Triathlete seeks fourth straight win in Philadelphia

For the last three years, one man has dominated the Philadelphia TriRock Triathlon. No matter how many professional athletes and former Olympians descend upon the streets of Fairmount Park, just one man has run through the ribbon at the finish line first since 2012: Cameron Dye.

The Boulder, Colo., native returns Sunday seeking a fourth consecutive win in the Olympic-distance event - a feat almost unheard of in the sport of triathlon. The course is not forgiving to athletes with tired legs - riders must climb the notorious Lemon Hill twice on the two-lap, 24.8-mile cycling circuit.

"This course is one of the tougher courses out there, so I think that's why I like it so much," said Dye, 31. "I guess I like to suffer a little bit."

The 2015 race will be unlike any other of Dye's others here, however. The swim portion was canceled by organizers because of poor conditions in the Schuylkill.

The cancellation particularly hurts the defending champion; Dye was a swimmer long before he was a triathlete. At age 8, he even asked his mother to embroider a bathrobe with the Stanford block 'S' to wear to swim meets - a terry-cloth embodiment of Dye's dream of swimming in the Olympics.

At 15, Dye won the first triathlon he ever entered. Back in 1999, Dye pedaled to victory on a borrowed bike at the 5150 Boulder Peaks Triathlon. He would not compete in another until his collegiate swimming career at the University of Iowa wrapped up in 2006.

Dye is now a seasoned triathlete and relies on the swim to build a lead coming out of the water. Without this crucial leg of the race, he will have to hammer the remaining two portions to repeat again on Sunday.