PARATRIATHLETE AMY DIXON SAYS YOU DON’ T NEED SIGHT TO HAVE VISION by Jenna Miller Best Foot Forward
If you have to put your whole career on hiatus because of a pandemic, Amy Dixon suggests being in San Diego when you do. The Team USA paratriathlete ditched icy
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NewYork winters for a sunny condo in Encinitas four years ago. She’d fallen in love with Southern California while training with the U.S. Paratriathlon National Team at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. (As it happens, the first modern triathlon was also held here—on Fiesta Island in 1974.) But when competing came to a halt last year and gyms closed, Dixon learned that San Diego’s natural terrain was just as good a substitute. “I still train six days a week—some days at the YMCA and others at home on my treadmill,” she says. “I also like to go out to Lake Hodges and bike with friends. You get the water, the desert, and the mountains all in one place.” For a visually impaired athlete, training with a buddy is vital. Dixon says it can be unsafe to run on her own, and given the mental hardships the past year has brought, the training has been a much-needed source of connection and normalcy. Growing up, Dixon always had one foot in some athletic endeavor. Her family had horses, which led her to pursue equestrian sports, and when she wasn’t in the stables, she was in the pool. She joined the swim team when she was only six years old and stuck with it all the way through high school. But when she was 22, things changed.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Dixon with guide Susanne Davis; cycling with guide Kirsten Sass; with her guide dog, Woodstock; crossing the finish line; training at home
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