2025 Ambassadors

Hi, I’m Aaron! I joined GGTC in 2019, right before the Pandemic. This was after falling in love with open water swimming, joining friends on their ALC training rides, and doing my first sprint triathlon. I spotted the club logo in Marin and realized there were triathlon clubs and I didn’t have to train alone. I joined as a guest for an AP swim (my first perimeter) and track, and I was sold!

GGTC became a big part of my life and I became an Ambassador in 2022 in order to give back to the club. I never guessed my triathlon journey would include five Olympic triathlons, three Half Ironmans, two sprints, Escape from Alcatraz, two six mile long Bridge to Bridge swims and even a FULL IRONMAN (IMCA) in 2024.

Highlights of GGTC have been Training Weekend in the woods, bonding during the training programs (SDP and LDP), track and Kezar beers afterwards, and leading the winter sunset swims at Aquatic Park with my fellow polar bears.

I also captain and play on tennis teams (my first sport), am a member of SERC, and am currently privately coached by Megan Tobin (TMT.) For work, I compose music and make sounds for video games (beep bop boop!) This year I am especially excited to have been voted on as the A-Team leader, representing our fantastic team on the board.

Hi everyone! My name is Adam, and I’m thrilled to give back to GGTC as an Ambassador for 2025. I moved to San Francisco from Boston in 2015 and have been getting more into outdoor fitness ever since. I love the weather here so triathlons are a perfect way to enjoy it!

Joining the Golden Gate Triathlon Club (GGTC) in 2024 was a game-changer for me. It’s been great connecting with a community of like-minded individuals (and with people to hold me accountable on mornings when I’d rather sleep in!). I only wish I had joined sooner!

Since beginning my triathlon journey, I’ve completed several Olympic-distance races and the Santa Cruz 70.3. For 2025, my goals include racing a few more Olympic-distance triathlons (including Tahoe!), beating my time at Santa Cruz 70.3, and being more consistent with a 5:30 am wakeup time for dawn patrol Hawk Hill rides. I’m also working on convincing my siblings to team up for a 70.3 relay back east. Outside of triathlon, I’m planning to get back into backpacking in the Sierras and incorporating it into my training routine.

As a GGTC Ambassador, I’m excited to help others experience the incredible camaraderie of this club, discover the joys of triathlon, and embrace outdoor fitness. You’ll often find me on weekend group rides, scouting out bakeries and pastry pit stops along the way. Hope to see you out there!

Hello everyone! I’ve been a proud member of GGTC since the summer of 2019, and I’m thrilled to join the A-Team to help make this incredible club even better.

My triathlon journey began back in high school when I wrote “Complete an Ironman” on a bucket list. I started chasing that dream in 2017 by signing up for Santa Cruz 70.3. Little did I know that triathlon would become such a huge part of my life and, let’s be honest, my entire personality! Over the years, I’ve gone from just trying to finish races to setting aggressive time goals—and I’ve learned a lot along the way, including how not to under-fuel a full-distance Ironman.

GGTC has been a game-changer for me, helping me grow as an athlete and connect with so many amazing people. As an ambassador, I’m here to support everyone, no matter their personal goals—whether you’re striving to win the race or just to finish it. I also try to keep in mind that we’re all here to have fun and enjoy the journey, because at the end of the day, that’s what makes this sport so rewarding.

Outside of triathlon, I love backpacking, camping, savoring great coffee, and hanging out with my dog. I can’t wait to continue contributing to this incredible community as an ambassador!

Growing up in Philadelphia, I played on a few sports teams growing up, but by middle school and college, I had switched entirely to dance (except for one season on the swim team, just for a change of pace). After college, I occasionally thought running might be fun, but it usually took about two runs to register that I just really didn’t enjoy it. Biking was something I did to commute places, but never more than a mile or two.

I signed up for my first triathlon in Philadelphia with a friend as something we thought would be fun – the swim was in a pool, I rode a bike older than me, and I’m pretty sure that was the first time I ran a 5K straight through. However, I was never really hooked and ended up not racing the following year despite registering. I didn’t think much about triathlon again – until I stumbled upon the Women’s Tri Together (WTT) Program and GGTC while searching for pools in the San Francisco. Fast forward two years, and I’ve now completed my first Olympic and 70.3 distance triathlons, plus my first half marathon—something I never thought I’d say, especially as someone who truly detested running (turns out, I just really hate the first two miles).

GGTC has been a place of fun, friends, and fitness for me – and, without a doubt, the most supportive, welcoming, and friendly community I’ve ever been a part of. I’m excited to help others at the back of the pack find their running groove, cause a little chaos during snake swimming drills, and encourage everyone to do the hard things—because sometimes, they’re a lot of fun when you’ve got the right friends running (and biking, and swimming) alongside you.

Originally from SoCal, I moved up here for college and fell in love with San Francisco for the easy access it provides to the outdoors. I’ve been doing tris for almost 15 years and it has never lost its charm. I don’t excel in any particular sport and yet I love them all, even when it’s Type 3 fun. It’s the people that make all the difference — they provide the inspiration, the accountability and the support. Some of my closest friends are those I met here. The sport itself as well as the community I built at GGTC is invaluable. It truly takes a village to provide not only the number of events, but the high quality at which each one of them is delivered. I love seeing the variety of workouts on the calendar and it never ceases to amaze me at the dedication that the BOD and Ambassadors consistently brings to the club. I’m thrilled to be part of the A-team this year and look forward to meeting each and every one of you!

Howdy! I’m Blake and I grew up just outside of beautiful Denver, Colorado. My background is mainly in swimming and I swam competitively in Boulder for about 10 years.

My Triathlon journey began in 2024 after a 4-year hiatus from swimming. I decided to jump back in the water but quickly realized I wanted a new type of event to train for. In March I purchased my first ever road bike and I remember being so overwhelmed by the amount of things I needed to learn. 3 months later I completed my first century and 3 months after that I finished my first Olympic triathlon in Santa Cruz after training as a part of the Short (Speed) Distance Program.

Outside of doing crazy things like swimming in the bay, I work in structural engineering making sure buildings don’t fall down here in the Bay Area.

GGTC is such an amazing community and I can’t wait to meet, train, and cheer you all on this year!! I’m also excited to hopefully make swimming more approachable (even fun perhaps).

I’m a New Yorker who moved to the Bay in 2022. I fell in love with running during an earlier stint in San Francisco (2017-2019). Every Saturday morning, I’d run from my apartment in Excelsior to Ocean Beach, to start the weekend off with a runner’s high, waves, and some hot Irish tea.

When I moved back to New York from SF (2019-2022) I kept running, often through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park or to Brighton Beach. I ran my first marathon, Chicago, in 2021. I joined GGTC in 2023 looking for a community of distance runners. You can often find me on the trails.

I started competing in triathlons through GGTC’s fantastic Women Tri Together program. When I started, I barely knew how to swim or bike (notoriously I showed up to the polo fields with a zip tie still on the wheels of my commuter bike). So don’t be afraid to ask me questions! I want to make all three sports fun and approachable.

Hey there fellow Tri Nerds!

I’m Chris Fuentes or simply known as “Fuentes”, mostly because everywhere you turn there tends to be another “Chris” waiting to greet you. I’m excited to be part of the A-team to support this amazing club that has added so much to my life. I’ve been in the sport of triathlon for over a decade since my days on the Cal Triathlon Team, “Go Bears”. As an ambassador, my goal is to motivate, teach, and learn from our members as we embark on this journey together.

Triathlon first caught my eye in 2019 when my sister completed Ironman Maryland. At the time I couldn’t exactly comprehend what she was attempting. 2.4 mile swim? I thought swimming was measured in yards. 112 mile bike? I’d ridden 8-10ish with my mom that one time. 26.2 mile run? I could barely remember my best 5k. All in the same day? And where’d all these people come from?

I wasn’t new to the concept though. I swam in college and cherished the feelings of team camaraderie, intense training, and rewarding performances. As a sport that shaped my identity since the age of 5, I couldn’t understand the common nature of abandoning it entirely upon graduating. It was shortly after that I discovered GGTC, an amazing community complete with new people, new athletic disciplines, and new opportunities to pursue sports in my “adult” life just as I had growing up.

And oh boy, I love every part of it. To include the necessary list of experiences: 2023 Napa Oly, Santa Cruz 70.3, 2024 Oceanside 70.3, Escape Alcatraz, Ironman California, and Worlds 70.3. But personally, the real joy comes from the everyday: running in a fast, tight pack at Wednesday track, diving into the Tam pool on a sunny Sunday morning, and cruising through Marin to the sound of flying freehubs as the pastry shops grow near.

This year I’m excited to be your ambassador! If you have adventurous ideas, niche interests, or diabolical concepts of type 2 “fun” to bestow upon this quirky club, then let’s chat (over a Kezar Pub beer, of course ;).

I joined GGTC in mid-2023, shortly after moving to San Francisco from New Zealand. Over the years I’d played a wide range of sports to stay fit, but I was looking for a new challenge. I completed my first Olympic-distance triathlon with the Women Tri Together program and not long after, signed up for my first 70.3. Within six months I’d completed three 70.3s. I guess you could say I was hooked! I love the social aspect of GGTC and I’ve made so many amazing friends through the club.

I’m super excited to be an ambassador this year, and I can’t wait to train and race together!

I have been a GGTC member since 2021 and on the Ambassador’s team since 2022, and I absolutely love this community of crazy, fun athletes! I grew up in Sweden, where I was swimming competitively from a young age. After having to quit swimming because of a knee injury, I took a couple of years off and eventually got back to recreational swimming, and even tried running for the first time and got hooked right away!

I discovered open water swimming through an open water race in my hometown, and completed my first OW race in 2016. A couple of years later I moved to San Francisco and fell madly in love with swimming in the Bay. I have since completed the Alcatraz swim, Golden Gate Bridge Swim, Bay Bridge Swim and the Bridge-to-Bridge and did my first marathon swim in 2022, 12mi true width of Lake Tahoe.

I joined GGTC as I was seeking a new community, and a new challenge – triathlon! I have participated in the summer Short distance program in 2021 (to prepare for my first Olympic tri), three rounds of the Long Distance Program to prepare for my Ironman 70.3 races, the trail program, and the CIM program to get ready for my first marathon in 2023. You’ll usually find me at track on Wednesdays, the Twin Peaks Friday run, riding around Marin on the weekends, or somewhere in the Bay!

Hey GGTC! I’m Josh, born and raised in San Francisco (yes in the city, the actual city), though I’ve lived all over the country. When I moved back to SF, I joined GGTC to make some friends—and what a ride it’s been!

I’ve been active my whole life, with biking being my true passion. I’ve done: BMX, downhill, mountain, road racing, crits and taken some high speed falls as well as been hit by a car, but it hasn’t stopped me. Running has been in my life for years, but swimming? That was the new frontier, and then I found myself swimming at AP in the winter. I’m smarter now, sorry Aaron.

Four years later, I’m thrilled to be an ambassador! I was GGTC’s first male captain of WWT and love helping others. Got questions? Need advice? I don’t have all the answers but I got resources—just ask!

Hi! I’m an SF native who joined GGTC post pandemic in an effort to finally try out tri, which had always seemed like the most difficult and intimidating sport to someone who was definitely not an endurance athlete- I grew up playing volleyball my whole life. Jumping into open water swimming (now that I know I won’t drown though it’s rare you’ll catch me at AP), cycling while clipped in, and longer distance running (and all the requisite gear purchases ofc) has only been possible w the encouragement and support of GGTC’rs! I’ve done just about every program the club offers (except LDP… we’ll see if 2025 becomes my long distance year) and keep surprising myself w the ability to go further faster.

I’m a big foodie and SF is a great food city, so I will always say yes to a workout that centers around a cafe stop or meal. Love to give recs to spots around the city and Bay Area so hmu if coffee and pastry quality is a top priority for you too!

Three sports are not quite enough for me (or being a jack of all trades is my excuse for being master of none), so also spend time on skiing, volleyball, pickle balling, strength training, climbing & paddling. Excited to narrow my focus in 2025 enough to make a jump up from my comfort zone of either half marathons or Oly to a longer distance… LMK which race in Northern CA is is your favorite 70.3 or marathon!

I joined GGTC in the height of the pandemic, and even though life looks a lot different now, my days are still mostly filled with time outdoors with my San Francisco sports family. I joined the club to help train for a race, but the training is secondary to the friends and community here.

I’ve always played sports, focusing on tennis until discovering triathlon in college. In the years since graduating I got to know Aquatic Park, Bay Area bike rides, and long runs through Golden Gate Park, but often on my own. When a friend encouraged me to join GGTC in 2021 I went to one Tuesday night swim and I was hooked! Since joining the club I’ve made new friends, taken up new hobbies (surfing anyone?), and run faster than I ever imagined possible. I’ve been part of the Board of Directors for two years and I am excited to continue paving the future for GGTC as an ambassador in 2025. Join me for an AP swim any time!

I am Krishna. And I am living in peak happiness right now. I love the city and its access to outdoors. I live near the Embarcadero and frequently find myself running/biking on Embarcadero and asking “How is my life so good right now!?”

Exercising and spending time with club members gives me lots and lots of positive energy and I am grateful for finding this community. Although I love working out, I don’t enjoy racing much. The logistics is too much for my small brain. My preferred workouts are long and slow for all three sports.

I grew up in India (Chennai and Mumbai). I grew up swimming. When I realized I wasn’t good at it, I switched to waterpolo. When I realized I wasn’t good at that either, I switched to triathlons. When I realize I am not good at this … well, good thing I don’t race, so I won’t find out! I also don’t record my metrics/stats. I don’t have a watch. I am not on Strava. I go by feel.

My favourite post-work meal is Mexican food.

Growing up in an athletic family, I quickly learned that traditional sports were not for me when the only points I scored in my first basketball league were for the wrong team. Any athleticism I hopefully inherited would need to be channeled towards activities that didn’t require hand/eye coordination – luckily, something clicked for me in swim lessons and I fell into year-round competitive swimming almost accidentally. In middle school, I started running cross-country, and was impressed by how well the two sports complimented each other. After years and years of ignoring my running and swimming coaches telling me I should try triathlon, a very long swimming hiatus, a few half marathons and one full, and a pandemic Peloton purchase, I finally decided that I was hopefully coordinated enough to figure out this bike thing!

I started swimming again in December 2022, and it’s hard to spend any time at a pool in SF and not hear about GGTC. After looking into the club, I found the Women Tri Together program and was sold from the first info session. Since then I’ve done the program twice, captained once, joined the long distance program, and completed two Olympic and two 70.3 races. Needless to say, I caught the bug!

Above all, this club has given me an incredible community filled with the best people. I’m so excited to be an ambassador in 2025 and help others get started in their triathlon journey and catch the bug too!

Hola! I grew up in sunny San Diego doing sports recreationally and have always loved being active. Injuries from running opened my world to non impact sports—thus Triathalon. I joined GGTC in Feb 2024, after doing my first olympic tri in Santa Cruz in 2023. I felt welcomed upon joining, and am so grateful to the many folks who shared their excitement and knowledge of the Triathalon world. This propelled me in 2024 to finish more firsts: 70.3 Morro Bay and IronMan California! In 2025, I hope to explore new paths for trail running, biking, and hiking—and try new recipes for baking & cooking! I am also a teacher, educator, and now coach to teachers in SFUSD!

I believe anyone can succeed (at Triathalon or their personal goals) with determined belief, time, and equitable access to resources. My hope as an ambassador is to welcome all athletes no matter the skill with uplifting energy and spirit. You can find me running around SF, trying new restaurants and bakeries, and doing my best to not get injured while multitasking. I’m almost always down to try anything once so share your ideas for a new adventure or just say hello 🙂

At the start of 2020 I quite literally couldn’t run a full block without stopping. When the pandemic hit, I googled “can’t run want to run” and decided to give sports a go. Running quickly became an addiction and I picked up biking a year later (it’s really hard not to in this city). Then on Presidents’ Day in 2023 I accidentally showed up for a Monday Fatcake ride not realizing it would be cancelled due to the holiday. Only one other person arrived and, after telling me “two people makes a group ride,” she spent the entire rest of our ride convincing me I could do a triathlon. Enter: GGTC!

I was lucky enough to join this stellar organization through the Women Tri Together program in July 2023. One Oly, two 70.3s, and a 50K later, my year and a half in this club has been full of countless adventures with people I now can’t imagine my life without. GGTC’s community is insanely encouraging, supportive, and inspiring.

I’m so excited to be on your Ambassador Team to continue building the welcoming environment I’ve been lucky enough to feel in this club. You can always find me at Wednesday track, Friday Twin Peaks run, and our weekend rides, so please come up and say hi!

Triathlon has taught me that it’s never too late to try new things – can’t wait to keep that theme rolling with you all in 2025! 🙂

I’m a California native who grew up always looking for ways to spend time outside, even if sports wasn’t something that came naturally to me. I ran cross-country in High School, used biking mostly just to get around, and learned to swim so far as I wouldn’t drown. When I moved back to the Bay Area after grad school, I fell in love with cycling, logging long hours crisscrossing the coastal mountains chasing long climbs and longer descents.

Given that I was only one sport away, triathlons were something that I wanted to do at some point, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. After recovering from an injury and looking for new challenge at the beginning of 2024, I joined GGTC as a way to have that support. Immediately after attending a Wednesday track, spring training weekend, and getting over my fear of swimming at Tam High practice, I felt at home with such an amazing and friendly group of people. The rest of the year was a blur of continually expanding my comfort zone: my first trail race (Broken Arrow), first 70.3 (Santa Cruz), and first marathon (CIM). Now I’m hooked on that triathlon feeling, and I’m super excited to share that feeling with all of you as an Ambassador for 2025!

When I’m not living the triathlon life, I’m often on my next outdoor experience, travel adventure, or outlet for type 2 fun. Lately that’s involved hiking and mountaineering trips in California and beyond, skiing in Tahoe, and exploring other countries and cultures. It’s extra special if the activity involves good food and great friends – let me know about your next adventure!

My pre-Tri athletic background consisted of running, ultimate frisbee, and a bit of cycling (mostly to breweries). For many years, chasing a spinning piece of plastic around the West Coast fueled my athletic ambitions…until the pandemic hit. All sports ceased, and left a gaping hole in my life. So, I signed up for the 2021 Morro Bay Triathlon having never swum in the ocean before. A key perk of training with a Team was immediately obvious – perhaps there was “safety in numbers” when the seals got hungry!! Since that first race, I’ve been able to represent GGTC at many races, including USAT Nationals and the 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

2024 was my first year as a GGTC Ambassador and I hope to have made some sort of positive impact on your Triathlon journey whether by leading cycling descending clinics, calling out times at Track, leading Cheer Stations for every race I’m not participating in, or distributing squeaky cheese curds from my home state of Wisconsin at every opportunity.

In 2025, I raced with LDP at IM 70.3 St George (May), but then broke my collarbone in a June cycling crash while training for the CA Death Ride – watch out for rocks while descending! Hoping to come back by August and compete at the 2025 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Marbella, Spain!

While not tri’ing, I enjoy watching my bones fuse back together at a record-setting speed, learning sports photography, backpacking in the mountains, skiing at Epic and Ikon-ic resorts, playing in various Ultimate Frisbee tournaments and leagues, and the show Survivor. Yes, it’s still running…!

Let me know if you ever want to push yourself on long bike rides – I’m (usually) down, especially if they have stupidly high gradients and elevation gain (photo: Death Ride 2024 – see you there in 2026?!)

I am from São Paulo and grew up in Minas Gerais, Brazil. I played tennis competitively during elementary and high school. Still, my joy was always found outdoors, hiking the rolling hills of the Atlantic Forest and Tropical Savanna. I moved to SF 6 years ago after a very bohemian Paris experience and slowly got back into a more active lifestyle. While running daily up to Bernal Heights, I discovered my passion for endurance sports. Around 5 years ago, I did a steep increase in running volume and intensity and ran my first half marathon and marathon. To balance my training, I started cycling and swimming in early 2020 and soon realized that I was already hooked on the world of Triathlon. I then joined GGTC and discovered our incredible community of supportive, strong, and fascinating humans. Through the delightfully cold pacific waters and astounding views of the Bay, San Francisco became my beloved home. In the past couple of years, I have been highly focusing on trail running! On the side, I am a Neuroscientist at UCSF with a growing interest in sports science and I also love to take pictures: http://pedrolab.com As part of the 2025 Ambassador’s Team, I aim to keep leading the now iconic Twin Peaks Fridays and the weekly trial adventures in the Headlands!

I joined GGTC in 2023 for the camaraderie and the forced cross-training. I missed my cross-country run&ski team experiences from school, and a runner’s knee injury led me to reluctantly consider the bike/pool lifestyle.

I’m glad I did! I’ve participated in the SDP, WTT, and the Fall Trail Running program, and look forward to LDP in 2025. It has been so fulfilling to improve my swim technique and become a faster cyclist. Now I even look forward to waking up at the crack of dawn for morning bike rides around the city (and pastries, of course).

Outside of the club, I volunteer with a meditation group, stare at birds, and bake like it’s an art not a science. (Also, if you cross-country ski, there are not enough of us in this world, please come speak to me so we can plan the revolution.)

I’m here to answer all the questions you think might be dumb, because I was a beginner not too long ago myself!

I am originally from the Peninsula and moved back to San Francisco after a short stint on the east coast for college. I was a competitive soccer player through college and have always been more suited to power than endurance. After college I took some time to travel and came home in the worst shape of my life. I knew I needed something to work towards, so I signed up for the Wildflower Olympic race in 2018 (the last before its upcoming return from the grave!). I was so uninformed about what I’d gotten myself into that I thought it was in Tahoe and named after the wildflower bakery… Needless to say I learned what bonking was that day.

Fast-forward to 2024. Over the years I’ve learned that what motivates me most is working with and for other people. I did WTT in Spring 2024 and it was all over. I loved the comradery, the support, and the social training. I loved GGTC and the community that constantly inspires me. Every week my barometer of what is possible for myself changes, and that wouldn’t be possible without these amazing people.

Outside of Tri, I am a product manager at a small tech startup and outside of work I love to backpack, backcountry ski, travel, and bake. While I love pushing myself, I’m also learning to balance my hobbies. Deciding to do a shorter race in the Summer was one of the best decisions I could’ve made and kept the training I did do FUN. I’m honored to be part of the A-team this year and can’t wait to ride, run, and mayyyybee swim with y’all!

Hey everyone, I’m Tyler and I like to go FAST! I also enjoy long rides and runs in Z2 when we can chat for hours. But this isn’t a dating profile, as ambassador Olivia McGoffin took me off the market a long time ago.

Speaking of Olivia, she’s the reason I got into Triathlon. I was a wrestler in high school who HATED running, but when Olivia competed in one of her first triathlons, I volunteered to help run it. The vibes were so amazing that I said to her after she finished (and took 2nd in her age group) that I had to get in on the action. 8 weeks later, I competed in my first triathlon: the Alpha Win Fall Napa Olympic Triathlon.

Since then I’ve been hooked, and have since raced in 9 more triathlons, a few footraces, and a century ride, including the Santa Cruz 70.3 and Escape from Alcatraz. I’ve slowly worked up to the age group podium, with a win and two 2nd place finishes to my name, and even won a 5k.

Now, as an ambassador, I want to help you set and smash your training and race goals. I’ve got a ton of experience teaching, mentoring, and coaching people and want to bring that to the team. I want to do this while I continue to improve myself, and perhaps even compete in Nationals or Worlds next year.