In only her fourth season of triathlon, Lydia is making a name for herself as a dark horse and one to watch out for this year.
After an impressive top 10 performance in Oceanside quickly followed by a 6th place finish in St George, she has officially secured her spot in the 70.3 World Championships and we caught up with her for a chat and a well-deserved high five.
Lydia has an almost giddy air about her, and if you chat with her at a race, you'd likely have no idea she's in the hunt for the top 5. She's fresh out of the college race scene, and has a couple years of experience in the draft-legal realm, but has a refreshingly humble, curious approach to the 70.3 game. After finishing 10th in Oceanside, Lydia felt confident she was where she belonged. Exiting the water alongside Paula took away the worry she had about the swim leg, an area she's always been more nervous for, relative to the bike and run. The bike was eye opening, but not discouraging, and she knew there was so much potential for improvement after riding solo, managing the turns, crosswinds, and apocalyptic potholes that Oceanside is known for.
Trusting in her training, she got straight back to work after the race, knowing St. George was right around the corner and that she had only a few chances to secure a spot at 2025 Worlds Champs in Marbella.
"In the back of my mind, I knew I only had three races to try and get it. It's a balance of wanting to reach this goal, and not viewing the season as a failure if I don't reach that goal. No one is expecting that of me in my first season. But I wanted it really bad."
In the weeks of training between the two races, Lydia said she was feeling good, knowing the biggest improvements she would need to make were in the art of racing itself. Not hitting the brakes down Snow Canyon, keeping up with and chasing as many ahead of her as she could, ignoring any negative thoughts on the climb, and trusting that her power on race day would all come with the excitement and energy of the course, the crowd, and her competitors.
Despite a dropped chain early on the ride, she didn't lose much time, kept a cool head, and was able to keep her competitors in sight.
"I came off the bike in 11th, and knew if I could hold the pace, I could get top 10. But I had that top 8 for a Worlds spot in the back of my mind, so I just started to try to run down spots. Once I had it, which was my whole goal, I was then running in 8th. I really put everything into it."
A 6th place finish, a secured World Champs spot, and the fastest run of the day for the pro women, at 23 Lydia proved she has everything it takes to mix it up in the pro field.
"There is some pressure off, and it's done, and Worlds is not until November. Now I have all this time. And it's just about how good can I get in the next six months..."
Follow Lydia on instagram as she takes on the rest of the season, and have a listen to this week's podcast, as we hit her with every question we could think of, plus a few that we got via the TTL app.
