Latest in a series of "Where are they now?" features on members of the Colgate athletics family. Click HERE for previous profiles.
Ed. Note -- The attached video is from the Triathlon Collegiate Recruitment Camp in summer 2012. Chelsea is wearing a blue shirt and white shorts. And you can follow Chelsea on her blog here.
HAMILTON – Chelsea Burns graduated from Colgate about an hour ago. It's been a year, actually, but a lot can happen when you're on the fast track to a new career.
Burns was an All-Patriot League First Team member for the Raiders in all three disciplines of track and field – indoor, outdoor and cross country. She finished second at the 2010 Patriot League Cross Country Championship to help the Raiders win that team title, and was a regular on the medal stand for track and field distance events.
But now Burns has found a new sport, triathlon, and is spending her days at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. She's not preparing to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games of 2016, but to say Burns can't envision herself as a future Olympian isn't exactly true either.
“There's a lot between now and then, but, yeah, it's a far-off goal,” Burns said. “That would be cool. I wouldn't call it my goal at this point; I have a lot of goals that are between now and then.”
Such as?
“First and foremost is to earn my pro card, which means becoming a professional triathlete,” she said. “I'm hoping to do that in the next month or two. Once you do that, you can start racing in the pro circuit.”
The International Triathlon Union handles all things professional in the triathlon world. There are different levels that lead up to the Olympics, with quite a few steps to get there.”
“I want to see what I can do with it the next few years,” Burns said. “And if it becomes something I really like and I'm really successful at, then I would like to put the Olympics on the map as a goal. At this point, it's still new and it's hard to look that far ahead.
“But being at the Olympic Training Center definitely puts that in everyone as a goal. There are a lot of people here who are Olympians, and seeing them and how cool that experience could be is inspiring.”
On the Young Side
Burns is just 22 years old, which is a neophyte when it comes to triathlon. She's not the youngest athlete at the Olympic Training Center, but not too far off. On the other end of the spectrum is a swim training partner of hers who has been to four Olympics in triathlon.
“He's almost 40 and he's still competing,” Burns said. “There's definitely a long life-span for this sport. I have a lot to learn and it is exciting that I have the time to do that.”
Burns was introduced to triathlon and to the Olympic Training Center after her graduation from Colgate when she was invited to the Triathlon Collegiate Recruitment Camp. She and other college runners and swimmers who also have a background in the other sport were brought in for a crash course in triathlon.
“They brought us out to the camp for a 10-day trial to help us get used to the sport and to know what it is all about,” Burns said. “They gave me a bike and hooked us up with a lot of things that would help us pursue the sport.”
Burns returned to her Seattle home but then found out in December she would have the opportunity to live and train at the Olympic Training Center. She's been there since January, all expenses paid, making the most of working out with this country's elite athletes while trying a brand new sport.
“It has allowed me to train full-time and see where I can go with triathlon,” she said. “That's where I've been since January. It's all pretty new; I just started in June after I graduated.”
Triathlon races vary in distance, but the standard length involves swimming 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles), biking 40 kilometers (25 miles) and then running 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). All in the same race.
“Swimming is something I did before, and biking is something you just need time to become a better cyclist,” Burns said. “It's been a very big learning experience, but it's been really fun.
“It's a totally new sport for me with a lot of new things to learn, along with some things that I know. Very cool.”
Distance Specialist
Running was the Burns forte during her Colgate days. She lettered all four years in cross country and three each in indoor and outdoor track and field – missing only the spring of her junior year while studying abroad.
In addition to the second-place individual result and team title at the 2010 Patriot League Cross Country Championships, Burns also was an indoor conference champion in the mile and 3,000 meters, and an outdoor conference winner in the 5,000 meters. She contributed to Colgate's school record set in the distance medley relay.
Burns arrived at Colgate after being recruited by the university's vice president and dean of admission, Gary Ross.
“He does a pretty good job recruiting out of the Northwest, so I met him at my high school and then I got in touch with Coach (Laura) Nardelli,” Burns said. “I really liked what she had to say and I had a pretty good relationship with her from the start, so it was a pretty easy choice.
“Also, my whole family is from the East Coast so it's not a totally new area. A lot of people ask me, 'Why Colgate? It's so far away.' I kind of wanted to go away from home.”
Which made her move back across country to Colorado Springs a little easier to digest. Or at least she thought that would be the case.
“It's definitely very different from anywhere I've ever been,” Burns said. “The training center sits at over 6,000 feet, so the altitude throws a different spin on training. It's been interesting.
“I went to a race down at sea level last month and it was amazing to feel. But it's definitely a lot more challenging to train at 6,200 feet than it is at sea level. It's cool being near mountains because there is so much good riding and running terrain around here, but it's definitely different from Central New York and Seattle.”
Outdoor Her Favorite
Burns is among several former collegiate runners and swimmers making their way through the Olympic triathlon training regimen.
“There are five others – two girls, three guys – in my program,” she said. “We are all Division I runners who converted to triathlon after graduating from college. The others are a year or two older than me, so we're all 22 to 25 age-wise. And we're from all over the country, different schools.”
Burns picks outdoor track and field for her favorite from her collegiate days, although her top memory went to cross country, which was her least favorite but still challenging.
“Winning the Patriot League Championship as a team in my junior year, that was the most exciting,” she said. “Winning as an individual is cool, but winning as a team when you're an underdog and such a small team compared to the other Patriot League schools was very special. It was one of the better memories.
“I did say I liked track, but that cross country win at Lafayette was very exciting.”
Burns was back on campus at the end of October watching Colgate host the 2012 Patriot League Cross Country Championships. It had been just a few months removed from her last Raiders competition, and only two years since that conference championship, but Burns said the memories flowed.
“It was great to see people and catch up,” she said. “It was hard to watch the race and not be able to race, but it was fun.”
