JCC Masters Swim/Triathlon Training Leads to Success
by Cheryl Armitage Bergeron
It is my great pleasure to report to you that three members from the JCC Masters Swim/Triathlon Training Program under swim Coach Sue Lecarreaux’ training completed a full course Ironman at Lake Placid on Sunday, July 23.
The 3 participants were Kerri McCole, Gene Kislov and me. The Ironman is a grueling triathlon that includes swimming 2.4 miles in open water, followed by a 112 mile bike in the mountains and ends with running 26.2 miles — a full marathon! The accomplishment is inspiring
The swim is the shortest leg of the Ironman, however it is the first event and can mean the difference between a good race and a very tough day. You have to be strong on the swim, but relaxed as well. As Coach Sue likes to say, you have to be long and lean and slippery through the water, in order to conserve your energy yet have a fast swim.
Coach Sue not only trains our physical toughness, but mental toughness as well. An Ironman swim is extremely crowded and elbows and feet are flying everywhere so you need to stay calm and push through. For example, Kerry was swum over shortly after entering Lake Placid and pushed underwater for several seconds. But she didn’t panic and she didn’t quit. Instead, she took a few seconds to get her bearings and went on. Along the same line, I was punched in the face by a stray elbow and kicked in the ribs by another competitor as she tried to pass. Coach Sue’s calming words went through both of our heads and we toughed it out to finish the 2.4 mile swim course –within 30 seconds of each other! — in 1 hour 21 minutes. Gene had a similarly strong swim finishing in 1 hour 23 minutes!
The excellent swim times set up all three of us for a strong day on the rest of the course. After a quick change of gear we were on the bikes to start the 112 mile course in the Adirondack Mountains.
Kerry laid down a super fast 6 hour and 30 minute split time, I came in strong with a 7 hour and 17 minute bike-split time and Gene made it well under the bike cut-off in 8 hours. Another quick change and we headed out for the run portion and a super speedy 4 hours later Kerry was crossing the finish line (total 12 hours 3 minutes), 5 hours 28 minutes of running had me crossing finish line (total 14 hours 29 minutes) and a run of 5 hours 40 minutes had Gene at the finish as well (total 15 hours 32 minutes).
The amazing and admirable achievements appear to reflect Sue’s own disciplined coaching conduct. We have the honor to be training under her for several years and she’s always well-prepared. Sue’s effective training has translated into our improvements, and her pleasant personality has made our hard training an enjoyable experience. Thank you so much Coach Sue!
And special thanks to Ting Lei, who has participated in the JCC Aquatics program going from a non-swimmer to a highly accomplished swimmer, for suggesting this story.
