Despite being from Colorado, you may remember the name Connor Weaver as it relates to Utah triathlon. Case in point, in 2014 a then teenage Weaver ran down the likes of Nate Dressel, Wes Johnson and B.J. Christenson to win the Echo Olympic by 13 seconds. After returning from a 2-year LDS mission to Chile this January, Weaver returned to Echo in July, winning handily over a field that included St. George 70.3, Oceanside 70.3 and Canada 70.3 overall AG champion Andrew Hall.
Two weeks ago, Weaver took on USAT Nationals in Omaha before the formal commencement of his BYU cross country season. Being fortunate to be in the first wave myself, I was able to cheer him on as he weaved (pun intended) through the masses from the very LAST wave to start.
Connor went on to cross the line in 1:57, the National Champion for M2024 and 2nd out of the entire field. However, when the results were later posted we noticed the dreaded letters "DQ" next to his name... what happened?? We were dying to know, and reached out to get the scoop from the 2020 Olympic hopeful himself.
Here is his report!
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| the Top 10 at this year's Echo (Olympic) |
I finished my semester at BYU and still didn't really commit to triathlon until mid June. I started training with Balanced Art Multipart (BAM) and had my sights set on being a National Champion and getting my pro license. Since I started training in June I didn't have a lot of time to bring everything together perfectly, but I worked hard and started improving a lot faster than I had anticipated. The summer demanded a lot of sacrifices where I was working till late in the night as a server and waking up at 5:30 in the morning so I could get my swim, bike, and run in. My friends and family thought I was crazy because my life was basically consumed with training, working, eating, and sleeping. The only reason I share this is because I can sympathize for all the triathletes who make sacrifices so that they can compete at the highest level possible come race day.
As far as how Nationals went, it obviously didn't end how I had hoped and I was devastated to say the least. I had a solid swim, and I was pretty hesitant on the bike to go hard because the race was so congested that it was hard not be behind someone and I knew that the race officials were super attentive to everyone for drafting. I didn't push unless I absolutely knew that I was going to drop and pass everyone in my way. Like I said, the race was more congested than downtown LA during rush hour and that caused me to be in the left passing lane for apparently "too long."
I'll leave it at this. The definition of cheating is "to act dishonestly or unfairly to gain an advantage, especially in a game or competition." Rules are rules, I didn't wear my race bib and apparently I was in the passing lane for too long... but do these infringements really justify a 6 minute penalty in an Olympic distance race? Especially in an amateur event where we're all paying to be there and compete?
Sadly there's not another race to redeem myself this season as I'm heading into my cross-country and track seasons. Plus, it's hard for me to invest more money to travel and compete after putting so much into Nationals.
As disanimating as this whole thing has been, I do plan on continuing my training as best as I can and improving my run! The big goal and dream is to go to the Olympics in 2020 for triathlon. I feel like I'm capable of it, and I'm willing to put in the sacrifices to give it my all going into these next few years before Tokyo.
As far as how Nationals went, it obviously didn't end how I had hoped and I was devastated to say the least. I had a solid swim, and I was pretty hesitant on the bike to go hard because the race was so congested that it was hard not be behind someone and I knew that the race officials were super attentive to everyone for drafting. I didn't push unless I absolutely knew that I was going to drop and pass everyone in my way. Like I said, the race was more congested than downtown LA during rush hour and that caused me to be in the left passing lane for apparently "too long."
I was penalized 2 minutes for being in the passing lane for 40 seconds. I didn't draft, I didn't cut the course, I just spent too much time passing people in the passing lane. My run was pretty strong and I finished the race super pumped and ecstatic to have taken 2nd overall to a pro triathlete who was there to renew his pro license and I was obviously happy to have won my age group! The officials then penalized me 4 more minutes for not wearing my race belt on the run. I honestly didn't see the belt in transition (must've been covered by a skin suit or something at the time) and that's why I neglected to wear the thing. Besides, you'd think that my race number on both my arms, both my legs, and my race chip and my tri suit with my name printed on the front was enough to identify me during the race! After 6 minutes of penalty time added to my overall time... it completely took me out of everything. I was 25th overall and 4th or 5th in my age group.
The big mistake I made in this whole race was the way I reacted to the situation. I completely lost my temper with the race officials and that's what caused me to get disqualified. In all honesty, I didn't even care about the disqualification at that point. I felt that I was robbed of everything that I had worked for. After investing a lot of time, money, and effort into performing well at Nationals... it's rather heart breaking to have an official tell you that you basically cheated, and that you cheated 6 minutes worth during an Olympic distance triathlon.
The big mistake I made in this whole race was the way I reacted to the situation. I completely lost my temper with the race officials and that's what caused me to get disqualified. In all honesty, I didn't even care about the disqualification at that point. I felt that I was robbed of everything that I had worked for. After investing a lot of time, money, and effort into performing well at Nationals... it's rather heart breaking to have an official tell you that you basically cheated, and that you cheated 6 minutes worth during an Olympic distance triathlon.
I'll leave it at this. The definition of cheating is "to act dishonestly or unfairly to gain an advantage, especially in a game or competition." Rules are rules, I didn't wear my race bib and apparently I was in the passing lane for too long... but do these infringements really justify a 6 minute penalty in an Olympic distance race? Especially in an amateur event where we're all paying to be there and compete?
Sadly there's not another race to redeem myself this season as I'm heading into my cross-country and track seasons. Plus, it's hard for me to invest more money to travel and compete after putting so much into Nationals.
As disanimating as this whole thing has been, I do plan on continuing my training as best as I can and improving my run! The big goal and dream is to go to the Olympics in 2020 for triathlon. I feel like I'm capable of it, and I'm willing to put in the sacrifices to give it my all going into these next few years before Tokyo.
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