THERES MORE TO THE TOUGH GIRL PERSONA THAN KONA RUNNER-UP CAROLINE STEFFEN LETS ON.

BY HOLLY BENNETT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF CLARK

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Oct. 9, 2010, the night of the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I step into a ladies room near the nish line at the same time that Caroline Steffen, who nished second in the womens professional eld a few hours earlier, steps out. One word immediately lls my mind: Amazon. At 5 feet, 10 inches, Steffen is only two inches taller than me. And shes far leaner. But behind her sweet and somewhat shy smile, something in her physical presence screams, badass. Note to self: Dont piss her off. Fast-forward to Kona 2012 and Steffen is closing in on the win, using her powerful body to ride away from the competition and leading for most of the marathon. But in the nal miles of the run she is passed by eventual winner Leanda Cave, losing by a little more than a minutea result she aims to rectify this year. Steffens fit yet formidable physique, along with her undeniable power on the race course, make it easy to understand why shes earned the nickname Xena, a nod to televisions super-heroine Xena: Warrior Princess, a bold bombshell hellbent on battling evil. Its a badge Steffen wears with honor, the name emblazoned on her race kit just below her shoulders and above her brick-like abdominal wall. But Amazonian strength is only part of her characterthe part she stockpiles for competition. Otherwise, she describes herself as just a normal girlvery emotional, very sensitive. But when I have the chip on my ankle and the gun goes off, she says, Im different. I feel that. Its like two totally different people. Still, theres no denying that Steffen is a true triathlon warrior, proving her prowess with two second-place finishes in Kona, victories at Ironman Melbourne (2012), Ironman Frankfurt (2011) and Ironman Australia (2011), two ITU Long Distance world titles (2012, 2010) and a slew of Ironman 70.3 wins. And as she continues to toil as the unofficial alpha female of coach Brett Suttons notoriously tough Team TBB, using her exceptional bike strength to cut a swath of insecurity
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Its

in her rivals, she inches ever closer to capturing Konas crown.

Most people that see Caroline race think she must be a bit of a maniac off the course, says Steffens boyfriend of four years, Australia-born fellow pro David Dellow. But thats denitely not true. Shes a bit of a softie, really. She cries in movies all the time, and shes a really funny and relaxed person. I dont have to race her, so I never get to see the warrior side. I just know her as a laid-back Swiss Miss. Despite having plenty of girly-girl tendencies, there were early signs that she was tougher than most. Growing up in the tiny village of Spiez, Switzerland, she had a few scrappy moments in the schoolyard. I had a couple ghts at school, mostly with the boys, she admits, laughing. I reckon I was the one the boys in the class had the biggest fear of. We also did some arm wrestling there was only one boy stronger than me. Steffens will was equally tough. If I wanted to do something, I just went for it, she says, with her heavy Swiss-German accent. At rst listen, Steffens to-the-point locution calls to mind a stereotypical sternness; but listen a minute longer and you hear how she softens her speech with Australian slang and plenty of laughter, a sure sign shes adapted to the casual ethos of her home away from home. Her childhood best friend Barbara Criblez-Meyer, a classmate from age 6 with whom Steffen remains close, acknowledges Steffens stubbornness as well as her penchant for fun. Spending time with Caroline was a happening. It was never boring. She

always went her way straight on, no matter what other people thought. She just did what she wanted to do in a very natural and self-condent way. Despite Steffens physical strength and her independent streak, it wasnt until age 12 that she stumbled upon the sporting path that began to shape her future. First, there was simply a lot of stumbling, following in the footsteps of her elder sister and brother, whom she was always eager to emulate. She trailed behind her sister to ballet, although she hated the class and claimed absolutely no talent. Likewise with gymnasticsit took her two years to earn a standard one-year progress award. When her siblings turned to music, Steffen took up the drums. Maybe three or four years I played and took lessons once a week. Still no talent, she laments. Finally, something inspired 12-year-old Steffen to pursue a sport on her own. Initially, it wasnt so much the desire to swim as the opportunity to ditch out of school early. I started swim lessons once a week, every Tuesday. I was allowed to leave school 15 minutes early to catch the bus and I remember thinking, Thats a pretty good deal! says Steffen. I improved really quickly, just from one day a week. It was the rst time I actually felt that maybe I have a talent at this one! She began to compete and rapidly excelled through the clubs ranks, earning the organizations rst ever championship medal and eventually qualifying for the Swiss National Team (her rst of threeSteffen went on to represent Switzerland in cycling and triathlon). Thats when I started realizing if you spend time doing something you like and you work hard, you actually get something back, she says. You get success and you get results. Its just step-by-step, but I reckon thats what started to make a racer out of me. Steffen spent a decade swimming under the Swiss ag, earning 17 national champion gold medals in some of the sports toughest events, including the 200-meter freestyle and the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. But in 2002, a shoulder surgery followed by black-line burnout led to her retirement from the pool and a few years away from sports. Instead, she shouldered a backpack for a three-month adventure traveling in Australia, during which her love for the land Down Under was ignited. Her athletic drive remained intact, however, and soon Steffen sought a new avenue to regain XENAS TOP TIPS:

After a down, theres always an up. Dont let yourself go if you have a bad patch during a race. 180 kilometers is a long way. | Race like you train. Dont change anything just because youre wearing a number on your bike. | Maybe try once at home changing a tire. It is a pity to travel around the world and pull out of an Ironman because of a mechanical.

Switzerlands Caroline Steffen, nicknamed Xena, quietly leads Brett Suttons Team TBB by example. Previous spread: In 2012, Steffen nished as the runner-up at the Ironman World Championship for the second time.

tness. The answer was the 2005 Gigathlon, a two-day race across Switzerland combining swimming, running, mountain biking, road cycling and inline skating. Steffens performance proved an early predictor of her endurance sports stamina. I did it to nd my limit. To nd how far I could push myself. And to do something really ridiculous. I saw this race and I said, Yep, Im doing that, she recalls. Steffen spent her entire savings on equipmentrunning shoes, inline skates, a mountain bike and a road bike (I had nothing at home except swim togs) and spent six months training. After the rst race legthe swimshe was the leader. After the inline skating, she was dead last. Over the bike and run courses she caught several competitors, and nearly 30 hours later she nished in fth place. Recognizing that her inline skating was on par with her ballet skill, Steffen turned her focus to the sports disciplines where she showed promise. Triathlons swim-bikerun trifecta seemed a perfect t, especially the extreme version known as the Ironman. I always want to do something a little bit more, a little bit crazier than someone else. I found out theres something called Ironman so I thought, Thats kind of interesting, she says. Steffens debut at the interesting distancethe 2006 Ironman Switzerland, one year into her amateur triathlon career yielded promising results: a 9:58:08 nish, sixth overall (pro women included), second in her age group and a ticket to Kona. Steffen knew nothing of the Ironman World Championships allureshe simply knew that a trip to Hawaii sounded great. Her nish there later that year was equally impressive: 9:59:22 and third on her age-group podium. Her 5:15:40 bike split caught the eye of the Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team, resulting in an offer of employment. She accepted, tailoring her full-time job as a draftswoman designing roadways (Steffen designed some of the Swiss roads she would later ride) to a parttime position and spent two years cycling at the professional level. And while Steffens single-sport time on the bike was surely the foundation for her cycling dominance today,

serving as team rookie and domestique was less than satisfying. I missed having the windows openI wanted to do my own thing. I worked my ass off every single day in training, but then in the race I was just working for the team, says Steffen. Once in the race they said, OK, today you get a chance. You go. I won the race. From that point on I knew I was able to win road races, but I wasnt allowed all the time. An endurance workhorse, she couldnt quite match the speed of the sprint specialists. She also lacked the ability to earn a sustainable salary through underfunded womens cycling, making zero progress toward her goal of quitting her day job to live solely off of sport. Thus, in late

never had the guts to really have a go. David was the person to say, If you want to do it, you have to do it right now. You have to quit your job. You have to eat, sleep and train like a professional. And I believe you can be really good. And I said, OK. Dellow, already experiencing success on Australias national triathlon team, understood that Steffen needed a push. I had to really encourage her in the beginning, he says, because people from Switzerland have a different attitude than Australians toward being a professional sportsperson. They consider career to be the No. 1 priority in life, so for Caroline to quit her well-paid job and do triathlon full-time was a big step. But a few phone calls later, Steffen was

Left: Steffen honed her strength on the bike before Kona in the mountains around Leysin, Switzerland, where Brett Suttons Team TBB trains. Teammate American Mary Beth Ellis and Steffen joke around during a pool workout. Above: Steffen stays loose before an interval workout on the track, a key component to the Ironman training schedule Sutton prescribes for Steffen and others.

2008 she called it quits and turned back to triathlon. Shortly thereafter, a friend convinced Steffen to accompany him overseas for a three-month training stint. She arranged a temporary leave from work and booked a ight to Australia, the country shes called home ever since. Early on she met Dellow, who provided Steffen a pivotal kick in the pants. I was saying my dream was to be a professional triathlete, says Steffen. But I

XENAS FAVORITE TT BIKE SESSION:

This session is a two-hour workout including warm-up and cool-down. Start with an easy 15-minute warm-up followed by 3x30 minutes in the aerobars (on the road or on a trainer) and a 15-minute cool-down. | The 3x30 minutes is a build ride. I always ride the rst 30 minutes at Ironman race pace, the second 30 minutes at Ironman 70.3 race pace and the last 30 minutes at Olympic-distance race pace. If youre in great shape, you can do the set on a double ride day twice. Or, like me, up to three times a day. Two hours work, two hours rest and repeat that three times. You will feel your legs when you hit the bed!
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unemployed, elding mixed reactions from her family and friends (you try telling your traditional Swiss father, Im in love, I quit my job and Im staying in Australia to be a triathlete) and missing more than a few nights sleep. She allowed herself a one-year window in which to succeed enough to make a living from the sport. And then she went to work in a local coffee shop. It was good fun actually and really hard workbut I quit after two months because it was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do, she says. I mean I quit my job, I left my family, I left everything back in Switzerland to be a professional athlete, and then I went to work in a coffee shop. She relied on Dellow for short-term nancial support before targeting her next paycheck: the prize purse at the Gold Coast Half Ironman. Being hit by a car one week before the race did not deter her; she rocked up to the start with scrapes and bruises on her hip, hand, shoulder and knee, where gravel can be seen to this day. I told myself, I dont care if I got hit by a car. I have to do this race. I have to win this race. Otherwise

Im out, says Steffen. I won and it saved me for the next month. And I did another race and got a little bit of cash and it saved me for the next month. And then I started working with Team TBB. Steffen wasnt exactly a shoo-in for Suttons squad, though. She asked three times before he nally agreed to give her a chance. The environment she was training in had athletes that had opinions different to mine, says Sutton, explaining his initial reluctance to train Steffen. I needed to be sure she would listen to me over others. She started working with Sutton online, winning her rst high-prole race (Ironman 70.3 Geelong) just one month into the program. A week later she ew to Team TBBs training camp in Thailand and met her new mentor in person for the rst time. I was so nervous, Steffen says. I was really afraid. I remember my hand was just shaking. But he was really relaxed and nearly ignoring me the rst couple of days. He didnt say much. For one or two weeks he was just watching me and making little notes. After a few weeks of this unnerving observation, Sutton nally began to engage with the edgling pro. Though odd at the onset, their coach/ athlete partnership has obviously evolved into one that works. She attributes this to

her absolute trust in his tactics. His ideas of triathlon and training are completely different to other people, she says. If you want to work with him and you want to be good, then you have to believe in what hes doing. I reckon it works because I trust him 100 percent. Steffen quickly ratcheted up to top dog on the team, but its a role she does not relish. I dont see myself as the leader, she says. And I actually dont want to be the leader. I like to be a role modelthats OK. But Im not someone who likes leading a group. Im more quiet and a little bit shy actually. Thats another reason I got this nickname, she continues. Brett realized that Im strong and a ghter in the race, but he always calls me Xena Princess, because out of the race Im absolutely not a warrior. Indeed, its Steffens normalcy and down-to-earth vibe that her longtime friends laud. Says childhood classmate Criblez-Meyer, What impresses me is that she didnt change with her success; she is still the natural and honest girl from before. She was a great girl and she is a great woman now, just because she is what she is. Another close friend, professional triathlete Aaron Farlow, one of Steffens key training partners, echoes that sentiment.

I dont think I have seen her angry or pessimistic since I have known her, he says. Shes a great training partner. Shes tough, always positive, smart and eager to get something out of every session. Though, he adds, the boys have become weary of training with her as she is more than happy to ride away from them with a little grin on her face. According to coach Sutton, Steffens sensitive side can at times be extreme. Caroline is a very emotional girl who has a very strong will. Nice mix, but serves to drive me mad at times. In moments she makes emotional decisions when best served not making any; at other times shes way too hard on herself. She was clearly in the throes of emotion when she won Ironman Melbourne and promptly locked lips with Dellow, a drawn-out display of finish line affection for all to see. Actually some people complained because he was grabbing my ass! Steffen laughs, remembering their celebratory make-out session. The only thing I have to saywe both worked so hard for this race. We really trained hard. He was new to Ironman and his dream was to qualify for Kona. When I saw him [continued on page 74]
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THERES MORE TO THE TOUGH GIRL PERSONA THAN KONA RUNNER-UP CAROLINE STEFFEN LETS ON.

Girl
32 MAY/J U N E 2013

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BY HOLLY BENNETT
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JEFF CLARK

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[continued from page 37] waiting for me behind the finish line I just knew. I traveled alone to Kona the first two years, and I knew when I saw him he was qualified and we could travel together to Hawaii and race together. People dont knowthey dont have to knowbut for us, Melbourne was a huge step. And it was the first race we did together. For David and me it was a really big moment. So we didnt care what people thought. An even deeper sensitivity is evident when Steffen describes what it means to race beside her man. I feel safer and not that alone. Even though you have 2,000 other people around you, if I know he is racing or even just watching the race it gives me a lot of safety. Its just easier for me if I know hes around. Surely, Steffen relied on Dellows support following Kona 2012, when her secondplace nish proved deeply disappointing. Two years earlier she earned an identical result, but the 2010 race was her rst Kona appearance as a pro and as such, an unexpected success. It was unbelievable. It was probably the race of my life, says Steffen. 2011 showed a hitch in Steffens progress; an injury affected her ability to run throughout the season, so her subsequent fth-place Kona nish was more than satisfactory. But in 2012, injury-free and an odds-on favorite, Steffen was dead-set on the win. Unfortunately for Steffen, the race didnt unfold as she hoped. First, a fourminute penalty on the bikewhich she feels was unjustset her back. Along with Leanda Cave and TBB teammate Mary Beth Ellis, Steffen was leading the womens race, each athlete spread the legal distance apart, taking turns at the front and benefitting from the group momentum. A male pro was sucked into the mix, and Steffen was riding behind him when he began to fall off the pace. I overtook him and went back to the group, she explains, I reckon the problem was the gap between this guy and the last girl wasnt big enough. I got in and Im pretty sure I had 12 meters to the next girl, but the marshal said I did not. Post-penalty tent, Steffen pushed hard to regain contact with the lead group, burning precious energy. Yet soon Cave and Ellis suffered similar bike violations, the infractions all but canceling one another out, and Steffen powered on to earn an advantage on the run. The effort seemed to pay offStef74 MAY/J U N E 2013

fen maintained the lead in the marathon until the 23-mile mark, fending off threats from a number of eet-footed rivals. But nally, with only three miles to go, Cave caught her, making a pass that Steffen could not match. I tried to go with her, but my body didnt respond, she says. Like I was sticking in fourth gear and couldnt get into fth. I wasnt collapsing; there was just no more left. She crossed the line defeated, 64 seconds after an exalted Cave. Suttons reaction to the race was succinct. In fact, he and Steffen didnt discuss her performance until almost two months later. He was really disappointed, big time, Steffen says matter-of-factly. Because I knew and he knew I could win. To my query, Sutton responded with unmasked irritation toward the race organization: Women start ahead of the men, she wins the race. She still wins if officials knew how to read a race. As for what hell do differently to better prepare Steffen for the 2013 world championship? Nothing. Steffen cant help but muse about one thing she might like to change. Sometimes I would prefer to be a little bit less strong on the bike but a better runner, she says. Im always the rabbit. The other girls are always chasing me. If you are like a rabbit at the front and you know theyre getting close to shooting you, its a totally different tactic than if youre in fth position and you start to catch up. I reckon its easier to pass people than to run scared. But howI mean I can improve my run and I can improve my swim, but I cant get any weaker on the bike. Steffen remains forward-focused and training with fervor. Im training pretty much like never before. I feel a huge motivation. Because Im not happy with what happened last year, she says. She does nd it funnymaybe even a little frustratingthat triathlon fans are so quick to pick pre-race favorites. Even when Kona is just over, people already say, But you will win next year! Its not like I dont want to win, you know! Its not like Im just happy with second, says Steffen. I really do my best to win this race. But its not that easy! Its not just like: OK, next year I will do it. Maybe peoples expectations stem from something Farlow sees in his friend. Every successful person that I have ever met makes hard things look easy, he says. Caroline does exactly that with triathlon. Maybe people are jumping the gun, eager to pinpoint the next world champion. Or maybe they sense the warrior in Steffen, even when she fails to find it in herself. Because behind that sweet, somewhat shy smile, beyond the normal-girlishness, the warrior is irrefutably within Steffen. And all she needs is a start line for it to kick in. I T