5 Things You Didn’t Know About Sarah Groff

Published August 27, 2012 03:57PM

This article was originally published in the July/August 2012 issue of Inside Triathlon magazine.

The July/August Inside Triathlon cover girl, 2012 Olympian Sarah Groff, splits her time between training in Australia and Switzerland and traveling the world for ITU races. After the cover shoot, the dynamic New England native sat down to share her most embarrassing racing moment, what she wanted to be when she grew up and how she got the nickname “Saucy” (it wasn’t just because of her spitfire personality).

1. She doesn’t wash her hair the day before a race. “I always feel like when it’s too clean, my cap doesn’t stay on as well.”

2. She once flashed a fellow triathlete. “I did a race in Ishigaki, and there was this turnaround point, and there was a bolt sticking out, and I cut the corner a little too close and it snagged my suit. I think I still had 7.5K left, and it ripped right about the breast level, so I had to keep on pulling it down so I didn’t expose myself to all of the Japanese spectators. … One of the male athletes had asked me how my race was, and I was dressed at this point, so I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, my suit was ripped. Look!’ [lifting shirt to show kit]. And it had ripped even more.”

3. She has big feet. “I trained with Siri Lindley for a few years, and Lauren Groves (now Campbell) and Mirinda Carfrae and I were staying together in an apartment. They knew I had been in the kitchen because there would be these wet footprints (size 11) on the ground, but they’re massively bigger than those girls’ feet. And I kind of have flat feet, too, so they look like sausages. And they would yell at me for leaving ‘sausage prints’ on the kitchen floor. That became ‘Sausage,’ which has become ‘Saucy.’ They’ll throw out the Sausage every once in a while, but that gets misconstrued. And I get ‘Saucy’ as it applies to my personality—I have a little attitude, you know.”

4. She’s dating a fictional character (not really). “He’s a runner. His name’s Ben True, which sounds like a made-up name. Like you’re writing a book and your hero’s name is Ben True.”

5. She wanted to be an ornithologist when she grew up. “I was obsessed with birds—absolutely obsessed with them. I was a little bird watcher, read books about birds, I had pet birds. I don’t know if I would have a bird now—they’re kind of obnoxious. Actually, I lie, because I want chickens. Lots and lots of chickens running around. And maybe a goat because I think goats are really funny and they have cool eyes. Cows, horses—that’s too much work. I think pigs are funny. But definitely chickens—no doubt.”