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TAYLOR PASHLEYZephyrhills High junior Kristin Donahue makes no secret of what she wants to be: the best. And the elite triathlete seems well on her way.
"Let's go, Kristin! You're hot! Come on, push it!"
Friends and teammates gather at one end of the pool, cheering on their schoolmate during a high school meet. Gracefully slicing through the water, this 5-foot-4 muscular machine sings a song in her head and plans what she will wear to school the next day as competitors on either side eat her bubbles.
Dedication, devotion and discipline describe the life of 16-year-old triathlete Kristin Donahue. Following in the footsteps of her father, Bill Donahue, Kristin travels all over Florida, and occasionally to Chicago, to compete against other triathletes in her age category.
Donahue grew up attending her father's triathlons and began competing at age 13. She said her dad and a cousin, Graham Steele, motivate her.
Her intense training is not limited to triathlon season, March through September. Kristin, a junior, is on the track team at Zephyrhills High, and she runs on her own. She bikes every weekend with her dad, swims year-round - often in the ocean - and is on her high school swim team and a competitive swim team at Saint Leo University.
And when school is out and many teens are leisurely enjoying their summers, where is Kristin? She's at triathlon summer camp.
"I feel proud when I watch Kristin compete, because I know how hard she works every day at practice. She always tries to do her personal best," says Renee Lail, 16, a close friend and fellow Zephyrhills High swim team member.
Kristin says there are drawbacks to her schedule.
"I regret having to leave sometimes on a Friday night and miss going to a football game and hanging out with friends all weekend to participate in a race," she says.
But her hard work and dedication produce results that keep her motivated.
She competes in an average of 20 sprint-distance triathlons every season. The races consist of a quarter-mile to a half-mile of swimming, 10 to 15 miles of cycling and a 5K (about 3 miles) run. At 14, Kristin was named national champion in her age category after finishing first in the Junior National Triathlon Race in Clermont.
Another friend, Danielle Black, 16, says the heat sometimes makes watching one of Kristin's triathlons miserable, and she cannot imagine competing under those conditions.
"I feel excited to watch my friend compete," Danielle says. "She's very driven. She has a lot of goals for herself, and she works very hard to accomplish them."
To psyche herself up before a competition, Kristin says, "I play the race out in my mind, like the ideal situation, what you'd want to happen." As a ritual before each race, she gives her father a kiss on the cheek, which he returns with a kiss on her forehead and an encouraging, "Good luck!"
She has one more motivator: "I think about who is waiting for me at the finish line, and remember not to quit."
Kristin is a member of the Mad Dogs Triathlon Club in St. Petersburg, the largest triathlon club in the world. "It's cool 'cause you meet training partners through the club and when you go to races, there are a bunch of people you know there," she says. The club sends out a newsletter every month providing details of upcoming races and contact information of other members.
She offers this advice to other athletes: "Just have fun, even if you're not winning. If you win, that's awesome, but just do your best and have fun, 'cause that's what's important."
- Taylor Pashley, 17, is in 12th grade and is homeschooled in Dade City.