Sep 2, 2025 4 min read

By John Sacco

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

When this year’s first graders share their summer adventures, not too many will pull out a national championship gold medal.

Carmen Vavra will.

The recently turned 7-year-old won the USA Triathlon Youth and Junior Nationals in West Chester, Ohio.

Vavra, a first grader at Ringgold Elementary School North, became a Triathlon athlete just a little more than a year ago.

A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling and running with various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included.

Vavra is off to a great start in an event her father, James, competed in with great success in his younger days.

She hones her swimming skills with the Mon Valley Sharks of the Mon Valley YMCA and developed her running skills and lowered her times after attending a speed camp held at Chartiers-Houston High School during the summer.

Andrea Vavra, Carmen’s mom, wrote a letter to Laura Montecalvo, the Chartiers-Houston girls basketball coach and speed camp coordinator, to let her know of her daughter’s success.

“Speed camp truly helped her improve her speed, fitness, and mental toughness,” Andrea wrote to Montecalvo. “We’re so grateful to you and all the coaches for the time, effort, and heart you put into creating such a wonderful program for the kids.”

Montecalvo is not surprised at the girl’s great success.

“She was there every session and she worked extraordinarily hard and you know our speed camp is not easy and it’s not for everyone. And the fact was Carmen was a 6-year-old girl. She was able to do it and complete everything with a smile on her face, nonetheless, which is a feat in and of itself.

“Not many 6-year-olds who I know would be able to do what she did through the summer and during our program. I said, she’s just joyful, sweet, happy and such a hard worker.”

Vavra, a humble sort, said she needs to improve in all three phases of the event but that motivation will help her to work hard on getting better.

“I was really proud of myself and I was really grateful that my parents supported me and taught me how to do these things,” she said. “My swim team is really important because I’m not that good at swimming.

“My dream is to go to the Olympics and win a world championship.”

“Carmen is a fierce, fierce competitor in all senses of the word,” said Liz Sprowls, the Mon Valley Sharks’ coach. “She has discipline as well and humility, which is probably why she downplays her swimming ability. She is without a doubt one of the most talented 8-and-under swimmers on our team. She has been swimming competitively for one year. In just the YMCA space, she placed first in a backstroke event in our novice division, which was our 8-and-under championship meet this March.

“Within one year, she was at the top of her age group in YMCA swimming in Western Pennsylvania. She is a phenomenal little girl. She loves to work hard. She loves a good challenge. She has progressed in one year’s time in terms of speed and endurance and technique.”

James Vavra, a 1987 graduate of Ringgold and a Finleyville native, is amazed by his daughter’s abilities and commitment. He was an outstanding triathlete, racing professionally, after moving from the area to South Carolina, where he lived for about 25 years.

He and Andrea offer support.

“What she accomplished blew my mind,” James Vavra said. “She’s very determined and whatever she’s set her mind to, she can do it. I was very proud and happy that I’m passing on a good thing, a life skill of swimming to my daughter. I hope this will blossom her whole life.”

Andrea Vavra credits the family’s hiking and walking outings for helping in Carmen’s athletic pursuits.

“She competed in some local triathlons and she just fell in love with the sport and then she started with swimming, which was very helpful for her,” Andrea Vavra said. “The speed camp really helped her.

“Carmen learned to ride her bicycle at 4-years-old in the parking lot of her school. She had always done well around here and we all decided to give the national level a try.”