Coach Bios
Coach Chris Sweet
Chris started swimming competitively at age 9 and finished a bunch of triathlons before he could drive! Chris ran both cross country and track and swam for Metamora High School and then for Augustana College, Rock Island, IL. He ran in the IHSA state meet and was a collegiate swimming school record holder. Chris has nearly 20 years competitive experience as a triathlete. He has 4 sub-10 Ironman finishes to his name -- most recently at the 2008 Ironman World Championships in Kona. He is a many time USAT All-American and has won races from sprint to half Ironman. If you care to see even more results, please look at this page. Chris served the Central Illinois triathlon community as president of the Tri-Shark Triathlon club for 5 years.
Chris and Brother Andy after a tri circa 1992
In addition to being a competitive triathlete, Coach Chris is also a student of the sport. He has years and years worth of training articles organized into massive binders. Our bookshelves are stocked with all the triathlon books you always meant to get around to reading!
Good racers do not always make good
coaches, so you shouldn't hire Chris based just off his personal
results. Chris also has a background as summer swim team coach
and assistant High School Cross Country coach. Perhaps even more
important, are the long list of excellent coaches Chris has been
fortunate enough to work with and learn from. Both his high school
and college cross country coaches have many state and national
titles to their names and both have been elected into the Illinois
Hall of Fame for Track and Cross Country Coaches. On the
triathlon side of things, Chris has been coached by Mike Ricci of D3
Multisport. Last year Chris was coached by Robbie Ventura's
Vision Quest Coaching where he worked locally with cycling
specialist Stan Watkins. Chris is a member of the
EvoTri racing team. To learn
more, check out Chris's blog:
www.goalisthejourney.com
Pending registration availability, Chris
will attend the USAT Level One coaching certification course this
spring.
Coach Cara Sweet
Cara began swimming competitively in junior high. She swam for Belvidere High School, and was a school record holder, as well as the first NIC-9 All Conference swimmer in school history. She then went on to swim for four years at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.
Cara began running after graduating from college, and did her first triathlon that same year. She fell in love with the sport immediately and has since gone on to finish three Ironman races and several marathons.
Aside from her own athletic endeavors, Cara has always enjoyed helping others to reach their goals. She has several years of experience as a swim coach, and spent three years coaching boys' and girls' cross country at Prairie Central High School.
Coach Chris will primarily be responsible for designing season plans and writing the daily workouts that will help athletes reach their goals. Coach Cara will primarily take care of the administration of Revolution Multisport Coaching and help out with athlete communications.
If you read closely and were wondering, yes, Chris and Cara met on the Augustana Swim Team in 1997!
