Joanna is an accomplished triathlete excelling at all 3 distances in the sport, winning races in the Olympic, Half Ironman, and Ironman distances. She is an Olympic trial qualifier in 3 sports – marathon, triathlon and swimming.
Joanna’s love for athletics began in the pool. Growing up in San Diego, CA Joanna quickly joined a local swim team at the age of 7 and remained on one until college. In gradual steps, Joanna improved her swimming skills to the extent that she was able to participate in US Olympic Swimming Trials in 1988 and again qualified for the Olympic Swimming Trials in 1992.
Joanna turned to running in 1992 after being hampered with temporary swimming injuries in order to provide herself a much-needed athletic release. It was a terrific fit and just what the doctor ordered. A year later, cycling found its way into Joanna’s heart with a borrowed bike. With enthusiastic training, the three disciplines jelled shortly thereafter, leading to an age-group win at the Muncie Endurathon and a slot at the Hawaii Ironman Championship. Success at several triathlons including a 9th place finish at Hawaii Ironman earned Joanna Amateur Triathlete of the Year honors in 1997, providing her the confidence to turn pro the following year.
Joanna turned pro in 1998 and was recognized as USAT Rookie of the Year after demonstrating her triathlon versatility by excelling at both the longer Ironman distance races (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) and the shorter Olympic distance (.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run).
In 2000, Joanna won Triathlete of the Year honors for her 4th place finish in the Olympics in Sydney, captured a 5th place finish 6 weeks later at the Hawaii Ironman Championship and a USA Pro Champion victory. In 2001 Joanna became a bronze medalist at the ITU World Championship in Edmonton. She has been a multiple winner at St. Croix, Mrs. T’s and Buffalo Springs.
With a new goal of becoming the first woman at age 40 to win a World Championship, Zeiger has decided to take her preparations for the 2010 season to another level, launching her “Fast at 40” campaign. Targeted at women of a similar age, the campaign will teach and inspire novice athletes how to get active and excel at any age. Anyone can log online to follow Joanna’s blog, which will highlight her personal experiences in rehabilitation, training and competing, as well learn from a variety of professional contributors who will give regular tips, tricks and facts on anything from running and biking to biomechanics.
Joanna has dealt with significant exercise-induced asthma triggered by pollen allergy and pollution often prominent during triathlon training and competition. Her asthma requires her to take asthma controller medication regularly to prevent interfering acute episodes.
Near career-ending chronic back injuries interfered with her triathlon competing in 2004. Dedicated and extensive rehabilitation led to recovery and ability to compete at the elite level, shortly thereafter, Joanna placed 2nd at Ironman Canada and at ITU World Cup Cancun. Now fully recovered, Joanna relishes competing at world class levels at both the Olympic and Ironman distances.
Joanna has been successful academically while pursuing her athletic dreams. After receiving a B.A. in Psychology (1992) at Brown University Providence, RI, she went on to Northwestern University Chicago, IL to earn her M.S. in Genetic Counseling (1995). Motivated by the excitement of independent research, Joanna earned her Ph.D. in Genetic Epidemiology (2001) at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. She continued her education as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the same institution where she published 5 manuscripts in prestigious genetic journals on the gene-environmental interactions in cleft palate, cranial diseases, and cardiac disorders.
Joanna continues her genetics research activities as a Research Associate at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, where she has also published research papers.
