Navy Sports Central
What if I told you about a group of elite college athletes who compete in 36 different sports at one of the toughest institutions in the nation. For them, it’s not about name, image, and likeness or any other kind of major endorsement deal. Because at the end of the day, their ultimate goal is to serve their country. These young men and women represent the best our country has to offer. They compete at a high level on both the national and world stage, and their stories have mostly gone untold. I’m here to change all of that.
With Navy Sports Central, you'll get the latest news on the athletes, and their teams, gain some unique insights in our Deep Dive segment and hear from some great guests along the way.
So please join me, Karl Darden, and check out Navy Sports Central wherever you get your podcasts to learn more about these incredible athletes and our nation’s future leaders.
Navy Sports Central
Navy's Magnificent Seven: Behind the Scenes with the Women's Triathlon Team
Get ready to step into the shoes of the Navy Women's Triathlon Team as they gear up for the NCAA championships in Tempe, Arizona. We promise an exciting journey that not only explores the physical and mental preparation these athletes undertake but also showcases the unique dynamics of this all-girls team.
Listen as Coach Billy Edwards shares tactics for the competition, and nationally ranked triathlete, Coach Alli LaRochelle provides an inside look at what motivated her to take on the challenge of being a coach at the collegiate level on top of running two businesses of her own.
From cycling strategies to race-day nerves, this episode is packed with personal experiences and practical takeaways. The team members share how they navigate their way through each phase of the race, from swimming to cycling and running.
The episode culminates with a retrospective look at the team's journey, as seniors Sarah Jarman and team captain Reagan Quilty reflect on the legacy of the Navy Women's Triathlon Team. From humble beginnings to attaining varsity status, the pride they take in the team's growth and accomplishments is evident. Join us for this special edition of Navy Sports Central, and prepare to both entertained and inspired.
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Music is provided courtesy of Audio Jungle. Artists featured in order:
- Seven In Music (Intro)
- Alexiaction (Deep Dive)
- Loka Music (Deep Dive Pt. 2 Lead In)
- Artlss (Question of the Day Lead In)
- Cinematic Alex (Closeout Music)
If you like what you hear, support the Mids and the show at the same time! Navy Sports Central is a proud affiliate partner of Fanatics.com, the Ultimate Fan Gear Store! Click on the link to start shopping now!
Hi everybody, my name is Karl Darden and I'd like to welcome and thank all of you for joining us today on Navy Sports Central. I'm your host and this is the official podcast of the Navy Sports Nation where we take a deeper dive into Navy Sports. We are headed into the Veterans Day weekend and I've got something really special in store for you today. In fact, it is so special that we'll just be focusing on the deep dive segment and picking back up with our question of the day and mid-watch segments in our next episode and in a very briefated sports update. I'm extremely happy to report that the men's rugby team earned a hard-fought star over Army by beating the Black Knights up at West Point by a score of 23 to 21. So please stick around for this special episode. I've got a feeling you're really going to enjoy it.
Karl:Hi everyone, thanks for being with us today on this special edition of Navy Sports Central. Today we are in Tempe, Arizona, which is the site of the NCAA women's triathlon championships, and those take place tomorrow. And not only do we have a chance to connect with Coach Billy Edwards again, but he was also nice enough to arrange a visit with the entire team. So it's time to get settled in and meet these terrific athletes. First, I do want to note that this episode is being recorded on Friday, November the 10th, and that means it's the United States Marine Corps' 248th birthday. So, Coach Edwards, happy birthday to you and all the other Marines out there, and welcome back to the desert, by the way.
Coach Edwards:I can't think of any other place. I'd rather be Urryut Kill.
Karl:Okay, we're going to have the team introduce themselves in a minute, but before doing that, I wanted to get your take on a couple of things. First of all, you've had a little over three weeks of practice since the regional qualifier last month, so how would you assess the team's physical readiness at this point?
Coach Edwards:Well, it's just been a continuous build. Throughout the entire year, I think we were really focused on becoming race ready, race ready each week, and now we've actually had a little bit of a chance to sort of focus a bit more on being more fit and then find any sort of flaws in our race tactics, and we've worked with those as well. So it's been a good three weeks to get specifically ready for this race. Okay, all right, cool.
Karl:Now let's talk about the course a little bit, and just for the benefit of folks who are not familiar with how collegiate triathlons work, I want to first, if you could just review the distances for me for the different legs, and then secondly speak to the course layout. What do you like about it? What do you wish they would tweak a little bit? You know that sort of thing.
Coach Edwards:So our distances are generally a 750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike or 12 and a half mile bike and a 5k run. That's for about 95% of our races. Every once in a while we'll have a smaller race that may be a little bit different, but they're all generally about that and it takes about an hour. It's an open water swim, so everybody will go off at the same time. It's a mass start. We have almost 100 athletes on the line this weekend for the fast heat, the top seated heat that we're in, and then everybody rides together on the bike.
Coach Edwards:It's not like Triathlon where you need to have space and there's fancy arrow equipment. We are on bikes, looking like we're in a bike race or something you would see like on TV for the Tour de France, and so the athletes have to swim a very fast swim in order to get out with a group and ride with other people, in order to conserve their energy, in order to come off the bike and have a very fast 5k run. So our athletes are almost as capable of running at a division one cross-country level in very capable swimming, at a D1 level as well. So the capabilities are very high speed and due to the nature of going from one to the other. Also, we have the transitions there and everybody has to be able to quickly come out of the water and get their helmets on and, when they come off the bike, get their run shoes on so they're able to maintain the momentum throughout the entire race.
Karl:Okay, very good. Now your assistant coach is with you on this trip, so let's get a chance to know her. Coach Allie LaRochelle is a 2001 graduate of the University of Maryland and is a nationally ranked triathlete. She is an 11-time USA triathlon All-American and has been an all-world gold recipient on four different occasions. So, coach Lauchel, welcome and thanks for joining us today.
Coach LaRochelle:Thank you, it's nice to meet you.
Karl:All right. So the first question I had for you is first of all, you run two businesses right now. One's a marketing business and the other one you actually coach endurance athletes as well. I do so to me that seems like a pretty full plate, right. I mean, what made you say, okay, maybe I'll just apply for this assistant coaching position at Navy? What prompted you to do that, and how did that even come about?
Coach LaRochelle:Yep. So, as you mentioned, I do have a pretty full plate. I run a marketing company, I coach individuals towards their athletic goals and then, yeah, I have two busy sons in high school. So my husband is actually on the board of trustees for athletic scholarships at the Naval Academy and he's known Mr Gladchuk for many years. So Mr Gladchuk had asked if I would consider helping out with the team and at first I was pretty hesitant because, as I, as you said, I didn't know if I wanted to add one more thing to my plate.
Coach LaRochelle:But I came in and I met with Billy and we have a mutual connection through my coach, who's been a great mentor of mine for many years. So after meeting Billy and then coming in and meeting some of the girls too at the time it was the club team last spring I just felt like it would be a really great fit. So we're no strangers to the Naval Academy. My nephew graduated in 2001. So we were sponsors to him and to all his friends and I just thought, if I can give back in any way and help inspire these girls in any small way, it would be really rewarding for me.
Karl:Okay, very good. So the other question I had is when you, when you look at coaching philosophy, right, I mean, obviously a staff has got to be on the same page when it comes to that, otherwise you know, nothing gets done. But that doesn't mean those coaching styles need to mirror each other necessarily. So I was wondering if you could speak to some of the differences in your coaching style compared to Coach Edwards, but yet they still are complementary in terms of just pushing the team forward.
Coach LaRochelle:Yep. So I think the goal is the same. Right there, we're both committed to helping maximize the performance of the girls and helping them grow as student athletes. I think Billy likes to do things a certain way and he brings a fun, but also like more of a drill sergeant type mentality approach right Like where he's not afraid to let them know when they might be falling short of his expectations.
Coach LaRochelle:Whereas I've kind of found my role more as or I see my role more this season as like being someone that they can come to for support and as a sounding board, and my hope is to help build their confidence and help them believe in themselves through positive reinforcement and through their hard work and dedication to the program Right. It's an amazing group of women and I think that their humble and quiet confidence is just so valuable and I think it'll really go far for them in life and in sport.
Karl:All right, that's awesome. Okay, thanks very much, coach. Now it is time to meet our team members, so let's go around the horn with first and last name in hometown Fire away.
:Hi, my name is Haley Harris and I'm from St John's Florida.
:Okay, Hi, I'm Emily Vela. I'm from Ken Island, Maryland, all right.
:Hello, I'm Maddie Klippenstein. I'm from Platte City, Missouri. Hi, I'm Sarah Jarman. I'm from Frederick, Maryland, okay.
:Hi, I'm Zoe Adama from Fort Worth Texas.
:Hi, I'm Anna Wekluk. I'm from Hairman, Utah.
:Hi, I'm Reagan Quilty and I'm from St Petersburg, Florida.
Karl:Okay, Welcome to all of you. Reagan, you get the first question. All right, You're the team captain and captains. I think one of their assets is being able to just assess the collective mindset of the team going into any major competition. So how would you characterize that when it comes to your teammates? In other words, where are they mentally right now? What would you?
:I'd say I think we're definitely at a really great place as a team. We've come a long way this year and we're definitely a super tight group of girls. Like every day, we come to practice and are so excited to be with each other and we have so much fun. We're super dedicated to our sport and hard workers. So we're competitive, we like to push each other, but we definitely have a great ability to lean on each other.
:So as we've built through this season, we've definitely worked on gaining our confidence in our sport, becoming more physically prepared for our championships. And then this last three weeks, as Billy mentioned, was just kind of a fine tune, getting that final fitness in those technique and skills. We definitely have prepared ourselves very targetively for this race. The last three weeks we've done tons of training mirroring exactly what the course is going to look like. There are certain technical aspects that we expect to hit different people we'll be racing against. So kind of every practice has been fine tuning, preparing, imagining what it's going to feel like while we're here. So everyone's really been able to build up their confidence in that.
:We definitely are super excited. I think everyone is having really fun being here, like being very official. We had the banquet last night with all the other teams and we had fun with it, like we're definitely one of the more giggly teams out there. There was kind of like a dead period where people are just sitting there and we pulled out our phone and started playing heads up in charades in our uniforms, because we just want to have fun together and make the most of it. So I definitely think we're totally ready and today, getting that last kind of look at the course, fine tuning, getting in the right mental place, we're definitely ready for this weekend.
Karl:Okay, all right, that sounds good. Now, one of the things I would kind of think about when I look at captains between those that are captains of individual sports versus team sports right, the one thing that the coaches of team sports I mean the captains of team sports don't have to really deal with is getting disconnected from their team while they're competing right, I mean volleyball, you're all there together, okay, they basically after every point they can, they have the opportunity to encourage each other. Basketball, same sort of thing, but with a sport like triathlon, you may see some of your teammates out there, but you may not see all of them. What are some things and I'm going to ask you to kind of drop on your prior triathlon experience as well that you have been able to use as a captain to help keep your team motivated, even when you're not right there next to them?
:Yeah, that's definitely been something I've never been concerned about on this team is because I have complete confidence in my team and that everyone knows how to execute their race. It's definitely been a build this year. We've learned a lot. There's been a huge growing learning curve coming into this new style of racing because everyone was great. Athletes definitely had the ability to perform, but some of the technical, some of the mental, some of the skill craft in the sport was where we had to work.
:So Sarah Jarman and I the other senior on the team we both come from a racing background, race all through high school in this format and so just this year, being able to share strategy, thinking about different things, even our practices, changing the way that we think at practice and are a little more aggressive with each other, a little more competitive, talking strategy after pieces, maybe take it a moment and breaking down how a pace line went or when someone attacked, how you should respond. So we've just continually throughout the season shared our knowledge. Everyone's worked together and we've figured out like the fine tuning of our race. So everyone is totally prepared to run their own race and we're now at the point when we see a course people will look at a different turn or different start and be like hey, I'm thinking this, what does everyone think? And pull out different ideas. So when it comes to race day, if we are in a pack together, we love, we will communicate like crazy you know we'll talk to each other, we'll talk to other teams.
:We are okay boxing people around a little, but when you're out there you're just hoping for the best for your team, hoping that you don't see them because they're already ahead of you. So when you do get out there on the run, especially with the two lap course like this, you'll be running by everyone and as you go you're just looking for your teammates, like hoping for the best for them, hoping you see them ahead of that next girl. You know a little thumbs up, smile, a nickname, you know anything, as you're all sweaty and panting and like just trying to finish out the run to give them that little acknowledgement that like you see them and you see their work. That's all you need because we have complete confidence that like you can run your own race and you know how to get yourself to that finish line.
Karl:All right, fair enough. Okay, anna, you're up next Now. One thing I noted was that you come from a pretty strong swimming background and obviously that's really a good thing to have, because that's the lead off leg in the triathlon. And the comment I made with coach when we spoke last time was I was watching the Masters golf tournament. One time Somebody made the comment that you can't win the Masters on the first day, but you can't lose it right. So if you take that analogy to a triathlon and swimming, you can't necessarily win the triathlon on the swimming leg, but it is possible to lose it right. So this is why I think swimmers are such an attractive athlete to try and pull into this event. My question to you is when it comes to the bike and the run, which of the two were a little bit more of a challenge to you? I think I remember reading that you had a little bit of a track background. Is that right?
:Um, okay, so I in fact did do track, but I was a thrower so I did not run in track. I actually have more of a biking background. I have mountain bike for a long time. My whole family my dad and my mom are mountain bike coaches, and both of my little brothers are mountain bikers, and so I have a really strong background in that. Whereas running, I actually came into the Naval Academy being able to run maybe a mile in 10 minutes, so I had little to no background in running. Actually.
Karl:Right Now. The very first triathlon I ever saw was I don't think it was four years out of the Academy. One of my friends was running a sprint triathlon in Delaware and I didn't really pay too much attention to what was going on in the transition areas and you would think for a race that's an hour long it wouldn't really make that much of a difference. But, as you guys know, every little second counts in those transitions. So what are some of the things that you've picked up on that has helped you really kind of get more efficient when you go from swim to bike and then bike to run?
:For me, I would say it's less about like tips and tricks in those transition areas and more about what you do leading up to like the race for those so like on our team especially, Reagan was talking about how we've been practicing for this course specifically and that's true we have been in a parking garage for the last three weeks practicing our transition from the bike of a parking garage turn. Is that right?
Karl:Yes, that's pretty thorough.
:And that is a fantastic way, because when we saw the course yesterday we were like that looks exactly like what we've been practicing, and so that mirrors exactly what we wanted to perform. And then another thing is just practicing and racing a lot, because if you notice, like the best people who have the transitions on the team are Reagan and Sarah and they're very clean, beautiful transitions, and it's because they've raced so many times that it's just like in their head for them, like they don't even think about it, it's just boom, boom, boom. So I would say that it's not tips and tricks, it's practice and the seeing it in your head.
Karl:So did the fact that you guys did uniform races. Please do that help at all.
:It helps with the mundaneness of doing a transition over and over and over again and Billy being like hey, did you even get your shoes at time? Maybe not?
Karl:All right, okay, zoey, you're up next. All right, zoey, you're another decorated swimmer. What was it that got you thinking about switching over to triathlon? And I guess one of the things I'm kind of trying to get is what do you feel the triathlon gives you, that swimming maybe did not.
:Yeah, it was definitely a long story. I would say senior year of high school. I graduated in 2020 and that's when COVID started, so I stopped swimming when all the pools were closed to pandemic. I didn't get into the Naval Academy my first time, so I ran cross country and track at Trinity University beforehand, so I kind of had a little bit of a background with swimming and running. But when I came to the Academy my previous year I was rowing on the crew team and I loved that team. It was amazing. I knew I wanted to be a part of the team at the Academy.
:But the triathlon team after my previous year I was drawn to it. It seems like an adventure. You have three sports. There's not a focus on one thing. You can be a master of all trades and so I had a couple of friends on the team Maddie and Joe Bell. I knew them on the team and they raved about how close the team was, how much fun they had together. So from my tryout to our blocker this year, it's been an adventure. Swimming for me was staring at a black line and sure, I loved my teammates, but it was regimented. And triathlon for me has been an adventure. It's working hard. Every course is different. Every bike, every run, every swim is in a different place, often in beautiful places too, like here in Arizona. So that's what drove me.
Karl:So this next question has to do with how you and all competitors, I guess, deal with nerves. I mean, everybody gets them and they all manage them in their own way. So what are some of the things that you do to kind of keep those in check as race day approaches?
:Yeah, for sure, this is one thing I've definitely struggled with Nerves on race days. Honestly, what can make or break your race? I think it's important to be a little bit nervous. If you're not nervous, I'm not sure there's something wrong. But for me coach Billy tells me this a lot too and it helped me a lot.
:But focusing on what I can control during a race, I can't control what the other girls are doing. All I can control is my mindset and focusing on what I've done to prepare, and for me that's honestly, personal time that brings my mind to peace. For example, like reading my Bible is something where I'm reminded where my strength is found, and that's in my savior, it's not in myself. So bringing myself to still before race is memorizing Bible versus things that bring me to my mind of like. This is what I can control. I can't control if I have a bad swim or if something happens on a bike, but also focusing on physical things I can control, like making sure I'm feeling my body well. That's something that's come by trial and error. There's certain things that work on race day and certain things I don't. But also the week before, like making sure we are eating, sleeping, focusing on you during that time. But it's also not just for me, it's for my teammates. If I don't get these things right, my actions affect the team as well.
Karl:Understood. All right, Okay, Sarah, you are up next. And, by the way, I was telling I was mentioning this earlier to Coach LaRochelle. She asked me if I'd ever played any sports at the academy. I said I was kind of an intramural guy because I had to make a business decision as to whether or not I was going to graduate or keep competing. So I made the right choice, obviously by stepping down.
Karl:But the other comment I made was the mids who are there now are way, way smarter than I ever was. Right, and I'm amazed at how high a level of excellence I see academically in addition to performing so well on the field of competition. That finished me. I'm wondering sometimes if that ever kind of gets to you in terms of just all right, do I still want to keep doing this? It takes a lot of commitment and everything right. When you're out there on another course and it's lousy weather or maybe you're fighting off a nagging injury, what are some of the things that you do or what are some of the things that you kind of think about to keep that commitment level high, that motivation level high, so you can continue to perform?
:Yeah, I think this is something that we all struggle with, especially me. I feel like the academy pulls us in so many different directions that it's hard to truly hone in sometimes. But when we talk about try-off on being an individual sport, I think sometimes that's false and even though we're out there alone, we're still out there with our teams. So my team deserves the best out of me and I deserve the best out of my team. So that always keeps me motivated to keep working hard for them in practice and in a race. So I'm not doing this for myself. I'm representing the Navy, the Naval Academy and also my teammates.
Karl:Right, yeah, that makes sense. Now we've talked about the course layout just a little bit Obviously out here. You know, fairly flat, maybe a few elevation changes where a road kind of dips down underneath an overpass or something like that, but not a tremendous amount of variation From your perspective, do you like flatter type courses? I know that some athletes prefer some undulations and hills and so forth, just for nothing else, just a change of pace. But what's your preference?
:Personally for draft Eagle Races. I think it's more fun when it's flat, because I think you get to use the drafting more to your advantage. But I'm trying to change my mindset a little bit, where it's like the course doesn't matter so much, only the way you react to it. So I'm always someone who's a little like scared of hills, but I need to work on like not doing that and it's just like the way that you perform up a hill. It depends on your mindset and how you attack it.
Karl:Okay, all right, good, all right. Maddie, you are up. Okay, swimmer and cross country runner in high school, right, so clearly you had those two legs kind of handled, at least in terms of experience. Was there anything about the cycling? That was a little bit of a challenge that you did not anticipate.
:Okay. So, yes, I did come from a running and swimming background and I would say my background with biking was really just, I knew how to ride a bike and that was the extent of it and my plebure. I took a pretty good fall, I broke my wrist and that was a pretty big wake up call as to how intense biking can be. And I knew when I joined the team that I had the leg strength that I could build on to be a good cyclist. I just had to learn the technique and I was really lucky that I had veterans on the team like Reagan and Sarah that could teach the bike technique and our team can continue to embody that and pass that on to individuals that need it as well.
:But I really had to take that in stride and learn from pleb young, certain al-sikin class year, how to ride my bike technique, like clipping in, drinking my water, frequently being when we're on the club team, being in aero bars, and those are things I've just learned over time. And it really does take practice and being intentional when you're biking. So we go out and bike, it's not just like, oh, we're going for a bike ride, it's hey, let's make sure that we are practicing how we're going to race, so making sure I'm putting my hands in the right places, attention to detail when we're doing that, and I think that is how I've built the cycling from my pleb year to now. But it's definitely something I had to learn quickly, especially from the crash of my pleb year. But we haven't had one since.
Karl:So yeah, mattie one more coming your way With your wrists.
Coach LaRochelle:Oh yeah, Should be the cover photo.
:I'm going to tell you really quick, just because it's funny. But my pleb year, when I broke my wrist, I had a cast. So this is my scarve. I had a cast on my left arm.
:And.
:I fractured my right arm so I just had a brace, but it wasn't thrown. It was like three weeks and I would still come to practice and at that time we'd swim at lunch.
:And as a pleb. So, like Sarah said, we're pulling many different directions, especially pleb year, and I sat on the side of the pool deck and I'd watched them swim and there was oftentimes like I'd be watching them swim and then all of a sudden I'm asleep and so there's this really comical picture of me like sitting like this with a cast and a brace mouth wide open on the side of the pool deck, but we've come far. Hopefully that's pretty good, all right.
Karl:So the next question has to do with food and nutrition. All right, now you guys know as well as I do that that King Hall menu is not the best when it comes to triathletes, especially when you're training in season. So how do you work around that? I mean, are there allowances that can be made? I mean, can you make requests for the team tables and stuff like that?
:Yes, so it is difficult. It is difficult, I won't say it's not, but we adapt for sure. And we are provided some extra food as varsity athletes. We have refueling stations, which we're really blessed to have, where we can go get those extra snacks before, after practice to replenish ourselves. And then, in addition to that, we're really blessed that our O-REP Commander Shrek and Gauss we have her this year and she was able to tell us in the beginning of this year the importance of how you make your plate.
:So we know, first off, food is fuel and the most important thing is hating the amount of calories that we're burning. We need to fuel ourselves Right. So that's what comes first. And so we go into King Hall. The biggest thing is we're looking for our carbs, our fat, our protein, and so we add to our plate with that intention. And while it's hard and, yes, the food isn't excellent, sometimes we can make do you just have to put in the effort. And it's also about being intentional with OK, I know that I'm going to miss lunch for this reason, or I know that we have a really hard workout on Saturday. I need to get more food then. So it's putting in the preparation and planning. So, like Zoe said earlier, you can perform because you prepared yourself well for that practice or race.
Karl:OK, all right, very good. Ok, we're going to go ahead and take a short break now, but before we do that, I did want to give you all a couple of ways to stay up to date on Navy Sports. The first is to join the Navy Sports Nation Group Facebook page. I've got a link to that in the show notes. Just click on it, answer a couple of questions and you'll be good to go. The second way takes even less time. Just hit the follow button on whichever platform you're listening to this podcast right now. It can be Apple Podcasts, spotify, art, heart Radio, it doesn't matter. Once you do that, every episode will be downloaded to your directory when it's released and you can listen to it whenever you're ready. So please consider becoming a member of our group and you can actually tap that follow button right now to show your support for the podcast. I'm looking forward to having you join us. We'll be right back. Music OK, welcome back to Navy Sports Central.
Karl:Karl Darden here with you and I am joined today by the Navy Women's Triathlon team. We are in Tempe, arizona, for their NCAA championships, which take place tomorrow on Veterans Day, and, by the way, this has been an absolute blast so far getting to know the team. So I tell you what. Let's go ahead and get back to our conversation. So, emily, we're going to go ahead and pick back up with you. Music, you were named the USA Triathlon All-American last year, is that correct? Yes, and you all wound up finishing fourth nationally, so that was pretty cool. Okay, now the team makes a jump to varsity status over the summer, and I know that you guys were very, very competitive as a club team, but did you notice any differences in terms of, from a competition standpoint, going from club to varsity?
:I think the biggest one that I've noticed, especially from never having biked, is that learning how to bike 25 miles by yourself on a completely different bike as the TT arrow bars situation goes on. So then riding draft legal on road bikes, learning how to ride a new bike again. I think the biggest thing was learning how you're competing with people. You have to use other people for your advantage. It's not just okay, I'm going to go out bike, crush the bike and help for the best on the run. It's now like I have to go on the bike, hope I get in a pack, hope my teammates are there to have someone's motivate you and everyone else to keep going, keep going faster and then get off on the run and run fast.
:Okay, all right good.
Karl:Now let's look at the same question from a slightly different perspective. The seven of you went from a co-ed club team straight to a women's varsity team. So what differences did you see there in terms of the overall dynamic and how you interacted with each other?
:I think the biggest difference is who you're with. On the club team we had the guys on board, so a lot of the times, especially the swim and the bike sometimes I'd bike with the guys and you see a whole different competition level. They'd be like, okay, we're going to just sprint the whole warmup and then we're going to do the pieces and we're going to sprint back and it's awesome, but I can't bike at 25 miles per hour. And the warmup with you guys it's like turning back down, so something I can bike with you guys. And the swim we would be like an integrated swim. So every lane was based off speed, not gender, which was awesome Because it was like, again, the guys have a whole different mentality of how we're going to pace things and it was like, okay, if I can stay with them on the tempo hundreds, the 15 tempo hundreds, it's awesome, I'm going to catch them and we're going to run them over. That was kind of the idea. But I think that's the biggest thing was going to all girls' team versus guys' girls.
:Growing up, I'd always been on the guys' girls' team, from soccer to swimming to cross country. It was always guys' girls. We always practiced together. So going to all girls. It's like, okay, I don't have that kind of a buffer where it's like I can't just make fun of someone and be like, oh, it's fine, Like half the time they'll laugh. Or Reagan will just come and pick at me. And it's like, well, I don't want to say something mean enough where it's like he's mad at me. So I have to like tell myself back. I'm like, okay, I'll just take this one, I'll think of a good comeback next time. She's still waiting for that comeback, but all right.
Karl:so the next question has to do again, just jumping back to the courses and so forth. I'm kind of curious, because you know you had a fair amount of experience before what's the most challenging course you've ever come across and why was it so challenging?
:I think every course is hard the first time.
:You see it just because you don't know what to expect, like if it's going to be a hill, it's going to be a big decline, that's like curvy or not.
:And especially about the bike, I think like once we get through it, like the first time, if you run through it, we see the course, we know like okay, like this is where I'm making a sharp left, sharp right or something like that, something like different, like especially the 180s those are the big things, for me at least. And it's like okay, like if I've done it once, if I've done it like three times, and it's like okay, I know on race day like I can do it, Even if I'm like in the mentality of like I just got to finish, like I know like I could finish the course I'm going to do good. And I think that's like my biggest thing that I do is just like adjusting to like every course, like as we go through I'm like none of the courses are the same and just taking each one like that morning Be like okay, like I know I can finish this course.
Karl:Okay, all right, so Maybe we can use this course here as an example. So, from a course management standpoint, what are some things that you're thinking about in each phase?
:So for the swim is just we just kind of be like get out there and help to get in a good pack. Um, for like regionals, I got out with a big pack of like almost 20 girls. So that was really nice because it was like all the girls in the front wanted to get like wanted to pool, and I was like Awesome, and I'll sit behind you guys. You guys pull me through the end, which was awesome Because I'd never had that before, with my first time ever being in like a pack bigger than five people. And then so that's like the swim. Hopefully getting out of the water in good position and then onto the bike out of transitions is straight uphill, pretty much Up until like you go straight up, take a right and then you're on along straight away and the big thing for that would just be like get up on, like get up, like get out the hill Um, hope that people are up there on the hill To like get with them and like kind of like use them to like get faster straight ahead.
:On the straight away to get ahead of the other people behind me, so that we're not like by myself or like Waiting for other people to just pass me and just come by and like fly by Right, um, looks like a big thing especially. And then afterwards it's a straight, like um, we got straight, and then it's a big 180 and then it's A couple more like turns, another at 180s, and it's like all I've got to be like positioning myself in the right spots, like not get dropped from the 180s and then hopefully Be in a good spot where I'm not like having to slow down and like potentially falling off my bike from slowing down too much, which has happened. That's like my biggest thing. It's like more the technical side of Positioning myself where I want to be like in the front of a turn so they don't just like lose me on the next uphill.
Karl:Okay, very good, all right, we are heading down the home stretch now. So, uh Haley, these last couple of questions are for you. You're coming off a 13th place finish at the nca qualifier. Right and then two weeks before that or maybe three weeks before that, you finish first in that waterman sprint triathlon, correct?
:Yes okay.
Karl:So first of all, congratulations. Secondly, uh, definitely a function of all the hard work you put in and so forth, but also from your team as well. So what I want to know and I think reagan kind of alluded to it earlier Uh, can you speak to how you guys do in fact push each other during practice? I mean, what, what happens and how competitive do things get?
:um, I would say we are a highly competitive team and it's important to note that there's a difference between being competitive in a good way, in a bad way, and we are definitely competitive in a good way as in like we're doing it to push each other and not out of ill intent.
:Right.
:Um, but I mean during the swims, like everyone wants to go first in their lane and you want to beat the person in the lane next to you and, um, viking, when Anna and I get playing the front together, or Anna and anyone, anna likes to be an inch ahead of the person she's with, so it's erased the whole time and then suddenly we're going like 27 miles an hour on a neurovik ride and, yes, anna and I are sometimes called Hannah. And then during runs, I usually have to keep myself in the back because I get excited and we start Going to tempo pace during runs when it's supposed to be an easy run to the track.
Karl:That's pretty good. Okay, one more question for you. We've already talked a little bit about the biking portion of the of the event and, because this is a draft legal race, I was kind of curious to find out some of the things that you guys use to take full advantage of this. So let's just say, hypothetically, right, you guys come out of the water and at least within the first mile You're all together on the bike. I know I don't know how often that happens, but let's just for this situation, let's say that's the case, right? So walk me through what that strategy would be, what you would be doing in order to chase down the leaders and put the whole team In a better position.
:Well, let me start off by saying that, hypothetically, if that happens, our bike pack would kick every other bike pack. But I think that we all work really well together and we practice like every sort of drafting scenario of practice. So there's rotating pace lines and 30-second pulls and 15-second pulls and two-minute pulls, and I think we all know each other's strengths and weaknesses pretty well. So Anna is definitely our strongest bike puller, so she will probably pull a lot more, but make sure that she's not pulling faster, she's just pulling longer. And then the rest of us would pull as much as we could and help our team go as fast as possible.
Karl:Okay, all right. So so, Hearing that I guess you are, you can use certain devices to kind of check your times and so forth. I wasn't really sure what the rules were at the collegiate level for something like that. But yeah, it's so, that's clear. You guys have garments and something like that to use.
:Yes, we're allowed to use garments, and Coach Billy does not like them during races, as most coaches do not, but people wear them anyways, and he's told us multiple times to turn off all the screens at practices because you don't want to be focusing on that, you just want to be focusing on feel. But there are sometimes like practice. Last week he wanted me to know my pace and I had all the screens off because that's what he told me to do, so I was like I don't know my pace, I'm just going to be some feel.
Karl:That does it for all the heavy-duty questions. What I want to do now is just kind of throw out a couple of fun ones for you guys, and then we'll finish up with a couple of thoughts from from Sarah and Reagan. So the the first question I had and yeah, let's go with Maddie on this one and then you guys can just kind of rotate around. First question favorite food that has no business being on our triathletes menu.
:Okay, so I want to preface by saying I'm really proud of this team in our mindset towards food and I believe that there that every food has business. Being in a triathletes diet, like I said earlier, we're really lucky and blessed to have community of Shrek and gas is our OREP being a registered dietitian and showing us that what matters most is calories, because we're not just feeding our bodies, we're feeding our mind and souls. So if something's gonna make us happy, then we should have it.
:So, Every food is busy being a triathlete diet, but I will say there are definitely foods that I Probably should not have right before practice, and so I can start by saying I really love ice cream and King Hall has ice cream, and having ice cream at lunch right before a run workout is probably not the best idea. So that is that's my answer.
Karl:Okay, all right. Second, have that question, though, though unrelated Favorite song that you like to use to kind of get yourself ready.
:Okay, so I don't have a specific song, but we do have a playlist. Okay, that we three playlists actually blood, sweat and tears and it was made by one of our alumni, jeremy Stevens, and it is a combination of songs from past Alumni all the way back to Adam Estroff, sophie Tasker, and it is a combination of all these really fun songs that Any other team heard. They'd probably like what the heck is this, but when we play it really gets us ready. So Any song from one of those three playlists is probably my go-to song. Okay.
Karl:All right, let's jump back over to Haley.
:Okay, so favorite food is definitely cookie monster, ice cream from always ice cream or anapolis ice cream. We're frequenters there as a team and then I Constantly get made fun of for my taste in music, especially during hard workouts. So my favorite, oh my go-to song to help me get motivated for a race is down the river by camp.
:Same as like, if probably everyone else ice cream to my favorite food. Yes and then I just kind of listen to what Anna are. We call her. Our oxo has to play in the mornings. That kind of gets me motivated.
Karl:So okay, so.
:Okay, I'm gonna break the trend a little bit. I have fourth periods off before swim sometimes and I have no self-restraint and we'll eat chips in case of sometimes Never works out very well. My favorite song this is a hard one, but I'm gonna go with. Meet me halfway by the block. I had peace.
Karl:Okay, All right. All right, Zoe okay, my favorite.
:For sure, sometimes we'll stop on bike rides at this place called Great Harvest, so I love getting any type of bread snack on a ride. That's my favorite. Okay and recently, my favorite song to hype me up Is any Eminem song.
Karl:Okay okay.
:So the food I don't think should be in the triathlons diet is the King Hall burgers, and that's because they're served every day. We have a really hard track workout and I can tell you anyone on the team we feel it. And then, oh, my favorite song is house of the rising Sun by the animals, and that is my hype song. All right okay, reagan.
:I'm gonna go with the theme and probably say ice cream or fro yo. Even yesterday, right after the banquet, it was like an immediate trip to fro yo. That was obviously everyone knew that was gonna happen. And then favorites hype song, probably Anna's playlist or like yeah, I'll put in my headphones on race day, but I normally don't play music and it's just so people don't talk to me right away and I just listen to everyone else's music that they play out loud.
Karl:All right, okay. So last questions for the two seniors. Okay, and Sarah, we're gonna start with you. When I heard that they're gonna be elevating women's triathlon to a varsity sport, first of all I was pretty happy about that. Secondly, it did what's kind of surprising, because rugby had just gotten that status months before, right, or at least the year before. So it's kind of cool to see two sports jump up just like that. And I think that that doesn't happen unless, a the program is shown a tremendous amount of consistency over the years and, b You've had a lot of support, whether it's through alumni or parents or whatever. So the question I have is, knowing that, what are some of the things that stand out to you about this experience, especially this last year, since it's the first year competing as a varsity team? And also, when you think about moving on, what would you like your legacy to be?
:I think it's been cool to see how, on the club team, we all like took a lot of pride and like humble beginnings and how, like we were one of the only teams, like when it's raining out and snowing, like we'd be on the track and the weather be miserable and we'd be the only ones out there.
:And like how we always just work together, like we would Wake up really early and do like three hour long bike rides and have 20 people stuffed in a room together and so like humble beginnings and remembering where we came from is really important to me. And remembering like where we Started, especially seeing just like our transition throughout this year, like how much we've grown. I think that's something that we should keep with us, even as, like all club alumni graduate. Just like those ideas that they had and bring it I think are super important Just run the support that we have to, like all the people who have graduated, who have supported us and got us where we are. We had a text from one of our alumni yesterday Just like wishing us good luck and it was really cool to see. And then just running like we're here because we love this sport and because it's fun, and just keep that mindset of like this is something that we love to do and no matter how competitive it gets, like we're doing this because it's fun.
Karl:Okay, keep that up, all right. Thanks, captain, you get the last word.
:Yeah, a lot of based off what Sarah said. I think a really key part of this team is how humble we are coming from. Those Roots of you're a good athlete will make you a good triathlete. I also think something that's super special with this team as we've gone varsity is the fact that About half the girls in the team competed at a varsity level at the naval academy before coming to triathlon. But none of us had the intention of coming in the naval academy to compete on a varsity triathlon team. We came here to be machineman. We came here to develop as officers and leaders. So that is like the forefront of our mind as we as we do this is we love the sport, we love the team, we love each other, we love this opportunity, but we are using this to develop ourselves both physically, mentally and like as people in whole. So I think that's a really unique perspective that we have that some other teams may not have. On the yard we value being a machineman so much and it's it's hard. It definitely pulls you in so many directions that you have a two hour practice but you have to get back because you have come around. So you have meetings or you have Responsibilities. The girls all have really large responsibilities within their company and different organizations, and so they're pulled in so many directions, but they're able to do it all. So I think that's something that is very special about this team. I think we did a great job.
:Coming into the season, this is the first year we had a blocker, so we had a month off of military training coming in to the school year, where we got to focus on team training and we took a team trip and it was just us girls, no coaches. We're in the Blearidge Mountains. So much fun putting such great ground work, physically building up. Coming out of the summer, it's always hard because you're in military fitness but not necessarily Traff on fitness. So building that up but also creating that time for us to bond as an already super tight team and Lay out what our expectations are for Not only this season but this team as it develops, what we want to be Remembered for, what we want our legacy to be and the standards we will uphold.
:Everyone created goals. We have a team document with what our expectations are. We have a document with Individual personal goals along with team goals, and it's really just staying true to that of like we are here to develop and we want to see this team grow and I have complete confidence that in the coming years this could be a national championship team. The Naval Academy and the type of people it attracts Are so hardworking, such great athletes, and if you're a triathlete at the school, you're already balancing. Like you're a special type of person. You're balancing so much. So I truly believe in the coming years, this team has a great potential and opportunity to develop, especially with the current girls, you know, eventually coming into leadership in the next couple years. I'm super excited to see how they'll perform. All right, all right, and that is a perfect place to wrap things up.
Karl:So, ladies, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to join me this morning. I really appreciate it, and coach Edwards and coach lower shell, Thank you for helping me set this up and I'm looking forward to getting out there and watching you guys. Tomorrow I'll be out there snapping some pictures so I can do the follow blog article as well. So thanks again. Thanks so much.
:That's going to do it for this edition of Navy Sports Central.
Karl:Thank you all so much for joining us Now. If you'd like what you've heard, please be sure to hit that follow button wherever you get your podcast and remember to get the word to all the other Navy fans out there. Again, I want to thank the Navy women's triathlon team for taking the time to join me today. How great was that getting to know these terrific athletes and future leaders. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Karl:Our question of the day continues to be a show favorite. We didn't have one today, but you can still answer the one from our last episode. It is pinned to the top so you won't miss it. And just a quick reminder the views expressed on Navy Sports Central are my own and do not reflect those of the US Naval Academy or Navy Athletics. By the way, the music used in Navy Sports Central comes to you courtesy of Audio Jungle. This is a great site for purchasing the rights to use the music from thousands of artists around the world, and those featured in the podcast will be credited in our show notes. Talk to you soon, everybody. Until next time. This is Karl Darden. Go Navy, beat Army.
