Riptide Swim and Tri is Northern Virginia’s premier swimming and triathlon retail store. Our unique focus provides us with the opportunity to meet the individual needs of all of our customers, and we are proud to provide the best customer service around. Riptide Swim and Tri carries a variety of top name swimming and triathlon brands such as Speedo, TYR, Orca, Zoot, 2XU, Splish, Louis Garneau, and Skirt Sports, just to name a few.

Riptide Swim and Tri was founded by owners Shandra and Rob Richardson in December 2006. Shandra has been an accomplished swimmer and coach for over 10 years and is also the owner and founder of the Riptide Swim Team (www.riptideswimteam.com). She is also a highly accomplished triathlete. She was a USAT All-American triathlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, qualified for the IronMan World Championships in Hawaii in 2003 and 2004, and has won local triathlons such as the Reston Triathlon and Outback Big Lick. Shandra is also a USAT Certified Level 1 coach and coaches over a dozen triathletes in the local area and is a certified USAT Race Director. She is also co-founder of Fins, Wheels, Feet Racing (Inc.), which is a non-profit race directing organization that puts on the Virginia Run Sprint Triathlon and Lake Montclair Triathlon (www.finswheelsfeet.com).

Rob Richardson is also an accomplished runner and triathlete. He has qualified for the Boston marathon several times and competed there in 2001. He is also an ultra distance runner and has competed in the Bull Run 50 miler three times and placed 7th in the Massannutten 100-miler in May of 2007. Rob has also competed in 4 Ironman triathlons and qualified for the 2006 Ironman World Championships at Ironman Lake Placid. He finished the 2007 Ironman World Championships in 10:31.

The goal of Riptide Swim and Tri is to provide the best selection of triathlon and swimming products, at the best prices, with the best customer service. We also want to continue to support the growth of both sports by sponsoring several local swimming and triathlon teams. We’re proud to be starting a “High School Triathlete” sponsorship program in which we will be sponsoring several local high-school athletes who compete in both swimming and track/cross-country at school while competing in triathlon events during the summer. We are very excited about this program as the youth are the future of these wonderful sports.