Susan was born June 17, 1969 in Long Beach, Calif and with a father as Navy Captain later lived in Springfield, Va.; Panama City, Fla.; and Honolulu, Hawaii. She went on to earn a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1992 and then a master’s in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1994. She worked for Lockheed Martin Aerospace Corporation from 1994-2003 and joined the company again in 2019 and has since retired. Susan is married to Tim, also a Lockheed engineer, and the couple has three children, Sydney, Elysia and Keona.
Elite Triathlon Career:
Susan was working toward becoming an astronaut when her success at triathlon convinced her to give the Olympics a try, a decision that earned her the honor of being the first U.S. triathalete to win an Olympic medal, winning the bronze at the 2004 games in Athens. After the Athens games, Susan appeared on the Today Show and Late Night with David Letterman among other interviews and events.
However, her journey to the bronze was hard fought. After winning four races as an elite triathalete in 1998, she was forced to miss the first half of the 1999 season after being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. One month after her return, she won the ITU North American Regional Championship. In 2000, while trying to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympic team she found out she was pregnant. Sydney, aptly named, later joined her on the 2004 medal stand in Athens. Her other children were also gifted with names full of meaning. Elysia, given a Greek name, was born in 2006 and Keona, Hawaiian for "Gods Gracious Gift" was born in 2010.
Personal Coaching:
Susan has always enjoyed being active, and in 2005 started coaching to share that love with others and has successfully coached triathletes to National wins, World Champ qualifications and personal bests. As she's gotten older she's found that staying active has become even more important, but that also longer recovery time is needed and the risk of injury has increased. Learning just how important the strength training is in staying healthy, she's become a strong advocate of working with athletes beyond cardio training to develop and maintain strength, balance and flexibility. She's excited to share my knowledge with older athletes, particularly women, to promote a healthy lifestyle and keep us healthy and aging well!
Additional Amateur and College Athletic Achievements:
- In 1996, was the fastest U.S. amateur and won the 25-29 age group at the ITU World Championship in Cleveland, Ohio.
- Finished fifth in the 25-29 age group and had the fastest bike split at her first Half Ironman in Gulf Coast Triathlon in Panama City, Fla on 1996.
- Was selected the Female Amateur Triathlete of the Year by Triathlete Magazine in 1996.
- Swam at the University of Alabama 1987-1992 and was Team Captain her senior year. S
- et the Junior National record for the 200m butterfly in 1984.
- Still holds the Hawaiian record for 13-14 AG in the 200m butterfly.