COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — To watch Andy Potts coach paratriathletes at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is a study in discipline, focus, and determination.
In January, he was named the new coach of USA Triathlon's Paratriathlon Resident Team. One of those residents is Lucas Jundt, who is training for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Jundt was born with a condition called bilateral Fibular Hemimelia and is missing both fibula bones in his legs. But that does not stop him from competing in the pool, on a bike, or on a track.
"There's just that determination of you can play the victim, or you can be something that people can look at and be like oh my gosh, maybe I have a child like this and show him, hey, look, there's this kid doing this," Jundt said.
When we met Jundt, he had been training with Potts for two months. Jundt says the most important thing he has learned from Potts is to be patient and enjoy the process.
"I've been told that all my life, since I've joined adaptive sports, I tend to rush the process, but he's really helped me to know that if you don't slow down the process in triathlon, you will burn out so fast and you won't be able to achieve what you want to achieve," Jundt said.
Lessons Potts learned over decades of work. His first time in the pool was at five years old at the Hershey Aquatic Center in Pennsylvania.
"I worked with this guy named Rusty," said Potts. "He taught me how to swim. Great instructor, real raspy voice."
Potts says for years, he rode the coattails of his older sister, Alice.
"I just followed her along, two years older than me, and she would go and excel and I was just like, 'Oh, I want that,'" said Potts.
By the time he was 12 years old, Potts decided he would one day become an Olympian.
"In 1988 I watched Janet Evans and Matt Biondi excel at the Seoul summer Olympic Games, and I said, 'That's what I want to do. I want to be an Olympian, and I want to win gold medals,'" said Potts.
In 2004, Potts found himself at the starting line at the summer games in Athens.
"I remember the emotion of it all," said Potts. "That childhood dream at 12 years old manifested itself, and I ended up coming out of the water first. So I was like, 'Hey, I achieved my childhood dream in the middle of the race.'"
He's also been the World Champion IRONMAN 70.3, won the full 140.6 mile IRONMAN triathlon eight times, and he won gold at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"Early in my career, with some naivete involved, I just wanted to be better than you, I wanted to go out and just beat my competition," said Potts. "At some point, through the trajectory of the years and the seasons, the career became about being the best version of me."
Potts credits his parents with helping him get there.
"They were the ones who instilled the most core characteristics inside of me that sports gave the opportunity to express," Potts said. " Discipline, perseverance, hard work, concentration, just how to be focused, all these things, These are the mental pieces of the game with a character acumen to it where it's like treat others, how you want to be treated, show everybody respect, demand the most of yourself, demand better."
Now, that best version of himself is about being the best coach he can be. Whether he is leading running clubs for kids, or helping athletes with Olympic dreams, Potts is using his retirement to master a new craft.
"I spent my career juggling sports and when the time to retire professionally from racing came, it wasn't about choosing a simpler life, it was about choosing a life where i could teach," Potts said. "I always wanted to be a teacher. I always wanted to help other people and I've been blessed with having great coaches, fantastic world class coaches, and I think it's my turn to coach the next generation and future generations."
To learn more about Andy click here.
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