Blind triathlete provides inspiration

Every time I’m on my high horse I quickly get bucked off.

It’s a been trend throughout my life, and it happened again on Oct. 11 when I met Amy Dixon. I thought I had overcome a lot in life until I heard Dixon’s story at a press conference before the 2018 Sarasota-Bradenton Triathlon Festival, held Oct. 13-14 at Nathan Benderson Park.

Dixon, who is a two-time International Triathlon Union world champion, is the defending champion in the festival’s Paratriathlon Visually Impaired division, finishing the 16-mile course in 1:20:44. Last year's event was changed from a triathlon to a run-bike-run event because of high algae content in Benderson Park Lake. That happened again this year.

At the press conference, the 37-year-old Dixon was flanked by her sighted race guide, Kirsten Sass, and her guide dog, a 6-year-old German Shepherd named Woody. When the press conference was over, Dixon got up to leave when a photographer asked her to stay seated because he was taking a photo.

“I’m blind, I didn’t notice,” Dixon said with a laugh to the photographer.

The Pound Ridge, N.Y., native has glaucoma and the less-common uveitis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the eye wall’s tissue. She’s been dealing with the conditions since she was 22 and has lost 98% of her vision. The combination of conditions has led to Dixon having 29 eye surgeries and undergoing both chemotherapy and steroid treatment. By 2013, Dixon said, the treatments had caused her to gain 70 pounds.

She decided she needed to find a way to feel more "like herself." She started slow, running on treadmills, before working her way to swimming. She was soon pushed by her friend and guide Caroline Gaynor to try a triathlon in Westchester County, N.Y. Dixon finished 16th out of 41 runners in that race. All things considered, that was a good result. 

Dixon was hooked, and well, look at her now. These days, Dixon partners with Sass, as she has for the last 18 months, and they make a great pair.

Well, mostly.

“She hasn’t killed me yet,” Dixon said.

Sass joked that having two kids makes it easier to look out for Dixon, who tries to get in front of Sass during races despite not being able to see the course. The pair enjoy the same foods (burgers and cookies) and greatly respect each other’s athletic abilities.

“There’s a lot that we take for granted,” Sass said. “Think about it: She (Dixon) can’t see where she’s swimming in open water. I’m always inspired by her.”

The pair has been through a lot in their time together, but the 2017 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was the most precarious, they said. Leading up to the race, Dixon had been dealing with a hernia. During the biking portion, it popped out.

“You have to get that thing back in there!” Sass yelled at Dixon.

Dixon rode the rest of the race with a hand on her abdomen, holding the hernia in. She still finished fifth.

Dixon, now 37, said she loves the course at Benderson Park because the sight lines for Sass are excellent. The better Sass can see the upcoming turns, etc., the better Dixon will do. The pair proved their prowess again at this year’s festival, with Dixon finishing second (1:07.40), 28 seconds behind Elizabeth Baker, on Oct. 14. 

This is what living is all about. Dixon could have let her eye conditions ruin her life. Instead, she's turned them into a strength of sorts. I'll think about her story the next time hit a bump in the road, and I hope you will, too.