As I mentioned earlier this week on SM, I will be posting some of my favorite photos from my racing career over the next few weeks. I’m going to divide them up in swim/bike/run categories as well as a more general/miscellaneous category at the end. Over the last couple weeks, I tried to consolidate all the photos I have from various places: phones, computer, google, etc. into one place to go through them all. In terms of volume, I have substantially more photos from the back half of my career simply because cellphones became cameras. Prior to that, you needed an actual camera so most shots I have are limited to races where someone sent me the shots they took.

In choosing the photos, I looked beyond just the quality of the photo itself and have tried to choose photos that have a personal memory to me and a story behind it. With that said, here are the photos I have chosen of the swim. They are listed in chronological order as opposed to any sort of ranking system.

And here they are:

This photo is from the swim exit of Ironman Hawai’i in 2004. It was my first time racing Kona and the only time I raced as an age grouper. A couple things stick out to me in this photo. One is the fact that there is no swimskin of any sort. I think some professionals wore some over-the-kit suits, but speedos/swimsuits were more of the norm. The second thing that sticks out to me are the race numbers. Back then, they would use these sponge numbers that you had to get in transition that morning. It was a pretty laborious task for the volunteers so props to them for doing all that work.

I don’t remember my exact swim time, but it was 1:04:xx and probably just inside the top 500 so I had some work to do on the bike and run. I ended up finishing 3rd in my AG and was the first American age group finisher. The two athletes that finished ahead of me in my AG all turned pro, as did I ,and we raced against each other many times, particularly Joe Jeuland of France who came in 2nd in the AG.

Ironman Canada, Penticton 2008. Photo Credit: Sherry Daerr

This photo was taken by my Aunt Sherry at the start of Ironman Canada in Penticton (2008). Ironman Canada was set to return to Penticton in 2020 (postponed for COVID) after spending 2013-2019 in Whistler. The main reason I chose this photo is because it’s a start line that I almost missed. I had been in a rather lengthy porta potty line and had to sprint to the starting line. I got up to the start line with less than 30 seconds until the gun went off. No need to warm up because my heart rate was already 100% of max. Over the years, I had a recurring dream about missing the swim start and it’s probably because of this race.

One other thing you will notice is the rope above the swim pack. This race had a waist/chest deep water start and in order to hold the line and avoid any creeping they would have the rope drawn across the starting line. Then at the last second, they would pull the rope just as the starting gun/cannon was fired.

This was a big breakthrough race for me as I finished in the top five for the first time ever.

Challenge Wanaka 2009. Photo Credit: Sherry Daerr

This photo was taken at Challenge Wanaka (Ironman distance) in January of 2009 (Wanaka, New Zeland). Challenge had originally chosen Queenstown to host an IM distance race, but ended up moving it across the pass to Wanaka. It is one of the most stunning locations I have ever visited, racing or otherwise.

The night before the race it rained heavily and transition the next morning was essentially flooded. However, the morning of the race was perfect: no rain and completely calm. We started the race in those conditions, but then the wind kicked up and the second half of the swim was extremely rough. In the final 1000 meters or so my swim cap came off and my hair was long enough that I was really struggling to sight at all. I lost the pack that I was in by 20-30 seconds and I vowed from that day forward to never race with long hair. I broke that vow late in my career, but I would tie my hair back just in case. That was the only race I ever lost a swim cap in.

Ironman Wisconsin 2012 with Blake Becker

This shot is from Ironman Wisconsin 2012 shortly after exiting the water and getting ready to run up the helix. The transition is at the top and it required you to run up the parking garage ramps. It is definitely one of the hardest transitions and adds an extra dynamic to the race that makes it quite unique. I chose this photo primarily because it includes Blake Becker, a Madison native. Blake was, and is still is, one of my closest friends and we did countless races and training camps together going back to 2006.

I raced Ironman Wisconsin a few times over the years and often ended up there because of some unforeseen circumstance. In this particular year, I had this freak foot injury occur in June causing me to withdraw from Ironman New York (a one-time event in 2012) and shift my focus to Ironman Wisconsin instead. I never put together a complete race in Madison, but I always liked racing there. I especially enjoyed spending the day after the race in the beer garden of The Great Dane in downtown Madison.

In this particular year I finished 4th, my highest placing of three IM Wisconsin races (2009, 2012,2017).

Ironman Texas 2013. Photo Credit: Sherry Daerr

I grew up in Houston, Texas and the closest thing I ever had to a hometown Ironman was when Ironman Texas was added in 2011 in The Woodlands (which ironically now is the hometown of my brother and his family). The swim was a one loop course with the final 800+ meters down a narrow canal. As a result, spectators could sometimes only be a few feet away which is why this photo came out so clearly. Ironman Texas took place on the third weekend in May from 2011-2016 before it moved to April. It was always hot, but in 2013 it was HOT. When I walked outside at 5:00 a.m. to drive to the race site it was already over 80 degrees. The swim was the only cool part of the day.

Additionally, this was the first time I was given bib number one as you can see on my swim cap. The previous year’s champion, Jordan Rapp, had not come back to race so I was the highest returning finisher (2nd in 2012).

This photo was taken during the swim at Ironman Hawai’i. I have no idea when it was taken, but it was most likely late in the swim since I’m probably directing behind one person (why I’m looking forward) as opposed to a big pack. This swim itself wasn’t very memorable, but the transition was.

As I exited the swim, I rushed through transition trying to get out on the course before the group I had come out with. I managed to have the fastest T1 of all the pro field.

However,

As I started the ride I made my way up to the Queen K and I couldn’t help but notice that my race kit felt EXTREMELY tight. It was then that I realized I had never taken my swimskin off. I had to pull over and make a quick change, losing all the time (and more) that I had gained from a speedy T1.

I finished the 2014 race in 25th place.

A few days before Ironman Canada, Whistler, 2016.

This photo was taken before a training swim at Lost Lake in Whistler, BC. In 2015, Jenny (pictured) and Rob Ferris moved to Boulder. Jenny started swimming at the Colorado Athletic Club shortly after getting into town. She showed up to Masters swim session one day; I was leading the lane and shortly after starting a main set I could easily see she was substantially faster than me and suggested she take over leading. Turns out she was an All-American swimmer from the University of Minnesota as well as an Olympic Trials swimmer (200 free).

Jenny and Rob became great friends and in 2016 Rob raced Race Across America (a nonstop cross country bike race) and after they came back to town, I suggested they come with me and Brooke to Ironman Canada. After a day of travel we walked to this lake to do a short training swim. Jenny was a medley swimmer in addition to being a mid and distance freestyler. In this photo, we were comparing breaststroke techniques. I’ll let you all decide who has the superior one.

Endurance Corner Tucson Camp, 2017. Photo Credit: Jeff Fejfar.

This photo was taken after a training session during the Endurance Corner Tucson Camp in 2017 (University of Arizona Rec Center). If you look at my left hand, you’ll notice that my middle finger has a splint on it. A few weeks prior I went for a morning run and it was a bit cold (in Boulder) so I was wearing compression socks. After finishing the run, I was pushing the sock off my foot and all of a sudden there was this odd feeling in my hand. I looked down and my finger was drooping and I couldn’t move it. It didn’t hurt really, but I knew this wasn’t good.

I went down to the Urgent Care and they splinted my finger. Apparently, I had torn a ligament in my finger and if I didn’t keep it splinted for six weeks I might risk having to have surgery. So over the next six weeks I devised a number of different splints to keep my finger in place. Swimming was the most complicated as I had to use a splint and PT tape to keep it in place. It might not seem like much, but not having full strength in my middle finger affected my swimming pretty noticeably and even after it healed it took quite some time to get back to full strength.

Moral of the story, be careful when you take off your socks.

Ironman Texas, 2018. Photo Credit: Aaron Palaian

This photo was taken as I exited the swim at Ironman Texas in 2018. The photographer, Aaron Palaian, was a Houston race director that I had gotten to know when he ran the Escape from Kemah triathlon, which I first raced in 2011 and continued to race for a couple more years. While it’s not pictured, I’m going to allude to the 2013 edition of the Kemah race.

In 2013, I was looking for a race to do prior to Ironman Texas and decided to fly down and race. The night before the race there was a torrential thunderstorm and around 4:00 a.m. we got an email saying the race was on, but the bike was cancelled. The race would only be the swim and run. I actually had a pretty good race for me for a non-bike OLY distance, but a bunch of ITU dudes dusted me pretty solidly. I think I finished 9th.

What I actually remember about it was that I packed my bike, built my bike, didn’t ride my bike, repacked my bike and then the airline lost my bike. It was a high drama weekend for my bike with zero miles logged.

On another note, a couple months ago Kevin Collington and I were running and we started talking about that race and I didn’t even realize he had won that race so here’s a belated Congrats to Kevin for taking the 2013 Kemah title.

Marathon Squared 2020. Photo Credit: Scott Flathouse

This photo was taken in Lake Conroe during the Marathon Squared event in October 2020. In June of 2020, Tim Floyd (of Magnolia Masters in The Woodlands, TX) reached out to me to ask if I would be interested in doing an event in October he had been wanting to put together. Tim was already planning to put on a small 10K open water event, but he pitched the idea of adding a marathon run afterwards. In swimming, the 10K is called the “marathon,” thus you have the Marathon Squared. I was intrigued by the idea and told him I would do it despite the fact that I hardly swam at all for the past three months because of pool shutdowns.

Over the summer, I really struggled to find pool time to train and it was really only in the final 3 weeks that I was able to do some swims beyond about 3500 meters. Nevertheless, I actually ended up feeling pretty good in the swim and ironically, the run was where I struggled, despite being well prepared for that leg of the race.

While this was technically not a swim-bike-run triathlon, I consider this to be my last race as a professional triathlete. I did my first race in San Angelo Texas in August of 2000 and my last race in Conroe, Texas in October of 2020. Twenty years well spent.

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To close, here are some additional photos that I really like:

Race Start, World’s Toughest Triathlon. Auburn, California 2004. Photo Credit: Jason Daerr

Ironman Florida, 2006. Photo Credit: Sherry Daerr.

Ironman Florida exit, 2011. Photo Credit: Sherry Daerr

Colorado Athletic Club, 2013?? Photo Credit: Erin Hansel.

Jeff Fejfar and I selfie. Endurance Corner Tucson Camp 2013

Sprint training, Magnolia Masters Training Camp, 2016 in The Woodlands, Texas. Photo Credit: Tim Floyd.

Fiesta Americana in Cozumel, Mexico, 2018. Photo Credit: Brooke Daerr.