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
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
Folsom International Triathlon Race Story
I have been struggling with what to write for this race story. I wasn’t feeling 100% coming into the race, both my kids had a nasty stomach virus days before. I wasn’t completely sick like them, but I also wasn’t completely well. It was that horrible “Am I sick? Am I...
Keep moving forward, my Auburn Triathlon race story
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”—Martin Luther King, Jr. That was me during the run portion of the Auburn Triathlon. I did manage to keep running, but just...
Icebreaker Race Recap
A picture says a 1000 words. So here are a few thousand words from my recent TBF Icebreaker Triathlon that took place April 16... If possible I always check the line for the swim finish. Good to know if sight buoys (ones you can go on either side of) are off to one...
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