Local youth triathlete defends her title at national championships
Carmen Vavra was not sure she was going fast enough in the USA Triathlon Youth & Junior National championships earlier this month in Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio.
She was going plenty fast enough.
Vavra, 8, won her second consecutive national championship, defeating her female competitors in her age group in 20 minutes and 45 seconds, taking three minutes off her winning time in 2025. Her time was faster than boys in the same age group.
“I think it was harder this time because I moved into a new age group.” Vavra said. It’s a bit harder because the kids are older and faster and have a lot more experience.
“I didn’t know that it wasn’t my slowest time because I thought I was going slow. I was going fast. I’m really proud of myself for working hard and putting in the effort to do it. I’m really happy I was able to do it.”
The triathlon consists of a 100-meter swim, 5-kilometer bike and 1-kilometer run. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included.
Vavra continues to train and compete in swimming with the Mon Valley YMCA Sharks, where she develops her swimming skills as an integral part of her triathlon training.
She is also a multidisciplinary athlete who competes in jiujitsu and wrestling with the Ringgold Rams and qualified for the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling state championships this past season.
In addition to her athletic prowess, Vavra is a gifted live painting artist. She performs live paintings at her school, church, and local community events, sharing her artwork with audiences while creating paintings in real time.
The rising second grader’s father, James Vavra, is a 1987 graduate of Ringgold and a native of Finleyville. He was an outstanding triathlete after moving from the area to South Carolina, where he lived for about 25 years.
Carmen Vavra is a student at Ringgold Elementary School North.
Her mother Andrea, along with her father are huge supporters of their daughters’ different interests and her athletic pursuits.
“We’re incredibly proud of her, and we’re just amazed with her determination and hard work and her ability to push through,” Andrea Vavra said. “As she said, it was definitely tougher this year, and I believe the other kids want to beat the competition in their age group, and there were some competitors who raced against her last year. We were definitely able to tell that they trained hard and they were also really well prepared.”