Hannah Sakaluk

Swimming to Triathlon - Against All Odds

I began swimming competitively at age 6 on a local summer league team in my hometown of Normal, Illinois. I explored other sports, but swimming always drew my focus the most. By the time I had reached high school, I had switched to focusing my athletic career exclusively on swimming for the Waves Bloomington-Normal YMCA Swim Team, a nationally-recognized USA Swimming club. Under the guidance of Coach Charles Yourd, I developed from an "A" level swimmer to a multiple-event senior state champion and junior national qualifier. I committed to swim at the NCAA Division 1 level for Indiana University as a distance freestyler.

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Unfortunately, health battles with late-stage Lyme Disease and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) derailed my collegiate swimming career. Despite the overwhelming challenges of living with such conditions, I have now developed the tools to manage my conditions, and it is so important to me as an athlete to positively represent and advocate for others battling chronic illness. Since graduating from IU in 2019, I have made the switch to pursuing ITU Triathlon at the elite level. Currently, I am working with Coach Wesley Johnson (2019 Team USA Paralympic Coach of the Year) at Balanced Art Multisport and with Coach Joe Maloy (2016 Rio Olympian in Triathlon) as part of USA Triathlon's Collegiate Recruitment Program. In March 2021, I qualified for my USA Triathlon Elite/Professional License and will be making my professional triathlon debut later in 2021. I am early in my triathlon career, but I am so excited to see what the future holds for me in this sport!