2015 was a banner year for TI coaches who compete in triathlon. Coach Kirsten Sass became the most decorated age group multisport athlete in history, achieving an unprecedented sweep of Triathlete of the Year and Duathlete of the Year honors from Triathlete magazine. (Watch for an interview with Kirsten next week.) And, in November, Coach Darbi Roberts smashed her Ironman PR by an incredible 20 minutes to record a 9:05 at Ironman Arizona.

For any athlete competing at the Iron distance, a 20-minute improvement would be quite satisfying. But for a woman whose previous PR was 9:24–already elite level–a 20-minute improvement is quite stunning. This accomplishment is made even more impressive in the context of the incredibly full life Darbi leads.

A Paragon of Life Balance

Though Darbi races triathlon as a pro, being a triathlete isn’t her occupation. From 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, Darbi is Dean Roberts at Columbia University, where she oversees student affairs at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. And this spring she’ll add Dr. Roberts to her titles when she completes a doctorate in education at Columbia’s renowned Teacher’s College. And Darbi has also found time to publish numerous papers in academic and educational journals.

Dean Roberts at Columbia University

Dean Roberts at Columbia University

In February I had the pleasure of coaching alongside Darbi at the TI Triathlon-Swim Camp at the National Triathlon Training Center in Clermont FL. I took the opportunity to record a conversation on how she manages to balance such rarefied athletic feats with professional and personal attainments that few, if any, other pro athletes would attempt.  Darbi explains how Total Immersion has allowed her to realize her full athletic and competitive potential while doing so.

Racing Strategically

One invaluable insight Darbi shares in the interview is that the key to her 20 minute improvement was swimming easily during her IM race.  Even while minimizing effort, her swim split of 51:09 beat her personal PR by over a minute, a testament to the efficiency she has gained through TI practice.  And her reward for swimming smart-not-hard was to cap her Ironman with a stunning 3:12 marathon, 20 minutes faster than she’d ever run before.

Swimming better through smarter choices–not greater efforts–is of course a touchstone of the Total Immersion method and is the most strategically sound way to swim in triathlon. Darbi, who was an age group swimmer and rowed in college at Carnegie Mellon, could have swum harder, but made a strategic choice that an easy swim would result in the best overall race. I explain why this so advantageous in the ebook Sneaky Speed: Smarter Choices in Triathlon Swimming.  To learn more download a free copy from our online store.

And to learn to swim in triathlon as Darbi did, join us at our next Triathlon Swim Camp May 11 to 13 in Key Biscayne FL.

Stay with the interview to the end to see Darbi join me for a synch-swim and demonstration of TI technique in the NTC pool.