Going
the Distance

Hi, I'm Giuliana! I have been obsessed with the pool and ocean since I was five years old. I grew up a club swimmer, and while other kids on family vacations were playing sharks and minnows, I was making my parents find the nearest lap pool. And then also making friends playing sharks and minnows. Big dreams have always been my thing, and honestly, they still are.

Growing up in LA, I was part of the Junior Lifeguards, a summer beach program that trains kids to become ocean lifeguards. My first summer was going great. Or so I told my mom. What I didn't mention was that I wasn't actually going in the ocean. A few days in, she got a call from the program director: "If your daughter doesn't swim tomorrow, she's out." My mom pretty much laughed because I had sold that summer so hard.

Enter Matt the Muscle Man, who took me out for a private buoy swim while the entire program watched from shore and cheered me on. Mortifying. Afterward I reported back to my mom that it went fine, but complained that it was kind of lame because they sent a paramedic to do the swim with me instead of an actual lifeguard. My mom looked at me the way only moms can and said "he IS a lifeguard, sweetie." Matt the Muscle Man was the lifeguard the whole time. I had absolutely no idea. My 14 year old self could not complain anymore about the very cute lifeguard who just took her on a private ocean swim. I conquered my very real fear of being eaten by a whale that day and have been in love with open water ever since.

I had the opportunity to swim in college but that chapter didn't go the way I hoped. So I built something of my own instead. For the past 14 years I've run my own swim business, teaching everyone from 9-month-olds to 90-year-olds, club swimmers, Ironman athletes, and adaptive swimmers. I also run a masters swim program that I've been coaching for the past four years. The water has been my classroom, my happy place, and my career all rolled into one.

My husband had been telling me for a while that I should train for triathlons. It never really sounded appealing if I'm being honest. Then this spring I took a trip to Hawaii with my mom and sister, did a few ocean swims (shoutout to the local Diana who jumped in with me), and somewhere between the first and second pina colada I thought... yeah, okay, I should do this.

Things moved fast. One TikTok deep dive, a lucky bike deal, and approximately one million visits to Lance at my local bike shop later, I had all the gear, a training plan, and a word I still can't spell called chamois. Lance is probably sick of seeing me. One month in and I am completely obsessed.

The three charities I'm racing for are close to my heart and I'll leave it at that. If you want to be part of something fun, a little chaotic, and genuinely meaningful, you're in the right place.