The Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon Team enables women of all ages and athletic abilities to participate in and complete triathlon races.
Carla Westerman/Photo courtesy
Cycling, running and swimming over any measurable distance prove to be challenging workouts. Put all three together in one race and you have an event that would push the limits of any body. But for a women’s triathlete team in the Roaring Fork Valley, this challenge can be overcome with strangers-turned-sisters and lots of adaptive training.
“We’re good at teaching people the sport. And we teach them to believe in themselves, that they have more than they think they have to give,” said head coach Carla Westerman, 59. “We teach them to have fun in what they do and that the Process of ‘Becoming’ is much better than ‘Being part of it’. The process of becoming a triathlete is better than being a triathlete.”
The Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon team was founded in 2000 by Judy Haynes and Nancy Reinisch to provide women in western Colorado an opportunity to reconnect with the athleticism they may have experienced in their youth. But over the years, the team’s mission evolved to introduce women of all athletic abilities to triathlon.
The team generally consists of about 25 returning athletes and 25 freshmen, or “babes” as they are affectionately known on the team.
Training begins in mid-May, with the women completing two weekly training sessions as a team, in addition to doing whatever they can in their free time. Coaches teach the team about road running, trail running, mountain running, track running, road and triathlon cycling, as well as swimming in a pool and then open water swimming.
The summer of training culminates on the third Sunday in August at the Outdoor Diva Sprint Triathlon in Longmont. It consists of a half-mile swim, an 11.8-mile bike ride, and a 3-mile run around Union Reservoir.
Team member Audrey Imhoff celebrates after completing the open water swim of a race. Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon Team/Photo courtesy
Last month the team celebrated its 24th season and 45 team members took part in the race – some placing first in their division.
The age range among athletes last season was 17 to 68, but the team has recruited women up to age 73 in the past.
“It’s not just about the fastest or the slowest – that’s not really what we’re concerned about. We have room for everyone,” Westerman said. “And we will make it as enjoyable as possible and do everything we can to get you over the finish line.”
Westerman, along with co-head coach Sharma Phillips and a cadre of six assistant coaches, have developed a program to prepare the team for the Longmont race since 2018, when she took over as head coach.
They focus on meeting women where they are and challenging them to be their best and never sell themselves short as a competitor or teammate. Westerman himself started with the team at the age of 40 without being able to look back on a successful sporting career. But the team met her where she was and taught her the tools to be successful.
“I learned to swim at the ripe old age of 45 (or 46), completed my first sprint distance and was thrilled. Passionate about sport, enthusiastic about the team. I guess it filled a void in my life,” she said. “I always had this image in my head of the athlete I wanted to be, but didn’t really know how to get there until I joined the team.”
For assistant coach Sydney Miller, 29, joining the team was a natural next step. She swam in college, did CrossFit for a while, and trained in triathlon at Colorado Mesa University. But after moving to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2020, she was looking for a community.
COVID-19 put a damper on her plans – then she became a mother twice – but last season she was finally able to join the team.
“It was just physically good for me, emotionally good for me and mentally good for me to be part of a team like that,” she said. “I was around so many women who had the same mindset, the same goals and the same attitude to improve themselves and help each other.”
She coached swimming for the team and said that coaching a group of women ages 17 to 68 was very different than coaching a group of 18 to 22-year-old college athletes. For one thing, she said, everyone wanted to be there.
The athletes Lisa Fitzwilliams and Linda Rosenmerkel after a race. Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon Team/Photo courtesy
“Coaching was so easy because the team wanted to learn, and they soaked it all up so much,” she said. “Every practice I thought, ‘Okay, what can we do better?’ Can you look at this? How can I improve this?’”
However, there were challenging moments when a particular exercise didn’t work or a lingering injury made a set difficult. Miller said that happened quite often on the team, but reorienting her team member toward adaptive movement or emphasizing the importance of rest prevented injuries.
“Sometimes you just need someone to sense your frustration and just listen and take it in,” she said. “(To address the issue) was either changing the set so they could still participate or just letting them rest and letting them know and reassure them that resting is OK. “It’s not going to hold you back. It won’t distract you from your goal. It just reminds them that it’s frustrating and difficult. But the more we take care of it now, the faster we can get around the problem and get you to the end goal.”
It was difficult for one team member to learn the importance of rest. Sherrie Setterberg, 66, has played for the team for 12 years, serves as an assistant coach for the team and shows no signs of slowing down.
She has been competing in triathlons for about 34 years, shortly after the birth of her oldest child. In high school, she said her sport was synchronized swimming, noting that she was a teenager when Title IX was passed.
“I would say triathlon is what drives me, it gives me the reason to push through and I love it for that.” I just love it. I really can’t imagine stopping,” she said.
She plans her race schedule in January each year – entry prices are lower if you register early. And she even qualified for the national championships once, which serves as motivation to continue improving and qualifying again, especially after a trying year for her health.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer about five years ago. After a mastectomy and a year of chemotherapy, a skier collided with her. That accident resulted in a broken femur and a severe concussion, she said. And what motivated her above all was the hope of being able to compete again.
“The sport of triathlon was my carrot. It was like I had to get through this. I have to do my physical therapy, I have to finish my chemo. I was waiting for my doctors to say, ‘Yeah, go ahead.’ (The doctor said) I’m not going to be able to train all summer like you really want,” Setterberg said. “I couldn’t push myself against the wall when I was swimming because my chest wasn’t up to par yet… And I said, ‘I don’t care how I feel. I don’t care if I’m not trained. I just want to go.’”
And the summer after cancer treatment and the accident, she competed. Training was complicated because she still couldn’t push off the pool wall and her femur was recovering, but her teammates got her through.
Roaring Fork Women’s Triathlon Team athlete Jillian Sutherland runs. Elise Meyer/Photo courtesy
Everyone agreed that the sisterhood within the team is what makes it special. Building cross-generational friendships, sharing advice, competitive spirit and compassion keep the team close.
“We start as 50 strangers. And then as the season goes on and they train together and ride in our cars at Harvey Gap, as we started our open water training, they start to make those connections with each other,” Westerman said. “And when we get there, we’re a team of sisters.”
The next Longevity Project event is scheduled for Oct. 4 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Arts Campus At Willits (TACAW), 400 Robinson St., Basalt. The panel discussion is titled “How to Maintain Mobility, Balance and Athleticism throughout Life” and will feature experts in the field.
Tickets can be purchased at aspentimes.com/longevity-project-2023-fall.
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