Inspiration for her family

Theresa Bowden watched the Olympic Games and cheered for 41-year-old swimmer Dara Torres just like countless millions did around the world.

But for Bowden, it was like watching a kindred spirit.

No, the neonatal intensive care nurse and wife of Central Valley High boys track coach Chuck Bowden doesn’t have a case full of Olympic medals the way Torres had going into the Beijing games, but she does know exactly why Torres is back competing against – and leaving in her wake – swimmers more than half her age.

Torres got back into the pool after having a daughter. Bowden did the same after giving birth to identical twin daughters Brianne and Noelle eight years ago.

A swimmer in her youth and an avid runner, Bowden suffered a herniated disc in her back during her pregnancy.

“I kept trying to think of something I could do to help get myself back into shape,” she said. “I couldn’t run anymore. But it hit me that I could get back in the water and swim. So I did.”

Bowden swam and healed. Before long, friends were urging her to give triathlons a try.

“It made sense, they all said,” Bowden recalled. “For most people, swimming is the most intimidating part of doing a triathlon and I was already a strong swimmer. And I liked to run, so it made sense.”

She began training for the Valley Girl triathlon in Liberty Lake.

“Theresa started training during a really tough year for both of us,” her husband said. “We both lost our mothers within six months of each other. That really knocked us both for a loop. I think that when she went out to train, it gave her a chance to find some inner place where she could process what was going on. When you are running or biking long distances like that, you can almost get yourself into a meditative state.

“After Valley Girl, she just found something that she could really turn to.”

Bowden’s Valley Girl experience was so positive that she began thinking about doing more triathlons.

“They do a great job with the Valley Girl – the whole event is so supportive,” she said. “You see two and three generations all doing it together. When you go into the water for the swim, where it’s really crowded, all you hear is people saying, ‘Excuse me, sorry – oh, are you okay?’ It’s all about empowering one another.”

The same is true for other women-only triathlons like the Danskin Series.

“The closest Danskin is in Seattle,” she said. “The incredible thing about that series is that the founder makes sure she flies in for every single race and runs. But she makes sure she’s the last person on the course every time so that no one else ever has to say that they finished last in a Danskin race.”

Longer distances were the next step.

“There are three different distances for triathlons,” she explained. “There’s the sprint triathlon, which is like Valley Girl or Wonder Woman in Medical Lake. Then there’s the Olympic distance or the half-Ironman, which ends with a half-marathon. And then there’s the full Ironman.

“After I did Valley Girl and enjoyed it, I started to think I could go longer. And then longer again. By the time I’d done a half-Ironman, I was hanging out with people who were doing the full thing and they pulled me along.”

Through it all, her family cheered her on.

“At first, I’d go out for a run and the kids would all go “I want to go, too!” she said. “I couldn’t really take them along for a run and still get in the kind of workout that I needed. So I told them they could ride their bikes along with me while I ran. It was fun.

“Then one day my son, Parker, who’s 12, said ‘Mommy, can’t you go any faster?’ ”

Parker and his sister, Erica, 13, both want to run the Valley Kids triathlon. Parker missed out on that event this year, but made up for it by qualifying for the National Junior Olympics finals along with two of his dad’s Central Valley track athletes, Brad Whitley and Greg Barnes.

And while dad steadfastly refuses to run a triathlon, he does make certain he’s at the finish line every time.

“I keep telling my family that they don’t have to go with me every time, but they do,” Theresa said. “They’ve all been so supportive and they’re all so enthusiastic.”

Chuck Bowden has long preached a gospel of health

“I always tell people that what I want for my own kids, and for the kids that compete for me, is that they stay healthy for their whole life,” he said. “That’s what I want for them – to find activities that they can do their whole lives to keep themselves healthy and fit.

“What Theresa has done, not outwardly but through what she does, has helped inspire that in our kids. She’s helped teach the kids that there isn’t anything they can’t try.”

“The one thing that I’ve learned is that you can find time to do something like this if you really want to,” she said. “You can’t get to the point where you’re so busy that you turn inactive.”