- November 5, 2024
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Evan Evans spends his days under stressful conditions.
But Evans, who is a Palm Coast firefighter, never has to worry about what kind of shape he is in or what the call might require his body to do.
Evans is in pristine shape, which is evident after he recently captured his fourth Clydesdale Division national title Aug. 18, at the 2012 USA Triathlon Olympic-distance National Championships, in Burlington, Vt.
Evans posted a time of 2:10:33 on the 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run.
The USA Triathlon National Championships is the culmination of the triathlon season, which typically goes from April to September. It’s a one-day event where the top 10% of the competitors from the season compete to see who the “best of the best is,” Evans said.
USA Triathlon, the governing body for triathlons in the U.S., was founded in 1982 and sanctions 3,500 races each year.
With this year’s win, Evans is now a four-time national champion, including wins in 2004 and 2010-2012.
There are three main distances for triathlons: sprint, Olympic (or intermediate) and Ironman. The latter consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run.
Evans, 36, has been doing triathlons for about 21 years. Across the different distances, he has competed in more than 200 triathlons, including some Ironman-distance triathlons.
“I’ve always been an athlete,” Evans said in a phone interview Thursday from Palm Coast Fire Station No. 22, as he just returned from his third call in less than 1.5 hours.
He began competitive swimming at age 5. After swimming all through high school, Evans was named an All-American water polo player at Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton.
His first triathlon came when he was 15. He said he did it simply to see how well he could perform and for a sense of accomplishment. From then until about 23 years old, he did one or two triathlons each year.
After college, however, he got serious.
During the season, Evans said he trains seven days a week, which includes running, swimming and biking. But he also does a lot of cross-training, such as mountain biking, white-water rafting and weightlifting.
“I’m never doing the same thing twice,” Evans said. “I believe in the principle of muscle confusion.”
Evans said what he likes most about being a tri-athlete is that the training isn’t monotonous. Rather than focusing completely on swimming, for example, as a tri-athlete he is able to focus on three aspects in addition to whatever cross-training he does.
“That’s the nice part about being involved in so many different sports,” Evans said. “It’s something I enjoy, but it’s also because I’m not stuck. I’m always doing something different."
Being ranked No. 1 in the world the past seven years, Evans knows that someday, his body will no longer be able to compete at such a high level. Until then, though, he’s going to keep swimming, biking and running.
“As long as the legs and the joints keep working, I plan on doing it as long as possible,” he said. “It truly is a lifestyle. It becomes such a large facet of how you live your life.”
And that’s good news for Palm Coast residents, too.
“Being in shape and taking care of yourself pays dividends for me and for the people of Palm Coast,” Evans said.
