Michele Pollio has been an active triathlete for quite some time. She has reached many personal goals, but one thing that she always wanted was to be part of a triathlon team. She decided that the best way to get what she wanted out of being on a team was to start one herself. Her first attempt was Team Triceratops. It never materialized as much more work was required than Michele originally thought. Michele decided to wait another year and start fresh, this time more organized and prepared.



As the next year came around Michele got a few people involved and the team really started to come together. It was decided first off to get rid of the name Team Triceratops as it might insinuate that the team was full of old dinosaurs, not exactly what we were looking for. A new name and logo was suggested and developed, but again we weren't completely set on that either as Center City Swim Ride Stride Club is quite a lot to remember. Regardless, we started to finalize the roster and potential sponsors.



The idea for the team was to create a family. We dreamed of having teammates to support one another in a very individual sport. We were looking for serious athletes who also want to have serious fun. As the list came together it was amazing, there was an assemblage of strong and diverse talent from beginners with great potential to experienced veterans. Each member had unique experiences and abilities to share with the team. Everyone was excited and energetic and though the list was small, we knew that this group would have a great first year and from there the team could grow.

With such a strong team portfolio, we had no trouble finding local shops to sponsor the team. Everything seemed to be coming together, but the team was still lacking a dynamic name. True to Michele's hopes, the team was truly functioning as a unit and it was actually team member Shannon who came up with the name, T3. All triathletes know the importance of T1 and T2, fast transitions where one has to completely switch gears to head into the next phase, but no one gives much thought to the last transition, T3. To the members of this team, T3 stand for the final transitions: from athlete to victor. Victory is not about placing or results, rather it can be defined as "putting it all on the line" and realizing potential.