Kelly Handel
Kelly grew up in Zionsville, Indiana, where she swam competitively from a young age. Among dabbling in other sports (track, soccer, gymnastics), she decided to exclusively commit to swimming and this took her to University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana on a swimming scholarship in 1997. She completed a successful career here, including a PR of 16:50 in the mile. Soon after her swimming career concluded, she became involved in triathlon and was invited to the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 2001 to compete on the Resident National Triathlon team to race ITU-style, draft-legal triathlons. This allowed her gain experience in international, world-class competition. She was the 2002 Pan American Champion, a member of the 2002 World Elite Championship team and voted 2002 Elite Rookie of the Year and 3rd overall at the 2006 Mt. Evans hill climb in Idaho Springs, CO. She recently in 2007 posted a PR Half Ironman of 4:26, and in 2008 completed the Austin Marathon, her first one, in 2:54.
She has continued to compete in recent years as a professional triathlete, but has shifted from draft-legal to non-drafting, longer distances as well as running races. In 2005 she began multisport coaching, and has been involved in swim coaching since 2000. She brings to SE a wealth of experience in swimming and triathlon, as well as she is able to utilize her education from Illinois with a B.S. in Kinesiology.
Kelly continues to compete in both triathlons and running races but hopes to continue to be able to help others in endurance sports, especially in the swimming segment of triathlon. This is often times the most ‘intimidating’ aspect of the sport and is where she is most at home…in the water.
EDUCATION
BS Kinesiology University of Illinois
CERTIFICATIONS
ACSM Health & Fitness Instructor
USA Cycling Level 3 Coach