Washington Firefighter Makes Olympic Equestrian Team
Duvall equestrian Amy Tryon will compete in the 2004 Olympic Games next month, one of five riders named Friday to the U.S. team.
``It's great,'' the 34-year-old Tryon said in a telephone call from Gladstone, N.J., where she and her fellow equestrians held their final competitions and waited as their horses were evaluated by veterinarians.
``When you're young, you dream of representing your country in the Olympics.''
Tryon, a firefighter with Eastside Fire & Rescue, is the fifth Eastside or South County athlete named to an Olympic team.
On Monday, she and the other members and alternates will depart New Jersey for England to train with the team's head coach, Mark Phillips. From there, it's on to Athens on Aug. 10. Their first competition, dressage, is Aug. 15-16, followed by cross-country Aug. 17 and stadium jumping Aug. 18.
``We have our work cut out for us, but we have the right athletes and horses for the job,'' said Jim Wolf, director of high performance eventing for the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
In fact, Tryon comes with two horses. She made the first team riding My Beau, and also the alternate team, riding Poggio II. Both are thoroughbred geldings that Tryon has ridden for six years. She's the only team member to also qualify as an alternate.
The alternates were chosen because of the rigors of the three-phase sport.
Riding in the Olympics caps a lifelong dream for Tryon, who graduated from Issaquah High School in just two years, then spent several years traveling, working -- but always riding. After attending Bellevue Community College, she decided it was time to focus on a career.
Medicine or law were possibilities. But instead, after talking with a friend, Tryon decided on a career in firefighting.
Why?
Flexibility, said her mother, Jemi Cain of Kirkland. While most careers don't leave enough time for demanding avocations like Tryon's, firefighters can trade shifts and cover for each other. That's how Tryon has gotten this far -- through the help of her colleagues at Eastside Fire & Rescue, who are covering her shifts while she's away.
She'll return the favor after the Olympics.
That's also true for Tryon's husband, Greg, also an Eastside Fire & Rescue firefighter. He's currently with her but is heading back here this weekend. He'll eventually join her in Athens.
Other Olympians from the Eastside include Anna Mickelson of Bellevue (rowing); Eastlake High grad Nathan O'Brien (Canada's swim team); and Jennie Reed of Kirkland (cycling). Renton High grad Aretha Hill, who now lives in Alabama, will compete in women's discus in Athens.