Welcome to Tri Systems

A bit about me, my history with the sport, and my current goals.

Sep 22, 2025

Hi!

I’m Sofya Lebedeva, a PhD student at Oxford University and a triathlete. You may have visited this page after seeing that I have a sports-specific newsletter on Molecular Meditations. Alternatively, you might have stumbled upon my newsletter from one of my social media channels, or maybe you found me on Strava? Kudos to you.

I swam as a kid, and I got into running during COVID, but then stopped as I didn’t have any goals in the sport. In June 2024, I resumed running and started training with the Oxford Cross Country Team. In December 2024, I returned to the pool, and I acquired my first road bike in January 2025. Fifteen months since starting running again, nine months since getting back in the pool and eight months since getting a bike, I have now qualified for the Age Group Olympic Distance World Championships in 2026. Also, I am now in the top 100 athletes in the UK in my age group and in the top 600 overall.

https://www.mytriranking.com/findabritishathlete

https://www.britishtriathlon.org/gb-teams/age-group/2026-world-standard-distance-triathlon-championships_19375

Why did you start triathlon?

Born in Russia, moved to the UK 8-16, moved to the US 16-21, moved back to the UK at 21.
I swam as a kid (in Russia & the UK)
I did lots of sports as a kid: lacrosse, netball, tennis (in the UK)
I did a lot of sports in the US (16-18), water polo and lacrosse, and was on the top team for both. We won a few things in California
Had an ACL tear + reconstruction in 2019 + was applying to universities in the US system, both affected how I saw myself as an athlete.
In ~2019, I decided that I wasn't "an athlete" and that I would focus on academics and do sports on the side.
When I got to U.C. Berkeley, I felt that I wasn't good enough to be on their swim team/water polo team + it was Covid, so I self-selected myself out & focused on academics.
COVID made university a pretty sad experience, so I was trying to just finish as quickly as I could - I did a bunch of running in 2020/2021
Moved back to the UK in 2023 and started the PhD. Once the initial months of the program had calmed down, I got into running again.
Signed up for a cross-country race, then signed up for cross-country nationals, then got a road bike, then my partner suggested I get back in the pool...
In December 2024, I went to a talk by Gerard Hartmann, and that was the aha moment where I chose to start treating myself as an athlete.
Joined the Oxford triathlon club, then joined their performance team, then started competing for them, and here we are.
I am really into understanding human physiology, how it functions, and triathlon (VO2 max training, lactate threshold work) and seeing my own body respond like a mini experiment is extremely fun for me.

A bit more about me and my day-to-day life

I am a Russian / UK citizen
I am a PhD student at Oxford
I advised the UK government on vaccine development full-time from June to August 2025 as a break from my PhD.
I do a fair amount of science stuff. Please follow along in my other newsletter.
My PhD is coding-based / very flexible when I come in / leave. I work on analysing clinical data and predicting patient outcomes from viral diseases
I bike to work, that’s how I first got into cycling.
I cook my own meals and am a vegetarian.
I live with my partner in Oxford, and we both enjoy sports and are huge nerds.
Helping people is a core part of who I am and a really important part of my job.
I am direct, honest, like to dream big and solve problems.

If any of the above is interesting to you, do let me know, I can say more about it!

What are my current goals?

I am coached by Renee Tvieten, who is incredible. At the time of writing, we have not yet decided whether we are focusing on short-course or long-course distances.
I am currently building up my basic endurance foundation, building top-end speed and learning the basics of the sport.
I will update this section once I know more. Stay tuned.