Elise Winter

Elise grew up in San Diego and loved all sports as a child. By her teenage years, she mostly focused on competitive club volleyball and hunter/jumper equestrian. She split most her weekends between volleyball tournaments and horse shows. This passion landed Elise opportunities for NCAA Division I volleyball teams, even a full ride to an out-of-state college. A California girl at heart, Elise declined the scholarship and chose Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where she played volleyball and studied Graphic Communications. She worked her way onto the starting lineup as a sophomore. Unfortunately she suffered a torn ACL at the end of the season. One reconstruction, a year of rehab, and a redshirt junior year later, Elise blew out her knee again and decided to call it quits on her competitive volleyball career.

After another clean-up knee surgery, Elise took to the pool for rehab. It was there that she developed a taste for lap swimming and focused her competitive spirit on triathlon. She entered Wildflower mountain bike triathlon where she placed 2nd in her age group. She entered a few more triathlons before taking a 14-year hiatus to focus on her career and eventually starting a family.

In 2013, after developing a love for open water swimming, she picked up triathlon again. Success followed and she had top podium finishes in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2016 Elise placed top 10 in her AG at the ITU Age Group World Championships in Cozumel. 2017 will be Elise’s 3rd season racing for Team Freeplay. She is looking forward to returning to USAT AG Nationals next season.

Quick Facts

  • Resides in Penryn California with husband Greg, their 2 kids: Zachary (11) & Cailyn (7), her horse, her dog and lots of chickens
  • Full-time mom
  • Part-time freelance graphic designer
  • Founder and designer of Small Things Design
  • Plays banjo (yes, she’s seen the movie)
  • Ruptured (and surgically repaired) her right achilles in spring of 2010
  • 2017 Tri4Kids Coach
  • Former NCAA Division 1 volleyball player
  • 2014, 2015 & 2016 USAT Age Group All-American

2017 Schedule

February 11 – Double Duathlon; 2nd Overall
March 18 – Ruck A Chuck 50K; 7th OA/1st AG
April 15 – The ICE Breaker Triathlon
May 13 – Folsom Lake International Triathlon or Auburn International Triathlon
June 25 – San Diego International Triathlon
July 16 – The Tri for Real Triathlon #2
August 12 – USA Triathlon Age Group 2017 National Championships
August 27 – Lake Tahoe Triathlon Olympic
Oct 1 – Heart of Cool Trail 1/2 marathon
November 19 – MandaRUN 1/2 marathon
December 3 – California International Marathon

2016 Results
SacTown 5k; 1st AG; 3rd OA
TBF Icebreaker; 1st AG; 2nd OA
Auburn Olympic; 1st AG; 1st OA
Lake Tahoe Triathlon; 2nd OA
ITU AG World Championships; 9th AG
MandaRun Half Marathon; 2nd OA

Other Race Highlights
Super Sunday 10K: 1st AG/7 OA, sub-40min
TBF Icebreaker Triathlon: 1st OA
Wildflower Olympic Distance: 2nd AG/9th OA
Auburn Triathlon/Southwest Regional Championship: 1st OA
TBF Tri for Real Triathlon #1: 1st AG/2nd OA, PR
Olympic-Distance National Championships: 15th AG, World Championships Qualifier

Elise’s Blog

now for something completely different…

now for something completely different…

I’ve had some fun races since ITU World’s Championship in Cozumel last September. I did Heart of Cool trail 10K on my birthday (came in first overall!). SF to Napa RAGNAR with 11 other amazing woman (200 mile relay), no sleep for 30 hours but an amazing time. We took...

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ITU Worlds Cozumel

I am going to backtrack a bit before I start my Cozumel race story. Not many people know this but at the beginning of the year I didn’t want to do triathlons any more. I lost that inner drive that got me excited to train and race. I still trained, and I still raced,...

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Don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me down

Don’t let me, don’t let me, don’t let me down

My kids recently asked me to find a song for them on Spotify, Don’t Let Me Down (by The Chainsmokers). It is a song that turns out to be quite catchy and one the kids and I like to dance to (my poor husband, he isn’t a fan). So during the Tahoe Triathlon the song was...

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