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Tag: 2022

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Last Friday – Homecoming Weekend! – we all gathered for our annual new member welcoming event. After some good food and bonding activities, we briefly reflected on our team-related goals and our broader goals for our individual Dartmouth experiences. Each individual on this team has a unique approach to athletics, academics, and social/personal growth. See below for the intentions of our community:

Triathlon Goals

19s and BEs

  • Swim 4x/week this winter
  • Complete a half-ironman by 19F
  • To feel athletic and accomplished
  • I want to not bonk in a long race
  • To maintain the welcoming and close-knit character of this community, even as we grow

20s

  • Continue the legacy of positivity set by the ‘18’s
  • Get more comfortable with cycling
  • Maintain focus, energy, enthusiasm regardless of how my ability compares to the abilities of others
  • To make Tri a closer community for the 22s!
  • To qualify for and race at Nationals

21s

  • Complete my first Olympic distance triathlon
  • Complete my first half-ironman this spring!
  • Get over my fear of swim practice
  • Become friends with ‘22’s
  • Go on the training trip in Florida
  • Do more than 1 race in 2019
  • Learn the names of the 22s, and complete an open water swim
  • I want to feel strong and fit so that I don't feel like I am an imposter when I say I do Tri Team
  • Get to know all the new members
  • To get to know all of the 22s

22s

  • Go to swim practice
  • Make friends
  • Complete a triathlon
  • Show up to four practices a week, no matter what
  • Meet one new person a week
  • Get *FAST!* And eventually do an ironman
  • Race a half ironman
  • Increase my stamina for all SBR
  • Learn and improve all three aspects of triathlon (especially swimming)
  • To learn how to actually swim and to do my first triathlon!
  • To help the team grow & myself grow as the year goes on. Also to finish my first outdoor triathlon in under an hour
  • Do an awesome triathlon race in spring and be in awesome shape by then
  • Finish an open water swim
  • I want to complete my first triathlon and eventually work up to an ironman
  • Go to swim practice
  • I want to move up 2 swimming lanes by the end of the year
  • To be able to say I finished a triathlon
  • Complete a triathlon and be able to actually compete and push myself in all 3 events, beyond just finishing
  • Complete my first triathlon
  • Make a few team-friends
  • Swim 500m straight
  • To push myself out of my comfort zone to get to know people on the team
  • To actually learn how to do all of the tri sports properly
  • To increase my endurance and to become a better runner
  • To form a personal relationship with every 22 on the team
  • To be able to swim more than one lap in the pool without stopping
  • To get a meal with all the 22s on the team
  • To learn how to rlly ride a road bike
  • I want to get really good at swimming by the winter and maybe bring the team to nationals?
  • Stay with the pack on runs and bikes & complete my first triathlon!
  • Train in a healthy and sustainable way
  • Complete an Olympic race, bond with the team, and get a little better at swimming

Dartmouth Goals

19s and BEs

  • Put a tri person up on the “Hall of Mains”
  • Have a valuable education
  • I want to finish out strong!
  • To practice gratitude, to invest deeply in relationships, to avoid disengagement/burnout.

20s

  • Retain the happiness I feel during my off term when I start taking classes again
  • Graduate with a job
  • To be accepted into medical school by graduation

21s

  • Declare a major & get to know some ‘22s
  • Learn at least one running route around Dartmouth that isn't laps around Occum
  • Narrow down what I want to do with my life

22s

  • Get a lot of sleep
  • Graduate knowing the last 4 years were some of the best of my life
  • I want to find a solid community here at Dartmouth
  • Do one thing a month that scares me
  • Don’t get hand foot & mouth
  • Try lots of new activities and leave my comfort zone
  • I really want to push myself to meet new people and try new things I’m scared to do
  • I want to find a community doing something that makes me happy
  • I want to be more active in the community
  • Learn the salty dog rag
  • I want to make at least 2 friends by the end of the year
  • Always be curious and trying to learn new things
  • To stay in shape
  • To keep working to get to know people throughout the year as I meet new people through new classes, etc.
  • To try a ton of new clubs and activities along with tri

SBR,

The Dartmouth Triathlon Team

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Published: Oct. 10, 2022

On Sept. 18, I attempted my first half-Ironman triathlon (that’s 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking, and a half-marathon run) at the beautiful Timberman course in Laconia, New Hampshire—and what a journey it was to get there.

To begin with a bit of context, I joined the Dartmouth Triathlon Team on a whim last winter, when a friend of mine added me to the team’s GroupMe. That friend never ended up attending a single team practice, but somehow I found myself braving the bitter Hanover cold on my way to my first ever swim practice. I couldn’t find the women’s locker room and arrived half an hour late without a swim cap or goggles or any clue about what I was doing. After just one arduous lap of swimming a pitiful attempt at freestyle (as in one length of the pool, not even a there-and-back), I was winded and needed to catch my breath. It’s an understatement to say that I felt incredibly out of place.

But fortunately, Coach Jim helped me learn how to improve my stroke, how to take breaths, how to keep my body from twisting over itself, how to keep my arms stretched way out in front, and how to love to swim. I completed a 50-yard lap without taking a break. And then I did my first 100-yard. And my first 200-yard. And during our indoor triathlon at the end of 21W, I swam 400 yards for the first time ever and was by far the slowest swimmer on the team. But it didn’t matter, because I did it. 

It was admittedly crazy to sign up for a half-Ironman race when each leg on its own felt like a grueling challenge. But I was fortunate to work with Jim to put together a training plan that worked its way up from manageable distances, flexible enough to accommodate my full-time work schedule and an unplanned two-week-long training hiatus when I broke my toe.

I trained this summer while living and working at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, which had its ups and downs, literally and figuratively. Being located on one of New Hampshire’s 4000 footers meant it was impossible to find flat running routes, so my confidence in my ability to handle hills while running soared. Constrained by rural mountain roads, the shortest bike loop I could complete — a ride “around the block,” so to speak — was almost 50 miles long with over 4000 feet of elevation gain, so I was forced to become comfortable with long rides. 

But swimming was the leg of the race I was most worried about, as it was also the most difficult to train for. I tried to drive to the Hanover pool about once a week, but the two hours of driving weren’t always feasible, and I didn’t feel super comfortable going on solo open water swims. This meant that I ended up cramming my swim training into the three weeks before the race when I would be back on campus with access to the Alumni pool, and as a non-swimmer, it wasn’t always easy to trust the process. I found myself comparing my pace to the swim cutoff time, wondering whether I would get pulled from the water. 

Race weekend arrived sooner than I expected after a whirlwind first week of classes. I drove to Laconia on Saturday morning, meeting up with teammates and some of our incredible supporters for a short warm-up and the athlete check-in meeting. It was reassuring to see athletes of all ages and identities, whom I overheard speaking about traveling from all over—they came from so many walks of life, and if they could do the race, then so could I. It was with this resolute attitude that I tuckered in for a decent night’s sleep, ready to face the race ahead of me the next day.

Race Day

One 4:45 a.m. wakeup and Dunkin pre-race pit stop later, I found myself rushing to set up my transition station, top off my bike tires with air, squeeze my way into my wetsuit, and battle the long port-a-potty lines before the race began. It was a rush of a morning, but by 7 a.m., I was running into the beautiful waters of Opechee Bay while a beautiful sunrise illuminated the surrounding mountains. 

* * *

After all of the stress, the long drives to the Hanover pool, the cold mornings of swimming through choppy water, the swim ended up being my favorite leg of the race. I felt confident in my stroke and mentally comfortable being in the water. When the water got crowded at turn buoys, I would switch to breaststroke to help with my sighting. I told myself that I would finish when I finished, and I was at peace with being in the water for as long as it would take. To my surprise, I finished far before the cutoff time, in a sense having already accomplished a feat that would have been incomprehensible to me just a few months prior. 

Sophie prepares for the first leg of the IRONMAN 70.3 Timberman, standing aside athletes in the chute leading to the water.

* * *

And I was on the bike! The ride felt easy compared to my mountain climbs this summer, and I was able to hydrate and fuel myself well. I did down an entire bottle of water during the first 10 miles, which forced me to stop at an aid station to refill, but I think this helped me with recovery from the swim. I made it through just fine without purchasing any fancy gels or snacks for the race; I just brought along the snacks I had access to in my dorm room since that was all I had been consuming for the training process. Forcing myself to continuously be eating was tough, but I knew I would need the fuel later on. I barely noticed the elevation gain and was able to enjoy the riding experience—except for the truck I almost crashed into which had decided to pull a three-point turn on the state highway.

Coasting back into transition, I felt exhausted but excited to have made it to the run. Whenever I visualized my worst-case race day scenarios, I had imagined myself getting tripped up by the swimming or the biking legs, as I had no experience whatsoever with swim or bike racing before joining the team. I thought the run would feel like a treat after the first two legs of the race, yet jogging out that day I was sluggish and slow. I found myself counting down the distance until I would reach the next aid station, where I permitted myself to walk, drink water and Gatorade, and toss some ice cubes in my hat to keep me cool. At one aid station about halfway through I needed to stop for a bathroom break, and so I took time to eat a banana for more fuel. I was fading, but I had to keep going.

My savior during the run ended up being Beth, a 60-something-year-old rock star who was completing her second half ironman and fifth overall triathlon of the race season. She asked me about my Dartmouth kit while we were running next to each other, and I remembered that she had passed me during the bike ride. She would tell me that I should be running faster than her, since I was younger, and I would take off ahead and eventually slow down and she’d catch up to me again and the whole scene would repeat. In those moments when I was moving slowly, she would encourage me along and rejuvenate my energy. The last time we met each other was around mile 11 of the race—from then on, I was speeding towards the finish, ready to complete this impossible goal of mine.

I raced the final mile through the streets of Laconia with a goofy smile plastered across my face. I felt so proud of myself for sticking with a race that for weeks I didn’t know if I could finish—and that some of my friends and family had thought I was crazy for attempting. Not only had I completed the race, but I had raced smart, without pushing myself beyond a sustainable pace, finishing strong with gas left in the tank. 

In the future, I could see myself attempting another race of this distance and pushing myself to race my best possible time. But I’ve realized that I don’t think it would be feasible to train for another race like this while taking classes, since having an off term this summer provided me with the flexibility I needed to commit to the training program. 

I also realized that the achievement of high-clout races like this one really boils down to resources, more than endurance or drive. You have to be able to invest so much money and so much time in order to complete a half-Ironman race, and I am incredibly privileged to be in a position to do so, supported by the Dartmouth Triathlon Team. I also know that so many more people would be able to participate in a race like the Timberman, if only the sport was more accessible, which leaves me feeling bittersweet about the accomplishment.

I need to give another shout out to the incredible people who made the race as fantastic of an experience as possible. Thank you to Ben and Evelyn and Annaliese, the Dartmouth Tri-Team tri-hards who filled in for the coaches as our biggest race day supporters. Thank you to Beth and all of the other badass athletes who inspired me during the race, especially the phenomenal women who cheered each other on whenever we passed each other on the course. Thank you to the residents of Laconia, who set out water bottles and turned on their sprinklers and blasted music from their porches and motivated us along the course. The unforgettable kindness of the supporters and volunteers will stick with me. 

Finally, I accomplished this race while being far from the most committed member of the Dartmouth Triathlon Team. Joining the team last winter (instead of in the fall like most ‘25s), I struggled to fit in with the team socially; consequently, I had trouble engaging in many of the team activities. I only attended practices last year that felt comfortable and accessible to me, like runs and spins, and maybe the occasional strength session. Embarrassingly enough, I’ve never been on a team bike ride. I’ve never gotten close to completing an entire workout at swim practice. Don’t ask me what UVRC stands for, because in all honesty, I’m not quite sure what that is. So to the ‘26s and other tri team newcomers, if you see me at practice, I may be wearing my 70.3 T-shirt, but there’s a strong chance I’m figuring things out for myself just as much as any of you.

Dartmouth Triathlon Team celebrates its athletes. (Left to right: Ben Levesque '24, Sophie Lewis '25, Joe Gyorda '22, Carlos Ohler-Garcia '24, Elena Luria '25, Annaliese OuYang '23)

About the Author: Sophie Lewis is a ‘25 from Newton, Massachusetts. She studies Earth Sciences and History and is interested in environmental law.

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Published Oct. 2, 2022

I plastered a smile on my face, looked up at the cloudless sky and sparkling lake and thought, “I am so lucky to be able to do this.” It really helped. I felt joy radiate through my body to give that extra push through the last few miles.

I signed up for Timberman in April and trained over the summer in California. This was my first Half Iron Man and second triathlon ever after Season Opener in the spring. The week prior to the race, I managed to feel both exhausted from week 1 madness and antsy from the taper. I got increasingly nervous for the race, having expected to feel a lot better the week of.

I drove to Laconia on Friday night where I met my Dad and my boyfriend, Andrew, who came to support my race. On Saturday, we drove the run course and parts of the bike course. It helped with my peace of mind to be able to visualize my exact trajectory for race day, including swim in, bike out, and run out from the transition area.

Although I was feeling pretty poorly on Saturday, I woke up Sunday feeling energized- –a reminder that good sleep two nights before the race is more important than the night of. Dad and Andrew made me a fantastic breakfast burrito (I highly recommend this as a race morning breakfast). Setting up at transition was straightforward. I felt some nerves, but mostly genuine excitement for a race I had been looking forward to for so long. I thought about the day as just another “unlimited energy day,” a day in which I get to move my body and enjoy being outside.

(From left to right: Ryan Brown '23, Carlos Ohler-Garcia '24, Elena Luria '25, Robin Sandell '23)

* * *

It took a little effort to push to the front of the swim lineup, but I’m very glad I did. I went out a bit fast but quickly got my breath back under control and settled into a sustainable pace. Finding someone with good navigation at the right pace to draft off of proved tricky, so I mostly swam by myself. I got little glimpses as I swam of a gorgeous sunrise over Opechee Bay. It went by remarkably fast. I ran into transition with Andrew screaming, “You’re in first, you’re in first!” 

The bike was the best leg of the race for me. I was aiming for 18 mph and averaged 19.6 mph. As a newbie to biking and not having a power meter to rely on during training, I really focused on maintaining a consistent power over the crests of the hills and turns. I also was able to get down quite a few solids early in the ride, which was essential to having energy on the run. Somehow my body seemed to forget how to swallow food. Coaching myself through swallowing a bite of a snack bar while barreling down the road was a fine moment.

Passing people was difficult because, especially early in the course, there were a lot of bikes on the road often bunched up around the base of hills. I took the effort to pass people if it allowed me to maintain a consistent power, even if they ended up passing me later. Thanks to my concerted efforts at hydration, I had to dash to the porta potties in T2. Unfortunately, the girl who ended up in first place was ahead of me by roughly the amount of time it takes to strip off a tri kit and frantically pee in a porta potty.

The beginning of the run felt really solid. I continued to eat goos every couple miles and drink water and Gatorade at every aid station. This involved chucking Gatorade in the general direction of my mouth as I ran and hoping some went in. The loop around the lake was pretty fast, with punchy uphills and long extended downhills during which I really tried to pick up momentum. By mile 9 or so, my body was really hurting and I was slowing down. Based on training I had expected to reach this point a lot earlier in the run. 

At this moment I returned to my “Why’s”: 

Why am I training for and running this race?

I plastered a smile on my face, looked up at the cloudless sky and sparkling lake and thought, “I am so lucky to be able to do this.” It really helped. I felt joy radiate through my body to give that extra push through the last few miles.

* * *

Robin crosses the finish line of the IRONMAN 70.3 Timberman, second in her age group (F18-24).

I was euphoric and relieved to cross the finish line! My time was 5 hours :29 mins., 30 minutes faster than my goal time, and I finished second in my age group.  A slot at the Finland World Championships next August was the cherry on top. This day was truly everything I could have hoped for. I felt overwhelmed by gratitude for an able body, for the privilege to train and race, and for all the loving people in my life who supported me in reaching this goal. A special shout out to Coach Jim, my Mom and Dad, Andrew, and the Dartmouth tri- team whom I adore. 

There is always room for improvement, but this is just the beginning of my triathlon journey. I am absolutely in love with this sport and this community of athletes and cannot wait to see where it will take me. 

* * *

Takeaways

Trust my training. I got nervous during the taper when I felt slow and tired instead of energized. It took a little while to shake off the cobwebs from the taper, but once they were shaken off, my body had the fitness and knew exactly what it was doing. 

Control what I can and do not stress about what I can’t. This is a classic lesson but cannot be overstated. Every time I felt stress arising in my body before and during the race, I quietly asked myself, is this over something I can control or not? If it was, I methodically went about making the necessary change to set myself up for success. If it was not, I took a deep breath and moved my focus elsewhere.

Have a list of “Why’s.” Training for and completing a half iron man brings with it many moments of physical pain, moments when everything in my body was screaming for me to stop. In these moments, I needed to return to the reasons I initially signed up for this race. I wanted to see what my body was capable of and experience the very edge of my physical and psychological capabilities. I wanted to dive deeply into a sport that brings me so much genuine joy and satisfaction when I reach my goals.  I wanted to celebrate the gift of an able body. I wanted to honor those in my life who do not have this gift.

Love and gratitude are my greatest motivators. I know this sounds cheesy, but cultivating these two emotions in my training and on race day gave me a more profound reason to push my body than achieving my physical goals. I was motivated by my love for my twin sister, which overwhelmed me in the most physically painful moments. All throughout my training and on race day, I kept looking around and pinching myself: “I am out here in a beautiful place doing a sport that I love. How lucky am I.”
(Pictured: Robin and her father, pre-race)

Robin Sandell is a Dartmouth ‘23 from Palo Alto, CA majoring in philosophy. She's a Dartmouth tri team enthusiast and also love to rock climb, backpack, paint, and travel.

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I’ve never liked stretching. It takes too much time, effort, and doesn’t even seem to help. Especially after spending a few hours warming up, doing a workout, and cooling down, the extra 15 minutes I’d spend sitting on the ground seem like too much of a hassle. Little did I know how wrong I was.

When I started running freshman year of high school, I was fine most days without stretching. After all, I wasn’t really running that much anyway. Occasionally, I’d stretch haphazardly with teammates, mostly using the time to procrastinate homework rather than focusing on my movements.

Over the years, the mileage increased, but the stretching did not. And I was surely going to pay for it.

First, it was back pain. Somehow, I, a runner, managed to have unbearable back pain everytime I ran because of a lack of stretching. Turns out, I held too much tension in my shoulders while running. And without stretching my arms or back, the problem compounded to the point where it hurt to run a mile.

Then, it was shin splints. Excruciating shin splints, with pain bad enough that I’d end up finishing a 5k in tears that season and would collapse after the finish line, unable to walk. After that race, I couldn’t run for a few weeks without the pain flaring up. All that because of a lack of stretching my calves.

And, to complete the trifecta, later that year, I had IT band problems, as I wasn’t stretching my quadriceps or hamstrings nearly enough to ward off excess tension in my legs and glutes.

But despite all that, I really didn’t learn anything. I still stretched carelessly, moving through the motions rather than really concentrating on injury prevention.

Flash-forward two years, and I’m training for a marathon, working up to 50 miles a week with plenty of workouts and long-runs to get ready for the big day. I ramped up running, lifting, and strength building exercises as necessary. But, I continued to neglect stretching. Everything was going surprisingly well considering that. Until a few months before race day.

This time, it was my hip. I did everything I needed to: I toned down the running, I started strengthening my glutes more, and I started stretching. But the stretching only lasted a few weeks. When the problem got better, I stopped.

The day I ran my marathon, my hip started to flare up around mile 18. Considering I was well over halfway through, I kept going. After the run, I was way too sore to stretch. I told myself I’d stretch more the next day.

Well… I definitely did not stretch at all the next day. Or nearly enough the next week. Or when I started running again.

Lo and behold, I found myself with another problem because of my ignorance of stretching. And this time, my fourth major running issue wasn’t healed in a few weeks or months. It’s been over a year, and I’m still working on getting over the pain.

Of course, over the past few months, not being able to run, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect and find other ways to stay active. I finally decided to try yoga. (If only that happened a few years ago, am I right?)

After spending a few months exploring and trying different types of online yoga classes, I started to feel myself get more and more flexible and start to be able to tolerate longer runs. I found the stretches that worked well for me and developed my yoga repertoire, complete with poses and stretches for all sorts of muscle groups. I also finally created a 15 minute yoga sequence to do each day, one that would ensure my hips, quadriceps, hamstrings, and IT band all stayed limber.

It’s been a year, and I still religiously do that yoga sequence at the end of each day, whether it’s 10 pm or 1 am.

While yoga may not necessarily feel like a workout, it builds strength in ways we don’t notice immediately--which is why it’s often easy to overlook. Our usual types of workouts build strength in the big muscle groups in ways that allow us to notice improvement immediately, whether through being able to do more pushups or being able to run faster.

But yoga acts more discreetly. It helps build strength in all of the muscles and joints we don’t typically think about, helping us improve balance while also strengthening muscles through the intricate poses we hold for extended periods of time.

Even more alluring is the fact that yoga has a dual effect on the mind and the body. Deliberate focus on one’s movements and breath while stretching introduces mindfulness into our daily routine. We often don’t take nearly enough time for ourselves, and yoga allows us to take care of both our mind and our body simultaneously. Especially since we’re endurance athletes, mental strength is as important as physical strength, and yoga helps both aspects of the sport.

With all I’ve learned these past few years about the necessity of injury prevention, I decided to bring yoga to a community important to me on campus: Triathlon Team. We’ve all grown to love and look forward to the yoga sessions, with everyone commenting on how each practice leaves them much more centered and flexible.

While it’s often difficult to find time to stretch--especially with hectic schedules and ten week terms--if there’s anything to be gained from my story, it’s that stretching and yoga has immeasurable benefits.

So yes, I’m sure even the Geico gecko would agree with the yoga yak: 15 minutes of yoga can indeed save you 15% or more of your training time.

About the Author

Vaishnavi Katragadda (‘24) is from Clemmons, North Carolina and is planning on majoring in chemistry and minoring in anthropology on the pre-med track. While she started running in high school, she only recently picked up swimming and biking in college. A lover of endurance sports, she’s excited to explore triathlons more and improve her swimming and biking skills. Vaishnavi also enjoys writing--scientific or otherwise (check her out on Medium!)--adventuring in the outdoors, dance parties, and searching for fellow soggy cereal lovers.

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It’s been a little bit since the end of the 2021 triathlon season. For us, our season looked a bit different than normal, due to not having a strong on-campus presence until the fall. This knocked out racing at the Season Opener, leaving our traditional race at Buzzards’ Bay as the only race on our calendar for the entire year. As a senior now, this was my last fall race with the team so I unhesitatingly signed up for our mini-training trip. Having not swam more than once in the 19 months since Dartmouth’s last fully in-person term in winter 2020, I feared that my hesitance around water would return in full force during what I could only describe as a daunting swim, having only purchased my bike a month before, and having not run long mileage weeks to keep strain off hurting legs, I was a bit apprehensive that I would make it through a triathlon in one piece and/or without a complete collapse. While I couldn’t completely eradicate these concerns and still race, I could at least put myself in familiar ground in the duathlon (somewhere I have pretty good results already) and eliminate my swimming fears.

Max Performance, the organizers of Buzzards’ Bay Tri/Du, scheduled the race for the Sunday of the first weekend of the term, so we had to opt for driving down the night before the race, staying at a local hotel, and heading to the race site in the morning. As one of the team’s drivers (shoutout to Joe, Thomas, and most importantly my van’s codriver Ian for also stepping up and being amazing drivers) I had a very important job of bringing half of our crew to the race site and back to Hanover, and it definitely gave the whole racing experience a very different feel to both have a great race myself and to also help other people get the most out of their racing experience. Despite having only raced one triathlon and one duathlon with the team previously, I was one of the more senior members and I enjoyed seeing many other team members complete their first triathlon with the team.

Honestly, my race almost didn’t even happen. When we got to the race site and started unpacking our bikes for the trailer, I realized that I was missing the single most important piece of metal for my racing: my bike’s through axle. In my packing, I had put my through axle into a pocket of a bag where I wouldn’t lose it, and it turns out I sure hadn’t lost it but instead just forgot to pack it. After a mild panic attack and thinking that my race was done for and that I’d just be cheering from the sideline instead, Jackson had the bright idea of using the trailers axles that we used to mount the bikes to the wall as my through axle. Sure enough that axle fit like a glove, and while it was definitely heavier than my real through axle it would get the job done and I’d be able to finish my race without a hiccup. Glad to even be able to race, I decided to go out there onto the course with no expectations and make the most of the racing experience. Sure enough, my lack of expectations led me to posting the fastest run 1 time in the whole race, and falling apart half a mile away from the finish line on my way to a third place finish in the duathlon, about 45 seconds ahead of fellow teammate Maia Madison ’23.

It’s been a while (specifically, a few months) since the race, but even thinking back on it now reminds me of many of the reasons why I love being a part of Tri Team. The energy, despite being hard to describe and feel without truly being there yourself is electric, and to feel that energy again after such a long time with no races on my agenda was incredible. I’m a firm believer that the race is only half as good as the people that you’re racing with, and this race really reminded me about how amazing our team presence is at races. And as we turn toward 2022 which is shaping up to be yet another year of uncertain plans, I don’t know where exactly we’ll find ourselves going as a team, but I do know that we’ll bring all our energy and positivity – and then some – there with us.

About the Author

Connor Spencer is a ’22 double majoring in math and computer science, and is going into the software engineering field after graduating in June. Connor also runs Dartmouth Triathlon’s website and blog and is an officer for the Dartmouth Magic: the Gathering Club, and when not SBR-ing can be found leading Hanover’s Pokémon Go community, enjoying salads far too large for the bowls at Foco, or overengineering a spreadsheet.

Image credit: Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

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This February 15th-28th, Dartmouth Club Sports is running the Club Sports Challenge: a two-week window during which teams raise as much money for their organizations as possible, with some additional fundraising incentives on the line. It’s an exciting event as it helps our young team grow and raises the vast majority of our annual budget. If you've donated in the past, are considering donating this year, or just want to see how this part of our team runs, we figured we'd discuss what exactly the Club Sports Challenge entails this year and what even just a little bit of support allows us to do.

This year, the Dartmouth Triathlon Team has three main goals:

  1. Raise $7,500 to support financial assistance, gear purchases, and race subsidies!
  2. Have 15 donors increase their gift from last year.
  3. Have 8 NEW donors during the challenge

We earn an additional $2800 if we reach all of our goals as well. We have done an amazing job of this in years past and are looking to continue our streak.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dartmouth becoming co-ed, this year’s program is themed FORevHER. Triathlon is proud of its history as a co-ed team. Since our founding, Dartmouth Triathlon has been full of amazing women, and next year we have all-female captains. This year, we will be highlighting two of our star graduates: Katie Clayton ‘18, and Sonia Rowley ‘19. Stay tuned throughout the challenge for updates on the incredible things these two have achieved during their tenures on the team and the short time after their graduation.

Club Sports has generously offered to match the first $25,000 raised by all teams on a first come, first serve basis. Whoever is able to coordinate their donations early in the challenge will end up taking the majority of that incentive. However, any amount of support we get, even if only a couple dollars, would allow us to accomplish more and continue to grow our team. Whether a donation be made entirely up-front or set up as a smaller recurring donation throughout the year, any donation would be appreciated and qualify toward the Club Sports Challenge goals if made during the Challenge period. As one of the newest and fastest-growing teams at Dartmouth, our gear supply has been outgrown by the size of the team, and with fewer races throughout the pandemic we've been using our fundraising money to buy new equipment. This increases accessibility and inclusivity on our team, which is essential to our mission. While the milestones below are in no way indicative of how the Dartmouth Triathlon Team would utilize a particular donation, we figured we would offer some insight into the more common items we purchase, and how support at any level really goes a long way in supporting our team.

  • $2 can buy a resistance band to get good glute workouts in virtual strength practice!
  • $10 can buy a high-visibility running vest to keep us safe during evening workouts!
  • $25 can cover financial assistance for one team member’s termly dues!
  • $50 can buy a new helmet to keep team members safe on bike rides!
  • $100 can buy a bike trainer for winter bike training!
  • $150 can buy a wetsuit to keep us warm for cold open-water swims!
  • $500 can buy us a new team bike to lend out for team members to get on the road!

With all that being said, if you're as excited about the Club Sports Challenge as we are and want to help the Triathlon Team out, we really appreciate it! The Club Sports Challenge runs from February 15-28, 2022, so aim to donate in that window so your support can help us earn bonus funding! If you'd like to donate to support the Dartmouth Triathlon Team, you can do so at [this link] from now until the 28th!

SBR,

The Exec Board