Kimberly Wikel, a Roosevelt alum, wins world triathlon competition
A graduate of Kent’s Theodore Roosevelt High School has emerged as one of the world’s top triathlon and duathlon athletes and is scheduled to compete in the Long Course Duathlon National Championship event in Daytona, Fla., this weekend.
Kimberly (Bennett) Wikel, class of 1996, in September won first place in the 45-49 age group in the Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championship in Zofingen, Switzerland, finishing her race in 8 hours and 20 minutes, 14 seconds, calling her competition in an interview in the Oct. 2nd issue of the Sandusky Register, “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
That race consisted of a 10-kilometer run, a 150-kilometer bike race, followed by a 30-kilometer run. Wikel’s time was approximately 15 minutes faster than her closest competition. The mountainous course in Switzerland proved quite a contrast with the flatlands of Milan, Ohio where Wikel, retired from teaching Family and Consumer Science in Clyde High School, resides with her husband, Larren, a former triathlon competitor who now officiates at competitions.
A good athlete in high school who competed in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter events and relays, Wikel said her coach at Roosevelt, Cameron Black, encouraged her to enter longer distance events.
“He saw I had potential in longer events,” she said. At the University of Akron, she played soccer for one year, then opted out finding balancing sports with academics too difficult. She continued to play recreationally with the intramural teams.
Besides teaching at Clyde High School, Wikel found herself coaching track. She also coached cross country and soccer at Avon Lake High School. She became a Nationally Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Sports Nutrition Coach. Wikel said one of her students has aspirations to become a professional triathlete and recently competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
She credits her older sister, Lynn, with getting her back into athletics. In 2010, Lynn called her up and encouraged her to participate in a triathlon. Wikel said she did not even know what a triathlon was, so she went online to learn how to train for it. The triathlon was held in Portage Lakes and Wikel won first place in her division. She has come a long way since that first triathlon as she is now a 9-time National Champion and a World Champion.
Hooked on the sport, Wikel began training for additional competitions either running or swimming every day and bicycling other days. Entering competition, she was an Ironman 70.3 World Champion finisher in Australia in 2016, achieved All American Triathlete Ranking in the USA Triathlon Team, became an Olympic Nationals Qualifier for her age group for multiple years.
Competing in Europe three times this past summer at World Championship events, Wikel said the Germans and British are particularly good at triathlons and are tough competitors. Her racing schedule typically begins in March and continues through December, covering more than 15 events in a calendar year. Besides her daily workouts, her expertise in consumer science and sport nutrition helps her eat a balanced diet, “but I do not count calories,” she said. “Training nutrition is as important as training the muscles.”
Her lifetime goal, she said, is to be able to compete the older she is.
“There is a nun, Sister Madonna, 92 years old, who still competes in Ironman events. She is known as the ‘Iron Nun’ and is good role model to show you don’t have to be limited by your age.”
Wikel’s mother, Jane Gwinn, was a gymnast at Kent State University competing under the tutelage of the late Rudy Bachna, who brought gymnastics to Kent State. Her father, Elliot Bennett, is a Kent State graduate with a degree in Education. He is an avid outdoor enthusiast and instilled in Wikel a love of nature.
David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kimberly Wikel, a Roosevelt alum, wins world triathlon competition
