ProFile: Cameron Dye

Published December 11, 2013 03:00PM

Born and raised in Boulder, Colo., Cameron Dye may have been destined for the professional triathlon ranks, but before he made the shift to multisport, he completed a degree in finance and an NCAA collegiate swimming stint at the University of Iowa.

The addition of bike and run has served him well, with major wins at Life Time Tri Minneapolis (2013), Race to the Toyota Cup series (2012), L.A. Triathlon (2012, 2011) and St. Anthony’s Triathlon (2010) to name a few. A visual standout on the pro circuit with his wild white-blonde curls, the 29-year-old Dye continues to gain momentum as one of America’s top short-course talents. And a solid foundation of support from wife Natalie, 2-year-old son Liam and a second child due in January 2014 will surely keep him motivated for years to come.

“I love switching gears all the time. I loved the 400 IM because of that. The 200 free was probably my best swimming event, but the 400 IM was my favorite because you got to do different things. It wasn’t monotonous. Even in short-course triathlon, racing 1,500 meters sometimes seems so long to me. I mean, the swim pretty much shakes out in the first 400 or 500 meters and then stays the same for the last 1,000, so we might as well just hop out.”

“Boulder is not only an amazing place to train but it is my home. It’s where I grew up, where my family still lives, and it’s the place I have spent the better part of my life. It is definitely the most special place in the world to me. Watching the devastation from the flooding in Boulder and surrounding areas was just heartbreaking. For me the hardest part of the ordeal was watching the water finally get high enough to come in the front door of our new house. My wife and I have been remodeling a house for six months, and put everything we had into it. After just a week of living in it we were back out, and back staying in the basement of my in-laws. They so graciously offered us a home while we remodeled and have been amazing in letting us come back so soon. We are now in the process of rebuilding our main level and will hopefully be back in our house in six weeks. I have no doubt the city will be back and better than ever in a short time.”

“People always talk about how fathers win a lot of races. I think it’s both that you have a guaranteed support system when you come home and also that nothing’s a better motivator than pressure. There’s something to be said for that provider instinct. It makes it really easy to get out the door. You don’t really have a choice. It’s not like those days when you were 25 and sitting on your couch and tired and could skip a workout. You look at your kid and think, ‘Yeah, I should probably go do that run.’”

“I’ve always joked that my second career would be as a bull rider — join the PBR [Professional Bull Riders] and ride bulls for a living. I’m that sort of cocksure dude that I don’t bowl properly but I score high, I don’t have good form at darts but I’m good at it, I’m not a good pool player but I can win. So I’ve always taken the stance: I have good balance, I’m athletic, I could ride a bull. How hard could it be?”