Every fall, the Dartmouth Triathlon Team welcomes a new wave of students to our practices, and they are introduced to our team's leadership (both captains and some execs) at a beginning-of-term meeting. Although this year differed from last year in our ability to hold the meeting in person and the term has gotten off to a more blistering start than it feels like it ever has, we still decided to interview our captains - Jackie Thompson '22, Joe Gyorda '22, and Thomas Clark '22 - to get to know them a bit better.
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The 2021-22 Dartmouth Triathlon Captains. Left: Jackie Thompson '22, Center: Joe Gyorda '22, RIght: Thomas Clark '22.
Q: What is your name and year? What are your pronouns? Where are you from and what are you studying at Dartmouth?
Jackie: I’m Jackie Thompson, and I’m a ’22! I use she/her/hers pronouns and I’m a double major in Engineering and Economics.
Joe: Joe Gyorda (He/Him/His) - I'm a '22 from Hampton Falls, NH majoring in Data Science and minoring in Computer Science and African & African American Studies
Thomas: Thomas Clark '22, he/him, from Mountain View, CA, and I am studying computer Engineering with a minor in CS
Q: When did you join the Dartmouth Triathlon Team, and how has being on the team been an impactful part of your Dartmouth experience?
Jackie: I joined the team my freshman fall and it has been the single most impactful part of my time at Dartmouth. As soon as I arrived here, there were upperclassmen who believed in me and took the time to give me advice that made me a better athlete. They also made a real effort to get to know me as a person and make me feel at home, which was such a relief at the beginning of college. On top of that, Triathlon has been a great physical and mental release, giving me stability during stressful moments.
Joe: I joined the Triathlon Team at the beginning of my freshman fall. I was looking for a fresh start after playing soccer and running track for four years in high school, and I was immediately greeted with a warm and welcoming community of athletes of all backgrounds. The Tri Team was one of the first communities I found at Dartmouth and has been one of the strongest during my time here. Our teammates and coaches have inspired me to push myself harder and in different ways -- as an athlete, as a student, and as a person. I am thankful to have found such a well-balanced and kind group of people, and I look forward to promoting the Tri Team community during my time as captain!
Thomas: I joined the triathlon team my freshman fall and have been an active member ever since. I joined because I missed the community that existed in my high school cross country team, and triathlon's community seemed the closest to that group that Dartmouth offered. I was right. Being on this team has been a core part of my Dartmouth experience, many of my closest friends and best memories have come on long bike rides or silly runs with the team. More than anything, having the team be a strong, stable community week in and week out has created an incredible support system to maintain physical and mental health.
Q: Outside of being part of our outstanding captain roster this year, what other roles have you filled as Tri Team leaders in previous years?
Jackie: During my first term as an exec, my sophomore Spring, my official title was gear chair. But since we didn’t do an order that term, I ended up taking on the task of planning our first virtual banquet to honor the graduating 20s and putting together gifts for them! Then, my sophomore Summer, I served as social media chair, managing the team Instagram and Facebook pages, publicizing member accomplishments, and trying to foster connections from afar. In my junior fall, I took on the new position of welcome chair, helping the 24s adjust to campus and feel at home on the team in a mostly virtual environment. Finally, during my junior winter, my last term before becoming a captain, I went back to my initial role of gear chair, organizing a BSN store for the team and another for alumni and families!
Joe: I've served as an Exec since 19S, starting as a race planner and moving into the gear and equipment chair roles. I've also spent a term in charge of the team's finances.
Thomas: I spent the previous year serving in two exec roles: race planning in the spring and strength chair throughout the summer and fall. Before that I was the unofficial snack exec, responsible for providing a weekly buffet on wednesday nights for team dinner.
Q: Outside of practicing with the Tri Team, what else can we find you doing on campus?
Jackie: Outside of Triathlon, I serve on the exec board for Network for Women in Sports, an organization aimed at making meaningful connections among women on different teams and helping one another leverage the skills we learn through athletics for professional success. I’m also the Director of Social Media for Kappa Delta Sorority, and I’m in a reading group with the Political Economy Project. Finally, I do some volunteer work in the Center for Social Impact mentoring Upper Valley FGLI youth as they go through the college applications/decision process.
Joe: I am an active member at AQ, Dartmouth's Catholic Community. I've also been involved with the Math Society and Sports Analytics Clubs at Dartmouth, along with The Dartmouth Apologia. I do research in mental health data science in a lab at Geisel. You can occasionally find me playing pickup soccer or basketball around campus, or falling off my bike on my way to FOCO for the third time that day.
Thomas: I am the leader of a youth-education program through the center of social impact called growing change. I can also be found at my greek house. Most of the time, though, I am sitting in the library working and chatting with my friends.
Q: What is your go-to piece of flair and why?
Jackie: I’m all about versatility, so my classic flair item is my silver shorts. They can be worn in any weather (ideally with leggings underneath in the winter, unless you’re feeling really bold) and match with everything!
Joe: I have an orange t-shirt that I got from a road race in high school that says "Loco" on it that has a good energy.
Thomas: Shark-themed split shorts. They are bright and colorful and remind me of great memories from home.
Q: Triathlons may be our specialty, but our team also has a great track record at other multisport disciplines (see Catherine's incredible two-part saga on her alternative multisport adventure). Besides the standard SBR, what multisport combination would you be interested in participating in?
Jackie: If performance was not part of the equation, I would love to do a wake surf/paddleboard adventure. I’ve always loved paddle boarding and recently learned how to wake surf, and although I can’t really stay up once I let go of the rope, I still think they’re a great time. (Can you tell I miss water sports already??)
Joe: Outside of Tri, I am a big fan of recreational team sports like soccer, basketball, and ultimate frisbee—if I'm not training for Tri, I'll probably be doing one of these in my free time!
Thomas: I would be interested in some combination of basketball, ping-pong, and pool as they are three sports that I have a ton of fun playing independently and would love to see how they coalesce.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to any aspiring triathlete?
Jackie: Triathlon can seem incredibly intimidating from the outside! Even as a lifelong runner/swimmer, the prospect of training for three sports at the same time was daunting to me freshman year. But the one thing I’ve noticed that all triathletes have in common isn’t natural athletic ability or Olympian-like fitness, but rather a willingness to try something outside of their comfort zone and stick with it when it gets tough. So my advice would be that if Triathlon is something that interests you, don’t worry about what shape you’re in right now – just jump in and start training where you are!
Joe: Keep at it! The more you practice the better you'll get, and you'll have a lot of fun along the way seeing yourself and your teammates get better. Same goes for whatever you decide to try or do at Dartmouth!
Thomas: Take it slow. One of the biggest mistakes I make every year is trying to start training with putting in hard workouts 6x/week, but training requires a lot of patience. Starting slow has the two additional benefits of you can chat with more people on the team while you do an easier workout AND you avoid potentially burning out really early in a season (or even a term).
Q: What are you most excited about in the upcoming academic year?
Jackie: During my last year here, I’m excited to get back to the little interactions we’ve all missed over the last year and a half. Whether that’s getting a meal with someone I haven’t seen in a while, chatting on FFB, going on impromptu runs or IC4U trips with team members – all these memories are ones that I cherished while sitting alone on Zoom and I really look forward to making more!
Joe: I'm most excited to get back to the things we've been missing out on this past year and a half—in person classes, team races, seeing familiar faces around campus, and feasting at FOCO.
Thomas: Seeing all of my friends, especially those on the tri team. In person practices are one of the great joys of the Dartmouth experience, and having the whole team together makes it even better. If you meant academic as in school: I get the chance to work with a team on ENGS 89, a project-based course where we consult for external companies and develop a prototype to fix their problems. It is a great chance to have the rubber hit the road with all of the courses I have taken up until now.
We hope that you got to learn something new about our three amazing captains, and for those who are on campus this term we look forward to seeing you at a practice soon!