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GETTING TO KNOW
GETTING TO KNOW
DUATHLON AND AGE GROUP NATIONAL
CHAMPION KALEB VANORT
By Lindsay Wyskowski
Each year, athletes show up at USA Triathlon’s national championship events gunning for the top spot on the podium. In 2010, Kaleb VanOrt claimed a national title he was after – twice.


After winning the USAT Duathlon National Championship in April, VanOrt turned to his next goal of winning the overall title at the USAT Age Group National Championship. In September, he crushed the amateur field, finishing 3 minutes and 38 seconds before the next competitor.


“Words cannot describe it,” VanOrt said. “It still feels like a dream when I see my name at the top of the results.”


VanOrt initially found success in sport as a runner, competing in cross country and indoor and outdoor track at Notre Dame. After finishing his senior cross country season as an All-American and graduating in 2006, he took some time off from competing after feeling burnt out. In 2008, he competed in his first triathlon just for fun — an XTERRA race in his home state of Indiana.


Using his running prowess, VanOrt shifted gears from running events to triathlons with help from USAT’s Collegiate Recruitment Program. He finished 12th in the 25-29 age group in his first appearance at Age Group Nationals in 2009, just one month before winning the title in his age group at the XTERRA USA Championship in Ogden, Utah. He is quick to admit that he didn’t fully embrace on-road triathlons at first. “When I first started, I liked the off-road races because I was a better bike handler than I was a rider,” VanOrt said. “Now that my cycling is getting better, I like the long, open roads where I can go fast.”


The Collegiate Recruitment Program helped VanOrt become more familiar and comfortable racing on the road, but it also led him to find his coach, who VanOrt says has been a key part of his success. When VanOrt started planning his 2010 season in February, he and coach Greg Mueller set the bar high, with plans to win both Duathlon and Age Group Nationals. Mueller helped formulate a plan for the season but made sure that training was based on more than a goal to win. “Rather than focusing on goals and forcing his body to do something it’s not ready for, I designed the plan around his response,” Mueller said. “We got through 2010 with a lot of success, improvement and zero injuries.”


So what’s next for VanOrt? In 2011, he will compete in his first season as an elite. Because of his strong running background, he’s had to focus on the other multisport disciplines. “Both my bike and my swim have come a long way in the last year, but my biggest improvement has come in the water,” VanOrt said. “I still have a lot of work to do but I am very happy with the progress I made in the water.”


If you ask VanOrt what he’s most looking forward to about racing as an elite, he’s quick to say that it’s all about the competition. “Racing the best brings out my best,” VanOrt said. “This will be a lot different than racing as an amateur because the swim becomes far more important. If I do not get in the front bike pack, a good run has little impact on the race.”


The swim will be a crucial part of competing in the ITU circuit, and Mueller knows that it will help VanOrt to have a successful first elite season. “I see a ton of potential next year at Continental Cups,” Mueller said. “We are focusing on the swim this winter, as we believe that if we can get out of the water in the second pack, we have a chance to gather points.”


VanOrt also is focused on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Kaleb has what it takes to be the best in the world,” Mueller said. “I am in the process of creating a support system through sponsors and organizing knowledge and recovery products that will help us make the most out of the next six years. We’ve had a great response and we are doing some very different things that will set us apart. In the end, it is his swimming that will dictate our success; the rest is there.”


Though he has his sights set on the world’s biggest stage, VanOrt has three tidbits of advice for beginner triathletes who are still learning the ropes of the sport. “Rest is very important. If you cannot recover from a workout, you just dig yourself into a hole that might be hard to get out of. Do the little things — practice your transitions and do strength/ core work. Above all else, have fun!”


Lindsay Wyskowski is the content coordinator at USA Triathlon.


62 USA TRIATHLON WINTER 2011

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