Triathlete Erba Earns Pair Of National Championships
WARSAW – Anyone who knows Scott Erba knows that he does not settle for less than his best.
His best was good enough this past weekend to make him a two-time national champion in the triathlon.
Erba, who serves as the Health/Physical Education Department Leader at WCHS, outperformed some of the nation’s best triathletes to earn a pair of national titles in his 44-49 age group in the USA Triathlon National Championships held in Omaha.
“It’s still a bit surreal,” said Erba in a phone interview earlier today as he prepared for the first day of school on Wednesday. “It feels really good and really is exciting to know that I was able to race versus some of the highest guys in the nation and win.
“The word I would use to describe how I feel is validating. This validates the effort, both physically and mentally, that I have given the last year to prepare for this event. Like I said, it just feels really good.
“I feel fortunate to win both of the events. When I was younger and doing this, I put a lot into the win, win, win part of it. With maturity and being older, now I try to put it into perspective. It’s about training and preparing the best that I can and going out there and doing as well as I can.”
Erba, who gave up coaching both the outstanding girls cross country and track programs at WCHS to get back into competition, won both the Olympic Distance (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run) and the Sprint Distance (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) championships.
“I did not know that I had won when I crossed the finish line,” explained Erba. “I knew that I felt good about my races. I felt good about the combination of my bike, swim and run and the consistency of them. I felt like there was not much more that I could have given.”
Erba shared that his wife Karen, who was back home in Winona Lake, knew before he did that was a national champion.
Erba, who arrived back home at 3 a.m. Monday, was the also the Masters Champion in the Sprint Race and third overall in the Olympic race for Masters. He placed 22nd overall among 2,000 competitors in the Olympic Race and 23rd overall among 1,050 triathletes in the Sprint Race. He also received the Doug Smith “Performance” Award after Sunday’s race. The honor is given to the top inspiring performance on the day.
Erba had trained for the Nationals for the last year, logging between 15-25 hours each week on his training routine. He has also won every area triathlon that he has entered, including the Optimist Triathlon back in June in Winona Lake, since he has returned to competition.
“This is really a sport for everyone of all ages,” noted Erba. “It’s a lot of fun for me to connect with the people who are out there competing, no matter what their age or their ability level. I take motivation and inspiration from a lot of the people who I see that are out there doing this.”
The highly-motivated and driven Erba, who is 48, is ready to get started preparing for his next event.
“My body feels pretty good today,” noted Erba. “I’m ready to get back on the bike and get to my running group tonight to get back to it. It’s exciting to have accomplished this, but I’m looking forward to future opportunities.”
Erba, whose only other foray at the Nationals came way back in 1993 (when he said that he placed like 17th in his age group), will take part in the Barron Lake Triathlon in Niles on Aug. 26. His main focus now though is on the Ultra Distance National Championships set for Sept. 16 in Oklahoma City.
“This (the two national titles) ranks right up there with any accomplishments that I have had,” concluded Erba.