Age: 26

www.sammorgantri.com
www.Sammorganphoto.com

Coach: Brett Daniels

Personal: I was born and raised in North Georgia and have been living in Atlanta since 2002 where I attended Georgia Tech. These days despite having an engineering mindset and a business degree I work as a freelance photographer mostly shooting college sports and as a swim coach during the summers.  I’ve also started coaching other Triathletes for the Sport Factory.  Coaching forces me to think even more in depth about my own technique and training methodology.  I’m still coached by Brett Daniels and I continue to make large gains in cycling and especially running.

I started doing triathlons in the spring of 08 after talking about the sport at length with Jon and Barbara Rubel – members of the pool where I coach. It took over a year of convincing, but once I bought my bike and did my first race, I was absolutely hooked. I trained on my own in a rather “random” fashion until Dennis Reardon recommended the Sport Factory to me after my 3rd place finish at the West Point Lake . I started training with Brett Daniels and ended up with wins at Tugaloo and Emerald Pointe by the end of the season.

As I head into the 2010 season I look back and what I learned in 2009.  In 2008 I learned what Triathlon was all about and how to train for it.  In 2009 I learned what racing was all about and what happens when you don’t train consistently.  In 2010 I plan to go back and do some of the same “big” races I did last year and improve my times and placements significantly.  I’ll stick with doing mostly Olympics with one half (Rock’n’Roll in Macon ) and one sprint (The Santa Rosa Island Triathlon).  I’ve been focusing on sustained speed in running, increasing power to weight ratios on the bike, and. . . well not much on the swim. . . I think I’ve got that one figured out.

Athletic Accomplishments:
Swimming career:
14:54 1,650 free
4:21 500 free
3:52 400 IM
Multiple state championships and national top-16 and top-8 placements before college
4 time NCAA qualifier and first GT swimmer to do so
2 time Honorable Mention All-American in the 1,650
ACC Champion in the mile and All-ACC (top 3) in the 500 and 400 IM
Previously on the list of all-time top 50 performers in the 1,650
Inducted into the North East Georgia Sports Hall of Fame summer of 2009.

2009 results:
Wonderful Days of Winter 5K – 2nd OASt. Anthony’s Bike Run race 10th Elite Amateur
Turtle Crawl Olympic 1st OA 1:49:37
Rock’n’Roll 70.3 2nd OA 4:17:18
West Point Lake Olympic 2nd OA 2:04:04
Peachtree Road Race 10K – 38:07
Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic – 8th Elite 13th OA
Georgia Cup Team Time Trial – 2nd AG
Age Group Nationals Olympic – 7th OA, 4th AG, fastest swim
Tugaloo 1.5K swim, 42K bike, 10K run – 1st OA 2:01:19
Krispy Kreme 5k run – 2nd OA 14:17 net (3 doughnuts eaten gave me 3 minutes off)

2010 Goals:
Don’t forget how to swim
400 watts for a FTP20 test
Sustained 5:40 pace or better for flat 10Ks
Get more efficient at burning fat
Continue to improve functional to non functional mass ratio

2010 Race Schedule:
Jan 2 – Wonderful Days of Winter 5K C
Jan 16 – Hogpen Hillclimb 17K B
Feburary 7 – Red Top Rumble 11.5 miler C
Feburary 13 – Tundra Time Trial B
March 21 – ING Half Marathon B (this race is expensive, might not do it)
April 24 – St. Anthony’s A
May 15 – Turtle Crawl C
June 6 – Rock’n’Roll Man Half Iron B
July 4 – Peachtree Road Race 10K C
July 11th – Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon B
September 25 – Age Group Nationals A
Early October – Santa Rosa Island   

Thank you to Tifosi Optics & Yankz! for product sponsorship.  These great local companies proudly support The Sport Factory Elite Team, and  both Tifosis and Yankz! can be found at Roswell Bicycles.