Utah Tri Buzz: Santiago to SLC: Welcome Roberto Porras!

If you haven't heard, 2 junior elite triathletes with Olympic aspirations have recently joined us all the way from Chile! Please join us in welcoming Roberto Porras and Colomba Nahum, who are training under the tutelage of Wes Johnson and team BAM.

Reach out to them (on Facebook, etc), and let's help them feel at home!

First up is Roberto, to be followed by Colomba soon.

How did you get into triathlon as your athletic focus at such a young age?

Well as a kid I did a lot of sports for my school like swimming, rugby, soccer. Also I did swimming aside from my school, my dad when I was little boy, got me into swimming. I didn’t like it at first but as years past I start to get more in to it and start to love it.

However, was racquetball what I start competing more serious until 2008 when I won world racquetball championship in Tempe Arizona.

One day my dad who was running marathons arrived home with Triathlon bike and I felt in love, so I decided to give on a go. I start running for my school on occasionally cross country races. From there to here has been a blur and a blast I’ve enjoyed every moment since.

What led to the huge move from Santiago to Salt Lake, and when did you arrive? Is it true you’re living at BAM Headquarters, training round the clock?

The thing that led me to come here is obviously the facilities there are here to train are world class, obviously Wesley has put a great plan to achieve our goals. Also that I want to study a professional career while I focused on triathlon and for me to do that in Chile was impossible, and here there are tremendous opportunities to get in to great school while you still focus on Elite level triathlon.

HAHA no I’m not living in the bam headquarters but we are definitely training hard, so we can obtain our goals this season.

anti-gravity treadmill @ BAM Headquarters

What was your family’s reaction to the move, were they 100% on board?

Yeah my Dad and Mom are fully on board I actually moved with my dad here. They are both really supportive with me and understand me, they give me everything I need.

a true triathlete

Had you been to the States before? What were the biggest culture shocks you experienced when you moved here?

Yes, I have been here many times to compete and just to visit. Last time in IOWA Des Moines for Triathlon Pan-American championship in last July 2016. The culture shocks I have experienced are tremendous from people being so nice and polite, and the opportunities you have to train hard and do what you love every day.

Jazz game with his dad

How tall is the average Chilean and how tall are you?

I think the average Chilean is like 5’4 that’s very small haha. I’m actually 6’3.

Are you digging “American” food or is it disgusting? What’s the best & worst thing you’ve eaten that you hadn’t tried before?

I definitely love American food I love your burgers and pizzas haha but I do miss a home cooked meal from Chile, but we can still do it here so its all good.

I ran into Wes at the state high school cross country meet at Sugarhouse Park last month and he told me about you. What did you think about racing for Olympus, and how did the season go for you?

state champs!

Oh I absolutely love racing for Olympus we have such nice facilities to train on, also great guys on the team that run as fast as you can humanly go, and a great xc coach.

This season couldn’t be more great we won our region meet with a perfect score, and we won the 4A Utah state. Right know we are heading to Arizona to compete on the Nike meet, so we can qualify for Nationals.

With regards to triathlon, what is your biggest strength to weakness of the 3 disciplines?

I think now it has become a huge strength the swim. Wes and me have put a lot of work on it so we can get out of the swim in front pack, and we have been racing on the swim meets with Olympus swim team, so we can achieve that, and last meet I made the qualifying time for the 200 free for State.

Olympus pool

How long will you be with us, and what are your race plans for next year?

My plan is being here for a long time, its hard for me thinking of moving from here I absolutely love It.

Race plans we know we are going to do World Championships in Rotterdam as the big objective, we start with Sarasota and Clermont early March, South American championship mid-march and Pan-American championship around June. We are going to be racing as much as we can so I can be prepared as best as possible.

What are your triathlon goals for the future?

My triathlons goals for the future are train hard, enjoy the sport, grow as a person and hopefully go to Tokyo 2020