Triathalon Club Promotes Healthy Lifestyle

When choosing their exercise of choice, some people elect to run, others to bike, and still others try swimming. It would be quite rare, to say the least, for someone to do all three, but that is exactly what the Columbia Triathlon Club does. Running, biking, and swimming are not just exercises for this club—they are elements of a very rigorous, up-and-coming sport here in the United States.

The CU Triathlon Club is one of the newest clubs to hit campus. It was founded in 2005 by graduate students who had triathlon backgrounds, and just this year was introduced as a Columbia-sanctioned undergraduate club sport. Since its humble beginnings, the Triathlon Club has swelled in numbers, now consisting of about 200 members.

One of the main reasons the club has grown to such high numbers is due to the influence of one of the founders and current captain, Pratap Ranade. While an undergraduate at Stanford University, Ranade began doing triathlons with the Stanford Triathlon team. Now in his fourth year of studying for his PhD in Applied Physics, Ranade influenced many of the current team members to join the team.

“He pretty much mobilized a bunch of grad students ... he threw us all together, and this year we started an undergrad [club],” club president Zak Ringelstein, CC ’08, said.
Triathlons may seem daunting to the average Columbian, especially the patrons of JJ’s Place. However, members of the fledgling team range from students who solely want to cross-train to get in better shape to diehard competitors who compete across each of the four different types of triathlon. Though it is mostly an individual sport, the team trains together once a week across all three disciplines—swimming, biking, and running. On days when the team is not practicing together, head coach Darian Silk plans out individualized training schedules for each member, which he or she is free do on his or her own, or with other members of the team.

All this training is not just an effort to exercise more in different disciplines for some members of the team. Instead, it is preparation for multiple competitions throughout the year. Members of the club have competed in all four of the different kinds of triathlon—Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman, and Full Ironman. Sprint and Olympic triathlons are the most common for standard competitions, and the team regularly participates in these. The Sprint triathlon is the shortest version and one of the fastest growing in popularity in the United States, as it consists of a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and five-kilometer run. The Olympic distance, which is also known as the “standard course,” consists of a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike, and a 10-kilometer run.

While most people were languishing in the sun or working on internships last summer, the not-yet-recognized Columbia Triathlon Club was putting in some major work at the Ivy League Championships. In a huge victory for the team, it beat out all the other Ivy League schools, taking home the Ivy League Championship. This event, though it occurred over the summer, might have helped the club earn recognition from the University as an undergraduate club sport.

“Last year, the Columbia team was Ivy League champions ... once they [the Athletic Department] heard that, I think, they latched on to us as a club sports program. They have been very receptive to our program,” Ringelstein said.

Since its inception as an undergraduate club sport, the Triathlon Club has continued to have success. At the JackRabbit Indoor Triathlon in Brooklyn on Feb. 17, Ringelstein and Hannah Weinstein, CC ’08, both qualified for the finals, which took place a few weeks later. In the finals, Ringelstein and Weinstein each took second place in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.

For its next meet, the team will be sending about 15 members to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship on April 19 and 20. Along with Ivy League Championships, which will take place on July 20 here in New York, this is the biggest event for the team.

Though it is a relatively new club, the CU Triathlon Club boasts some of the most committed and enthusiastic members and alumni. Kelvin Ng, a member of the team and a student in the School of General Studies, was recently elected to the position of secretary of the Club Sports Governing Board. Jenny Thompson, one of the most decorated Olympians in history, was part of the club while she was studying at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

So while the club may be new, it has formed deep roots based on the enthusiasm and number of participants. Along with aiming for success in competitions, it is also trying to influence Columbia students to challenge themselves while diversifying their workouts.

“It’s not just a sport, we’re bringing a lifestyle to this campus,” Ng said.