At 27 years old, this Westchester County, NY native has pretty much been a rising star since his first competitive triathlon. His beginnings on the triathlon scene were in short-course and Olympic distance. A naturally gifted runner and cyclist, he spent time grooming his swim, and now boasts a very strong swim split as well. In 2006 he made the commitment to longer course races, and focused on the half ironman distance.

His continued success and confidence in the professional field helped him make the jump in 2007 to a successful run in the 101 series and, ultimately, to the Ironman. Most recently he finished 5th in his debut at the distance at the 2007 Ironman Canada race against a competitive field. Splitting training time between the Southwestern US and British Columbia, Jordan is focused on his return to Ironman racing in Arizona this April, where he hopes to earn his first trip to the lava fields of Kona. During the course of the year, he will spend most of his time training alongside his squadmates under the guidance of their coach, Joel Filliol.

Find out more about Jordan by visiting his site www.rappstar.com

What was your first race and were you hooked from that day on?

The Harriman Sprint Triathlon. I showed up for the race with a lock because I didn't want my bike to get stolen during the swim. I knew pretty much nothing about the race. I had an okay swim - I'd swum in my wetsuit once - and then I hammered the bike and then just sort of hung on during the run. I think the thing that really hooked me was my second race, though, at the Pat Griskus, about two or three weeks later. That course is just punishing, but I had a really great race. I thought the first race might have been just a fluke, but after the Griskus, I was in deep. I was up until 5am that night because my legs hurt so much I couldn't sleep. That's how I knew I'd found my sport. Wow, that seems like eons ago...

How did you decide to make the jump from age grouper to pro?

Well, looking back, it was probably a dumb decision at the time. I was definitely NOT ready when I made the jump. But making the decision helped me become ready. Racing as a pro was a goal starting near the end of my first season, because I wanted to see how good I could be. I had tried to do that with rowing, but for a bunch of reasons it didn't work out like I planned. The I found triathlon, which really seemed like it was the right path and the right sport for me. I sort of stumbled into the whole pro thing at first, but I've had great guidance, mostly from my coach, Joel Filliol, and Simon Whitfield. They've been my biggest influences in setting me down the path I'm on now.

Describe your favorite workout?

I like short workouts that are very hard, especially on the bike. I love to ride, but I don't like to ride endless miles. My personal favorite is the 20km time trial. We have a loop in Victoria called the Waddling Dog. It is about 9km around, with four relatively fast right hand turns. I do a lot of loops out there, but two-loop efforts are the ones I really look forward to the most. (So I guess my favorite workout is really the 18km TT.) It's pretty flat, but there are a couple rollers that make it hard, and there can be some pretty stiff wind. Warm up, go hard, go home.

It seems like cycling and running are your strengths, but you've improved your swim tremendously over the past few years. What's your secret?

It's not really all that secret - my coach wrote an article about it for "Triathlete" magazine. It's three things. Well, maybe four, depending on how you consider them. The first is pulling with paddles. Pulling with paddles makes you stronger and also fixes bad technique because paddles put you in the right position for catching and pulling. The pull buoy also helps to keep you from needing to rely on tired legs, so that's helpful if you trashed yourself on a ride or run. This is the thing that I really hang my hat on the most; it makes up a good deal of our practices within a week. We don't do it every practice, but a good chunk of time each week is dedicated to pull paddles. The next is swimming with banded ankles. You have to apply pressure well or you will sink. You don't need a lot of this, but if you are trying to fix your stroke, this is the fastest way to do it. The last is IM. Swimming IM is important because doing all four strokes helps keep you balanced, and each non-free stroke has an important aspect of freestyle in it. The potential fourth is to swim a lot. I don't really consider it to be a fourth thing, because it really just is the way that you apply 1-3. It's a philosophy, not a specific thing. It's also not independently important. If you swim a lot, and just do drills, you won't get very far. Most triathletes are too old to learn by drilling. You need to do "brute force drilling," which are the three things I listed. Those things force good technique. But it requires repetition. A LOT of repetition. I've logged about a million meters a year for the past two years, with a specific focus on swimming in December where I log 150,000 over the three weeks before Christmas. That focus block always gives me a big boost. I don't do anything different during the focus, just more.

Best town to set up residence and train is?

Victoria, BC, Canada. I've yet to find a place that offers as much of everything. There are places that are better for riding or running or swimming or mountain biking, but nowhere that is as good for everything. I like Flagstaff, AZ a lot too. That's probably my close second favorite, since it also has great access to training for all sports and also sits up at 7,000ft. Less O2 = more fun.

What's your favorite post-race meal?

Ice cream. At Timberman in New Hampshire, they have local ice cream from the race director's family dairy. The RD is Keith Jordan, so the ice cream is "Jordan's", which obviously makes it the best post race meal around. If I'm not having that, I like Cold Stone a lot.

You've never race Kona, but we hear that may change.true or false?

True. If I am lucky enough to get a Kona slot at Ironman Arizona this April, I'll take it. I'm also planning on doing some XTerra racing this year, and if that goes well I'll try to do the Hawaii double (Kona & Maui) in October.

If you weren't a professional triathlete, what you be?

Professional speed skater. Or professional billiards player. That's assuming I was a professional athlete of some sort. Those are two other sports that I really love. I'm a better pool player than speed skater, although that isn't saying much... In reality, I'd probably be an engineer. It's kind of funny that because of triathlon, I've really fallen in love with engineering, which I didn't really like that much in college. That's been one of the real highlights of this year - I've been lucky enough to be sponsored by Felt and Zipp, two of the best engineering companies in the business.

Now, for what people really want to know:

We know you trained with 2000 Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield for an extended period of time in the past few years...can you drink him under the table, or does the Canadian live up to his country's reputation?

Simon and I train together all the time, and I hope it doesn't disappoint you all to know that neither of us is much of a drinker. But you all will be the first to know if the big dance actually ever happens. I do think I could take him, though. Four years on a college sports team sets you up well for that sort of thing.

Who would you rather go head to head with...Norman Stadler, or Chris McCormack?

Stadler. I think we race a bit more similarly than Macca and I. If I raced Chris, I'd work to chase him down after the swim, and then, hopefully, I'd try to hold him off on the run. I think with Stadler, I'd at least have a better chance to swim close to him, and then I'd do my best to at least come off the bike with him. Of course, that might mean that I couldn't even walk the run, but I think it'd be a good show for at least some of the race. Having the chance to really go head-to-head with the guy who has had the most success with the "first to T2" race plan would be a blast. I say that now, of course, but I may regret giving this answer...

Does anyone call you JR? Can we call you that? Do you have a nickname?

I don't ever really get called JR. A friend of mine in college was this guy Jason Reid; he's a rower from Temple who was bow seat of the US 8 that won gold in Athens. He was the "JR" that everyone on the crew team knew, so that was pretty much taken. "Rappstar" was the first ever nickname that I ever actually had. It was given to me by the captain of our lacrosse team my sophomore year in high school. I just rolled with it, but never actually told anyone that is a nickname. When I went to college, I figured it was gone for good. But then one day, again during my sophomore year, one of the coxswains on our team just called me "Rappstar" again. This time it sort of stuck. But if you want to call me "JR," go right ahead.

Let's talk Cheeseburger.In-&-Out or McDonalds? It's ok if you say McDonalds, but we'll be disappointed.

Actually, I'd say neither. I'd definitely consider myself a burger connoisseur, so when I have a cheeseburger, I want a REAL cheeseburger. My original favorite cheeseburger would have to be from the Red Rooster in Brewster, NY. My family has a small cabin (with outhouse) on a lake in Brewster, so I've been going to the Red Rooster forever. It's one of my favorite rides in the area. I ride from my house up to the Red Rooster, have a cheeseburger or a milkshake, and then ride home. It's about 75 or 80 miles roundtrip, so I feel like the cheeseburger is justified. After the Red Rooster, I'd put the Corner Bistro in NYC (on the corner of 4th & Jane) as my actual favorite in terms of taste; the Rooster is not as good, but it's still my favorite because of the history I have there. Technically, the Bistro Burger is a bacon-cheeseburger, but a bacon cheeseburger is just a modification of a cheeseburger, so I think it still counts. I try to avoid ever frequenting a fast food place. I guess if you forced me, I'd choose to go to In-N-Out, even though I've never been. For the record, my personal preference is a burger with a fried egg on top though, not a cheeseburger.