Margie Santimaria

Margie Santimaria was destined to be a triathlete from a very early age since her formative years in Vigevano, Italy.

She was a keen swimmer as a child and swam recreationally until she was 15, but wanted to train a lot more than was possible and couldn’t move schools in order to improve her skills.

However, her father was a professional cyclist and her brother was a successful amateur, so she attempted to take up cycling alongside swimming.

That, in turn with the ability to win plenty of running races at school, convinced her to put the three skills together and attempt a triathlon. The results were instant as she won her very first race.

After a year of finessing her talents, Santimaria joined the Italian national triathlon team and has been competing on the world stage ever since, clinching the U23 Italian National Championships back in 2010.

She notched top-10 finishes in 2019 at IRONMAN 70.3 Zell am See (fifth) and IRONMAN 70.3 Gydnia (seventh) while taking second in both the Riccione Challenge (behind her compatriot Elisabetta Curridori) and the Italian National Middle Distance Championships.

Santimaria largely trains solo and admits that as her first love is swimming, it is also her favourite of the three triathlon disciplines. What drives her most is her passion and desire to perform at her best.

Margie’s sporting idols growing up included Michael Phelps, Nadia Comăneci and Marco Pantani and her favourite race is the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

Her favourite hype song to prepare for races is Chariots of Fire, while the other sport she enjoys is biathlon and her cheat food is definitely chocolate.

Margie says she doesn’t have a favourite holiday location, instead enjoying travelling around the world and visiting new places. Something her job allows her to do.