Coach Barbara Perkins grew up as a distance swimmer and played water polo in college. She discovered triathlon in 2009 and signed up as a dare. She quickly fell in love with the sport and culture of triathlon. Barbara quickly progressed from sprint to Olympic to Half Ironman and then placed 4 th in her first full Ironman at Lake Tahoe in 2013. She began her coaching career in 2014 as an assistant swim coach at Indiana University. Soon after she began coaching triathletes. Barbara is now the Head Triathlon Coach at the University of Denver. In 2022, her team placed 3 rd at the Varsity Division 1 National Championships and Coach Perkins was also named National Coach of the Year.

Coach Barbara has been a USAT certified coach since 2014. She has coached from first time beginners to National Champions, World Championship qualifiers, and professional athletes. Her experience as a swim and triathlon coach has made her uniquely qualified to coach all levels of the sport.