As part of our "industry athlete" series we wanted to know more about the background of Seton Claggett of trisports.com. Seton and his wife Debbie opened trisports.com in Tucson, AZ in 2000, but he did his first triathlon since 1989.
ST: Seton, can you tell us more about your triathlon background?
Seton: When I was a kid we moved from Idaho to Vegas and I played soccer. I played for a couple seasons but wasn’t very good (not so good on the hand eye coordination thing). My dad decided he was going to do a triathlon but needed to work on his swimming so he took me down to the pool at UNLV and he joined the masters team and I “tried out” for the Las Vegas Gold Swim Team. In September of 1987 my dad did his first triathlon and I was in the pool picking up the swim. Luckily there were quite a few, what we called back then, biathlons (swim/runs) for kids so that was my first taste of multisport – I could swim pretty well, and anyone that swam faster than me I would just run down. My first triathlon was in 1989 – a Boy Scout triathlon out at Lake Mead (a modified version of the Bud Light Series triathlon). I used my mom’s 1974 Schwinn World Voyager (the first year Dura Ace was available) – it’s a sweet bike – bar end shifters actually on the bar ends. I got second place in that race, the only guy that beat me was on my swim team and he got me on the bike. The following year I “trained” a bit more on the bike (around my house and out at the Red Rock loop) and ended up beating him. So, to answer your question, I would say I have been involved with triathlon since about 1987. I started getting pretty serious once I finished my BS at the UofA and tackled my first half in 1998.
ST: Your wife Debbie also does triathlons. How do you decide who gets to train/race and who has to work?
Seton: We both do triathlons for fun, but I have the green light when it comes to ramping up to actually racing in them as opposed to just participating. Before we had our son (in 2005), it was pretty easy – we both worked and we both trained. Now, as anyone with kids knows, it is a bit different. Debbie actually did a triathlon when she was 9 months pregnant with our 1st child (we’re expecting our 2nd child and she is going to do a Danskin race next month). We went back and did the same race this past November (it’s on Thanksgiving Day up in the Phoenix area) – but this time daddy got to carry the baby – it is a run, bike, swim so I had Torin (our son) in the jogger, then in the Burley trailer and then he rode on my back in the swim (Debbie took him for 100m b/c she thought I was going too slow).
ST: What race result are you most proud of?
Seton: I am definitely most proud of my Ironman Wisconsin 2006 race. I did the race in 2004 and made a slight mistake on my hydration, or lack thereof, and just suffered. There were several of my friends doing the race and my parents were there to watch me suffer. I was done at that point. My dad had my video camera and I looked right into the thing and told myself that I was done, just as a reminder. I was completely burnt out – not just that race, but racing in general. I took a year off of serious racing and then decided to go back to IMW and redeem myself (obviously paying no attention to that video). The 2006 race was the year it was cold, rainy and windy….all day long. I was 6th out of the water, ended up coming off of the bike in 31st place and finished 33rd. I not only qualified for Kona for my first time, but I also got to visit the podium. That was a huge reward for what basically amounted to 19 years of work.
I also really enjoyed the “World’s Toughest Half” in Auburn. I did it about two years ago and at the time they changed the name to the Auburn International. I’m happy they changed the name back to the World’s Toughest b/c it is one very tough half. It’s one of the few bike courses that you need to have some bike skills. The run is also incredible.
ST: How were you fit to your bike?
Seton: I am constantly tinkering with my fit. I have some back issues that have plagued me since I was a kid so it is a matter of optimizing comfort and power output.
ST: Tell me how much you get to train in mid season?
Seton: Not sure what mid season is – in Tucson it’s always season! When I am actually racing I train about 18-22 hours/week.
ST: What sports did you take part when you grew up?
Seton: I played basketball (and sucked), soccer (a little better, but still sucked), swam on a summer swim team up in the White Mountains of Arizona, and ran a little cross country in high school. My serious athletic background came when I joined the Las Vegas Gold Swim Team. This team was incredible and it was owned by a professional gambler in Vegas. He had kids who swam, and he wanted them to be on the best team in the world. So that’s what he did. When I joined the team the head coach was Rowdy Gaines (’84 Olympic Gold Medalist) and then it was David Marsh (he just left as the head coach of Auburn – one of the greatest coaches ever) and eventually it was Bob Bowman (yes, that is Michael Phelps’ coach and the head coach at Michigan). Needless to say, we had some of the best swim coaches to walk this planet standing on our pool decks. We also had some amazing swimmers on our team. Before the 1992 Olympics, the owner of the team went to a big senior meet, stacked $100,000 cash on a table (with two armed guards) and told anyone at the meet that if they joined our team, and broke a world record, that the money was theirs. $100,000 will get some pretty good swimmers to join a team. The result was that I got to swim with the best coaches and some of the best athletes. No surprise, my swim is my strong point when it comes to triathlon!
ST: Other than your dad, did you have any other inspiration to race triathlons?
Seton: I would watch Ironman on the Wide World of Sports as a kid and decided that it would a good idea. I don’t think I ever sat down and said “I want to be a triathlete,” it just naturally progressed that way.
ST: What is your favorite tip you have for a new triathlete?
Seton: I have two:
1) You have to learn how to go slow before you can go fast.
2) If you can’t do it with a smile you shouldn’t be doing it at all (I got this piece of advice from Rose Stewart (Rose is a legend in this sport – she competed until she was 80 or so) at a café in Vegas the morning before my dad’s first triathlon).
ST: If a customer has only $300 to spend on new speed, what will you tell him/her to get?
Seton: A bike fit and/or a swim analysis. We do swim, bike and run analysis here and when you leave you get to take home a DVD (depending on the package you choose). Our swim DVD shows you swimming, but also shows someone with a good stroke so you can visualize what your goal stroke should be.
ST: What about for $1000?
Seton: It really depends on their current equipment situation. I am straight up when I deal with customers and sell them what they need. If they are new to the sport I am going to sell them a race number belt and the basics and not freak them out with a $3000 wheel set…unless that’s what they want.
ST: Seton you and Debbie founded TriSports.com in 2000. Can you tell us what makes it unique?
Seton: Our focus is on our customers, our employees and the environment. One thing that makes us unique is that since our customers are distributed around the world, we feel that we have a responsibility to those athletes to support the local races they are attending. So, not only do we take care of races in Tucson and around Arizona, we also take care of races around the US and world. Anyone can open up a shop, especially an online shop, and sell stuff. I think it’s what you do with that money that defines you as a person and as a company. Over the last three years we have put over $500,000 back into this sport by supporting “local” races that keep our customers racing. They race, they buy from us, we help out their local races and the cycle continues. The new kid on the block over the last 5 years or so has been the coaches. We have incorporated them into the mix as well – it’s all a symbiotic relationship.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Seton: Not much, outside of swimming, cycling, triathlon and running. I’ve never been a Sports Center guy – my brothers are (I was on ESPN once for IMF and my brothers freaked out). I know a guy that works for an NBA team and he recently told me how they looked into buying Dartfish (the same software we use in the shop for analysis) but they decided not to because of the price (yeah, right), but also because the players wouldn’t use the tool because they all think their game is perfect already. He went on to tell me how they complain that they have to practice 1 hour a day and that they come to practice “not sober.” Wow, $20M a year and you have to go to practice for 1 hour, poor guys.
ST: What is your favorite and least favorite food?
Seton: I pretty much have a seefood diet – I see it, I eat it. My favorite is probably Mexican food (thank goodness I am in Tucson). My least favorite food is eggs.
ST: Do you have a favorite band or artist?
Seton: I will listen to pretty much anything. I like rock, rap, R&B, dance, trance, etc. I don’t have a favorite but my all time tops are Metallica, U2, and The Killers (best Vegas band ever, of course).
ST: What is the last book you read?
Seton: Debbie is the big reader. The last book I read was 1-2-3 Magic … it’s a parenting book. Check back with me in a couple months and I will let you know if it works or not.
ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?
Seton: Wow, that’s quite a question. I can tell you that TriSports.com wouldn’t be where it is today without Debbie, an incredible staff (we are pushing 40 employees), and some really terrific customers!
I am an Entrepreneurial Fellow at the University of Arizona, where I graduated with a BS and MS in Hydrology.
