I didn’t plan to join the triathlon team. Although I occasionally swam and biked in high school, I thought I was satisfied with just running. In high school I ran cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, and I loved the feeling of being on a team. When I came to Dartmouth, I wanted to find a similar group, which initially drove me to become interested in being a coxswain for men’s lightweight team (at barely 5’0 I thought the sizing worked out). However, I changed my mind when I met smiling captain Valentina at the triathlon booth who encouraged me to try out the triathlon team.
I quickly came to learn what makes the triathlon team so great, and that has kept me coming back for more ever since. Here’s a few of the reasons why I love being on the tri team:
- Team breakfasts, dinners, pong tournaments, etc. are awesome bonding experiences.
- Pushing yourself at practices is the perfect complement to a challenging academic term.
- MUSCLES. Enough said. The constant rotation of swim, bike, run has made me stronger than I’ve ever been.
- You get to experience an amazing team feel with dedicated coaches.
Now that I’ve been training with the team for a while, I can definitely say that joining was one of the best decisions I made in my first week at Dartmouth. The training schedule gave me some balance as I navigated my first Dartmouth term, and coming to practice every day served as an incredible stress reliever. I have vivid memories of sprinting across campus from my Math 11 exam with Katherine (another ‘20) to make it in time for tri strength, one of my favorite practices of the week, and running side by side around the track at track workouts with Russell (a ‘20 twice as tall as me who, by the way, is much faster than I am now). Tri team provided me with a network of friends right away, which made the adjustment to college a lot easier.
Winter was ironically my favorite training season, and I grew to enjoy biking and swimming in the comfort of alumni gym in 0-degree temperatures and running along Rip Road buried in snow. Wednesday night swims with Eliot were especially remarkable. They consisted of Eliot giving us crazy drills that left us all laughing as we swam down the lanes. Crazy as they were, they worked; I improved my technique and speed with every practice.
During spring term, I was on crutches for three weeks after attempting to run a half-marathon with no training over spring break (would not recommend). During this time, I swam with a pull buoy 5-6 times per week, coming only to swim practices. I truly developed a love for swimming during this time which allowed me to remain sane despite my injury. I kept in contact with the team and coaches which helped me continue to feel like I was part of a team. When I was finally able to come back to spin practices, it felt awesome to jump back in and be with the team almost daily, and it made me super excited for more training (and hopefully fewer injuries) in the fall.
I never get bored with swim, bike and run. Recently, over the past weekend, I had the privilege to go on the first ever tri training trip. Five Tri team members (myself, Katie, Moises, Matt and Erin) headed to Katie’s summer home on Coleman Pond in Lincolnville, Maine. Maine, it turns out, is a triathlete’s paradise. It provided the perfect environment to tackle all three disciplines. Although we biked, swam, did a fun bike/run brick, and swam, ran, and biked some more, we enjoyed a lot of non-triathlon-related bonding activities too. We developed the art of making a perfect s’more (pro tip: add Reese’s and heat the entire s’more up after melting the marshmallow), sailed around Camden Harbor, cooked delicious homemade pizza, and ate a Thai feast provided by Katie’s aunt. The training trip re-ignited my love for triathlon and as I build back my foot for running, I can’t wait to get even faster in all three disciplines with my teammates.
sbr
Carly
About the Author
Carly Tymm is a ’20 studying Chemistry and Engineering. She likes baking, breakfast foods and hiking with a huge backpack.
