Pressure Makes Diamonds
Meet Owen Cravens
Owen Cravens is a paratriathlete studying business at Arizona State University and training with USAT’s Project Podium.
While triathlon was not always Owen’s primary sport, he always enjoyed running and swimming on local teams and competing on his Varsity Cross Country and Track teams. Prior to high school competitions, Owen dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player, or at least playing college-level soccer, but that dream was disrupted by his diagnosis of Stargardt Disease in August 2013.
His eye condition made playing soccer harder and landed him in the pool, where he became a competitive swimmer at 10 years old. While he had already competed in kids’ triathlons, with great success, he quickly learned that his vision was actually slowing him down. He started training in paratriathlon, and his love of the sport grew from there. After high school and after a few high school national championships under his belt, Owen was invited to train at USOPC, where he entered the competitive World Paratriathlon Series events.
His latest achievements include becoming a National Team member, placing 4th at World Championships 2023 and 3rd at the Paris Test Event. Owen started realizing the dream of making the Paris Paralympic Team was becoming more of a reality, and he made it official in March 2024 in Miami where he punched his ticket to his first Paralympic Games.
Owen’s sights are focused on the upcoming World Para Series in Japan and Europe and continuing to better himself as an athlete, teammate and representative of the United States. He is now set on Paris where he will race with the very best PTVI athletes in the world!