Team Concept Keeps Hansen Sisters In Step : Athletes: Half of the family tandem will be in the San Diego International Triathlon.

SAN DIEGO —  She pestered. She badgered. She nagged. Five years later, she succeeded.

After what seemed like a long exercise in futility, world-class triathlete Joy Hansen got her way. Twin sister Joan, she of track and field fame, now is a bonafide triathlete.

Finally.

Joan Hansen, a 1984 Olympian and former world-record holder in the indoor 2-mile, came full circle a year ago when she succumbed to Joy’s enduring persuasion. Joan competed in her first triathlon in July and broke the course record by seven minutes.

Excuse Joy if she reeked of self-satisfaction.

“What do you think her reaction was,” said Joan, a former San Diego resident now living in Seattle. “She laughed and said, ‘I told you so.’ ”

Sunday morning, Joan, 32, will compete in her third professional triathlon when she enters the cool waters of San Diego Harbor for the eighth running--and biking and swimming--of the San Diego International Triathlon.

That she is here and not training for the World Championships and a spot on the 1992 Olympic track and field team came about almost by accident.

“It began as a fluke,” Joan said. “Joy had been after me for so long, and she finally got me to try one of the low key (triathlons.) Afterward, it was like, ‘Hey, maybe I’m genetically right for this.’ ”

Maybe? Joan had wanted to wait until the end of the year to decide whether she’d turn pro, but three national amateur titles, the World Championship, the U.S. Triathlon Series National Championship, and the National Sprint Championship, further sealed her fate.

That success has come so quickly was a surprise to no one but Joan.

“To do a triathlon against people who have been doing it for years, after little conditioning and with it being a new experience for me, it’s taking on a big challenge,” Joan said.

But Jeffrey Justice, an editor and writer at Triathlete Magazine, has watched the Hansens, Joy over the years and Joan just recently, and sees their joint success merely as a reflection of their talent.

“Nothing that either Hansen does surprises me because of their athletic ability,” Justice said. “Everything they touch turns to gold. Joan, in her first year, won everything she races and set records on every course. She had nothing more to gain by staying amateur.”

Joy, of Newtown Square, Pa., and the defending Coke Grand Prix champion, signifying the overall winner of the Bud Light U.S.T.S., bypassed San Diego to race the U.S.T.S. stop in Baltimore this weekend. Joy said a lifetime of sports adequately prepared Joan for triathlons.

“We’ve been in sports for over 23 years,” she said. “I knew she had the background.”

Two-thirds of it, anyway. Joan was a proven talent at running and swimming--she and Joy were competitive swimmers and track athletes at Arizona--but her cycling skills were next to nothing. Her preparation for that initial race consisted of two practice bike rides.

“How many of us ride our bikes to school?” Joan said. “That was my experience with cycling. But I value learning. As long as you’re open to learning, life will be very fascinating.”

That Joan wasn’t nearly as open to trying her hand at a sport in which her sister exceled could be traced to what Joan described as her misconceptions of the sport.

“It looked so painful from a spectator’s standpoint,” she said. “Not only did it look brutal, people looked so exhausted at the finish line. But it was a myth. I was so incorrect. I have so much enjoyment out of it and I get a tremendous amount of pleasure being in the same sport with my sister.”

Three weeks ago, an Orange County triathlon was to be the first time the Hansen twins raced together as professionals. But Joan contracted a virus and was forced to sit out.

When they do race together, which Joy said will probably be in Cleveland in early August, they insist it will be with, not against , each other.

“That’s a key word for us,” Joan said. “We were not raised as individuals. We were raised as a twosome. We value that we’ll both do well. We don’t try to beat somebody. We try to do our best.”

For Joan to do her best this Sunday, she must put in perspective the events that have unfolded over the past week.

On Father’s Day, she found out her dad, who lives in Phoenix, has prostrate cancer. Joan didn’t decided until late Wednesday if she would race here.

“I’m dealing with some demons of sorts,” Joan said. “There’s joyfulness in this homecoming, seeing friends, but some sadness in that it’s not the same magic moment. I don’t know if I’ll be tigress or tearful out there.”

Thursday night, Joan was able to talk to her father for the first time since his surgery Tuesday, in which Joan said doctors found all the cancer, which hadn’t spread.

“He was phenomenal,” she said of her father’s spirits. “His sense of humor and courage will help (Sunday.) He’s instilled that in us and he practices it. What he taught us works.”

Perhaps her experience at the 1984 Summer Olympics typifies Joan’s close bond with her father.

In the 3,000-meter final, made famous by the collision between Zola Budd and Mary Decker, Joan’s fall and finish in that same race was overlooked in the shuffle.

“Not many people know this,” she said. “But after the race, after I fell, my dad was hugging me. He asked if there was anything he could do for me and I said, ‘Yes.’ I told him he could quit smoking, and he did. Cold turkey. He’s so amazing.”

Two years ago, Joan’s mother died, but the values she and her husband taught the Hansen children--there are an older sister and brother--have endured.

For Joan, the bottom line to the traveling--and being separated from her husband of six months, Rob Lester--to the training, to the racing, is not money, glory or fame.

“Mom and Dad raised us as process-oriented people,” she said. “We look at things day-to-day, not long term. If your day-to-day focus is strong, your long term goals are reached. What that translates to is . . . “

Joan proceeded to describe the season as a painting. It starts with a blank canvas with a few blotches of color. Each race adds to the color. At the end of the season, what’s left is a priceless piece of art.

“A masterpiece to some, a worthless color of glop to others,” she said. “It depends on your viewpoint.”

Joan’s point of view regarding triathlons is a genuine love, but not without hitches. In contrast to track, where consistency is key and changes are few, she has found triathlons can be taxing.

“They are so enjoyable, but they can be a logistic nightmare,” she said. “Because of the machinery, there’s a whole Pandora’s box of things that can go wrong. Every race is different, every course is different, the (starting) times are different.”

One benefit of triathlons over track, according to Joan, is her ability to stay healthy. The second is of aesthetic value only.

“The biggest selling point,” she said, “is that I have an upper body now. My shoulders match legs now. I don’t look like a Cambodian refugee from the waist up.”

Because of their newness, triathlons bring with them a freshness and freedom Joan didn’t see in track and field. She hopes that attitude will enable her to pursue changes that may benefit the sport in the coming years.

“Track and field is 100 years old,” she said. “Triathlons are very new, they’ve only been around since about 1978. Any organization needs a strong network of ethical personnel and a strong foundation of bylaws and rules governing the sport. But there’s not a tremendous amount of bureaucracy. Things can actually get accomplished. That’s nice because you’re not wasting time spinning wheels.”

Because of her past involvement with TAC, track’s governing body, and her experience starting her own non-profit organization, Joan’s vision reaches beyond competition.

“I plan on keeping involved in the groundwork and foundation for triathlons,” Joan said. “I want to work to make sure there’s a future for young triathlons. Because of my past work, I have a tendency to look beyond the athletes viewpoint. One thing I valued very much was being an amateur last year, seeing their needs and valuing their insights. Sometimes pros and the elites can lose sight of simple things.”

Like Joy did when she started racing in 1985, Joan is taking baby steps in the start of her triathlon career. There were times when a one-hour track workout was Joan’s idea of a full day. Now, she is slowly increasing her mileage in all aspects.

“I’m pacing it so I don’t do too much,” she said. “I didn’t want to dive into this head first. Things are going well because we’ve paced ourselves.”

SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON

What--Eighth San Diego International Triathlon

When--Sunday, 6:55 a.m.

Where--Starts at Spanish Landing, on Harbor Drive across from the airport.

Course--1K Swim, 30K Bike, 10K Run. Swim begins at Spanish Landing Park, bike segment winds up Catalina Boulevard to the Cabrillo Monument and back, run leg goes along Harbor Drive and the Embarcadero and ends at Seaport Village.

1990 champions--South African Paula Newby-Fraser, three-time winner, and Australian Greg Welch, both of Encinitas.

Names to watch--The men’s pro race is shaping up with a strong local, Latino, and Australian flavors. Hometown favorites are Tony Richardson, Rob Bistodeau and Todd Jacobs. World Champion Welch will be challenged by countrymen Miles Stewart, second here last year, and Australian Triathlete of the Year, Nick Croft. Making their debut in this event are Bernardo Zetina and Mario Rubin, national champions from Mexico and Argentina, respectively. Newby-Fraser is questionable in the women’s pro field, having recently returned from a month of training and racing in Europe. Joan Hansen, 1990 Amateur Athlete of the Year, is racing in her third professional triathlon and should contend, along with Carol Montgomery, runner up in the World Championships, and Michellie Jones, last year’s Australian Triathlete of the Year.

Registration--Late entries available at Sports Chalet in Point Loma, beginning at 11 a.m. today until race is full. No day-of-race registration. Cost is $55 for individuals, $90 for relays, and includes T-shirts, swim cap and race packet. Entries limited to 1,000 individual, 100 relay teams. As of late Friday, 50 individual and 50 relay spots were open.

Street closures/delays--Intersection of Canon and Rosecrans streets closed from 7 to 9 a.m; delays on Scott Street and Catalina Boulevard; Harbor Drive, only two lanes open.

Parking--Spectators and competitors are encouraged to park at the County Administration Building and take shuttles to beginning of course. The shuttles, which will run between the start and Seaport Village, start at 5:30 a.m. and will run through noon.