Sawyer Willingham: Driven to Excel

Sawyer Willingham likes to run. And swim. And cycle. On the same day, if possible. This is not unusual for a 15-year-old boy. The thing about Sawyer is, he’d like to wrap up doing all three in about an hour.

Another thing Sawyer likes to do is win. A lot. Against the best competition the country has to offer. This past summer, in fact, the Mauldin High sophomore went three-for-three, taking first place at the three top youth triathlons in the country in Des Moines, Seattle and San Diego. By itself, such success is remarkable. But what makes Sawyer a truly special youngster is that his motivation to succeed comes entirely from within.

His parents John and Gretchen are the first to admit it.

“Most kids needs to be pushed, by their parents or someone else,” John said. “But Sawyer pushes himself. He is an extremely focused kid.”

Gretchen said, “Some of the other parents at the triathlons ask us how we get him to train and that’s the thing, we don’t. He does it all himself.”

Gretchen knew from the time Sawyer was still in diapers that there was something different about him, but something that was also very familiar to her.

“When he was two, I could tell he had a one-track mind. And he gets it from his grandfather.”

Sawyer’s grandfather is a professional trombone player who’s performed with Chicago Symphony.

When Sawyer was just five, he joined Y-Spartaquatics Swim Club, a move that continues to benefit him. John, who is a triathlete himself, believes the club has challenged Sawyer both mentally and physically.

“When you swim four miles a day you develop endurance and routine,” John said. “I think it’s what made him a successful athlete.”

Sawyer prefers swimming the most of the three disciplines in the triathlon, but he is well aware of how Y-Spartaquatics has improved his running and biking.

“We have two-hour practices and I just learned to get something out of practice every day,” he said.

Sawyer first started competing outside the pool at a 5K run in Greenville and not long after that, he and his father competed at the Festival of Flowers Triathlon in Greenwood. Despite competing in the cycling portion on a Huffy mountain bike, Sawyer performed quite well. He’s been hooked ever since and has upgraded his equipment.

His steady improvement is something his dad has witnessed first-hand.

“We started out as triathletes together and we both got better at it,” John said.

John’s times have gotten steadily lower, but not at the pace Sawyer’s have. “He was beating me by five minutes, and then eight and then 10 and then 12,” said John with a laugh. “I’m happy to be his cheerleader now.”

2011 would be Sawyer's last year at the Youth level and he wanted to make it memorable. In order to do that, he knew he had to raise his training level. Previously, he reached out to his dad for advice on such matters, but even John admitted, “I think maybe he was just being polite. It was his decision to get in touch with Rick.”

Rick is Rick Kattouf, CEO of Team Kattouf a Greenville-based coaching service that helps prepare elite multi-sport athletes for competition. Considering that Sawyer won all three national events while training with Kattouf, the moved paid off.

Kattouf, like just about everyone else, was impressed with Sawyer from the start.

“We hit it off right away,” Kattouf said. “Not just with Sawyer, but with the whole family.”

Kattouf said that in addition to refining his training regimen, Sawyer also was helped by working out with older, elite athletes.

“The positive attention he gets from them is important, like it would be for any young athlete,” Kattouf said.

That has cut both ways, as Sawyer has impressed the older athletes, too.

“He’s opened the eyes of so many people here,” Kattouf said. “You don’t come across young people who are as focused as he is.”

In August, Sawyer’s focus and training were put to the test at the USA Tri Youth Elite Nationals in San Diego. As the top seed, Sawyer had first choice on where he would start the swimming portion of the event. So, he had to walk down to the swimming area by himself with all eyes — particularly those of his competitors — literally on him.

Despite his accomplishments, Sawyer has a very unassuming demeanor and, according to Kattouf, is somewhat small in size compared to most 15-year-olds. The significance of that moment in San Diego could have intimidated a lot of other athletes, but Sawyer seized it and used it as the catalyst to victory.

“That’s when it kind of hit me where he was at in terms of his ability level,” John said.

Shortly after Nationals, Sawyer started school and the cross-country season under coach Delmer Howell at Mauldin High. In November, he’ll start swim season. He is continuing to weight train and work part-time at Carolina Triathlon in Greenville. Somehow, he still finds time to keep his A average in honors and AP classes.

Next year, Sawyer will be competing against athletes who are older and stronger than he is and at distances double to what he did this year: 750k (swim), 20k (cycling), and 5k (run). Nevertheless, he is confident that the training sessions with Kattouf will have him ready.

Sawyer said he tries to keep in the moment as much as possible, but he does have his eye on a unique program being offered at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. It’s a scholarship opportunity for premier triathletes to study and train together. There are only three spots available. Given what he’s accomplished thus far and his phenomenal ability to focus, achieving that goal seems more likely than far-fetched.

While Sawyer’s mom Gretchen beams with pride when talking about him, he shares the spotlight with his three sisters: Payton who attends Mauldin Middle School and is on the varsity cheer team; and Molly and Madison, who attend Denison University and The Asheville School, respectively.

“All of our kids have unique abilities and they’ve found things they’ve liked,” Gretchen said. “That’s all a parent can ask for.”