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Barb Lindquist Olympic Triathlete

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The Reason for Barb's Smile and Inner Glow


Barb in pines It's easy as a great athlete to define myself from the things that I've accomplished -"Olympian, Stanford swimmer, World #1"- but I've learned over the years from sport that I must get my identity from Christ rather than from my race performances. Growing up, I got my identity from being a fast swimmer and a straight A student. I grew up swimming in Wyoming and made it all the way to the US National Swim Team, where I medaled in two Pan Am Games and one Pan Pacific Games. I received a swimming scholarship to Stanford University, where I was on the Dean’s list all but one quarter of my four years there. I was a very accomplished "student athlete." Then in 1991 I competed in my last Pan Am Games, retired from swimming, graduated from college and moved to Jackson, Wyoming. I was going to play for a year before moving onto graduate school in the environment field. I waited tables at night and played outside in God's great playground (Grand Teton National Park) during the day, trail running, riding my bike, and Nordic skiing. But my identity of stud swimmer and great student were taken away because there was no pool and I wasn't in school. While most of my friends were going to medical school, law school, or pulling in six figure salaries, I was waiting tables and putting on weight. Even though I was a Christian, I was a little lost.

After a few years of still trying to get my identity from my new athletic endevors in that outdoor playground, and failing, God broke me. I was physically and mentally tired from trying to get my inner kudos from the things that I did. God reveled to me that He loved me no matter what I did. If I ran 8 miles that day, if I weighed 150 lbs or 125 lbs, it didn’t matter because His love was unconditional. God's love is not performance-based. What a freedom that was to know His love for me was not based on how I looked or raced. God became my even keel in this up and down world of sport. God became my even keel in this up and down world of sport.

With that realization God also gave me a desire to race again. The last year of swimming I dreaded the competitions. I was racing with the fear of failure. At the end of my swimming career I used to fear competitions because if I did poorly I felt down. But in triathlon, I began racing because I wanted to, not because I needed to. There's a big difference between want and need and the difference stems from freedom. I started to dabble in triathlons just for fun. Then in the summer of 1995 I met my future husband Loren on a cycling club ride. God brought my husband into my life at the right time and with the knowledge, desire, and support to encourage and guide me into turning professional. In April of 1996 I did my first professional race on our honeymoon, just a week after our wedding. Team Lindquist was born.

Racing as a triathlete is a whole different story now that my identity is in Christ instead of in my own performance. Now I look forward to racing because I'm excited to see what God is going to do through me on race day. It's like a mystery of how he works to use me. I'm curious, excited, and honored when I step up to the line. Because my self-worth comes from God and not from winning races, it totally takes the pressure off of racing and it makes it more fun. Amazingly God has used me as much in losses, like the disappointment of not making the 2000 Olympic Team, as in wins (though I prefer the wins!) God has blessed me with athletic talents and it's my greatest desire to use those talents to glorify Him, not me.

My biggest fear in retiring from triathlon was that I would still have the fire for competition, yet the desire to start a family would not allow that. I thought it would be a sacrifice to end the racing career. But God prepared my heart all year in 2005 by slowly turning off my competitive juices. For someone who has been an athlete since I was a little eight year old fish, it was an amazing experience to be a part of. The Lord confirmed that it was time to step away from the sport I loved. Loren and I are confident that God will continue to use us both in the next phase of our lives.

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