Foster follows family triathlon tradition

Last year, senior Sarah Foster consecutively swam the length of sixteen football fields, biked the length of Sunset Boulevard and ran seven times the width of USC’s campus during the USA Triathlon 2015 Olympic Distance National Championships. Foster completed the triathlon with a time of 3:01.24,
and will be doing another one this August.

“My favorite part of a triathlon is the three different aspects of the sport: running, biking and swimming. Every triathlete has a specialty, which makes the sport very competitive. It takes a lot of skill to perform well in all three parts of the sport, therefore every triathlete must have a lot of dedication to the sport,” Foster said.

Foster has been inspired to compete in triathlons by her club swim coach, high school coach and, especially, her family. She comes from a family of talented and dedicated athletes, with her dad, grandfather, uncle and cousins also being avid triathletes. Foster’s father has supported her by training alongside her and helping her build a solid training schedule.

“Sarah’s love of exercise and incredible work ethic have contributed greatly to her success as an athlete,” Foster’s father, Kirk Foster said.

Foster works out ten to twelve times a week for a total of thirteen to fifteen hours. She switches off between swimming, biking, and running and bricks, which is biking immediately followed by a run. Sometimes, she will even do a double, meaning that she swims in the morning and runs at night. Vigorous and constant training has allowed Foster to figure out the best ways to maintain her health and strength.

“I have learned how to manage my time well, work through pain and find what works best for me,” Foster said. “I try out new schedules and nutrition to see what works best for my performance.”

With such a physically intense sport, Foster has encountered multiple obstacles. One of these
involved the open water swim portion of competitions. This is when a triathlete must swim through a
body of water without any lanes or boundaries for a fairly large distance.

“I was first hesitant of doing a triathlon because of the open water swim. Though the more I thought about my swimming ability, I realized there was no need to worry,” Foster said. “The key in open water swimming is to not panic.”

Foster has competed in a variety of different triathlon types, including the sprint and Olympic distances. A sprint triathlon is considered to be a shorter type in which participants swim, bike, and run about half of the distance that they would in an Olympic. However, these are by no means easy as triathletes still cover about twenty miles. Olympic distance triathlons include are in between the lengths of sprint and iron man distances.

Foster plans to be involved with triathlons during college and beyond. For those who aspire to
finish a triathlon, Foster offers some advice.

“Make sure to have plenty of nutrition and fluids even when you are not thirsty,” Foster said. “Never give up and even in the last leg of the race, do not walk!”