was the big reason that it came about. I can't actually take credit for the name. It was our high performance general manager. He came up with it.

Speaker 2 49:46

Um, but I loved it because, like, the whole emphasis on our group is just like growing as an, growing as an athlete and human and setting them up with like the skills to do that. And so we are based in Cary. Um, there's there's like the press release that has a little bit more on the group and the time standards, and we do have an instagram that I am, um, not thriving on putting content up at the time, but we our official like launch of having the group in person is more in the may time frame, like right now we're just kind of like, um, a athletes are here but a lot, like a few more, are going to move in like the May June timeframe.

Speaker 1 50:28

So you're targeting like 18 to 25, right.

Speaker 2 50:32

Yeah, and like right now, the athletes who are part of the group are more in the 20 to 23 age range and that's probably like the sweet spot with like some of the outliers like younger and older. So, um, yeah, that's, that's kind of our group.

Speaker 1 50:49

I love it. Awesome. Well, katie, it has been an honor to have you on. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and your tips and your wisdom and um, hopefully we'll be doing some local uh races now with you know, planting the seed on like mixed relay and some cool stuff. Um. So, yeah, thanks again, katie, and thanks everybody else for listening.

Speaker 2 51:15

Oh my gosh, I would love that for the race, wise, and yes, we would definitely stay in contact and thank you for having me Awesome.