4/25/15 Clemson, SC
Five members of the MIT Triathlon club traveled to Clemson University for the USAT Collegiate National Championships. Set in the beautiful lake country of SC, Clemson’s campus provided a scenic backdrop to the Olympic-distance race, consisting of a 1.5 km lake swim, followed by a 40 km rolling bike course and ending with a 10 km run on the outskirts of campus. In all, approximately 1300 collegiate athletes from around the country took part. As luck would have it, it started raining the morning of the event. Unperturbed, athletes started arriving at 5am, and unpacked their gear with the efficiency and strategic use of trash bags characteristic of veterans of the sport. The rain and sheer number of athletes made the water choppy, but this did not deter veteran swimmer Mitchell Hsing (G), who put up a blazing 20:29. Conditions on the bike course were no better, with the spray reducing visibility to almost nothing. Still, Ben Woolston (G) finished the course in 1:01:49, averaging just over 24 mph. By the time the run started, the weather was starting to co-operate, and Alex Springer (Junior), who had raced the day before in the draft-legal race, put up the team’s best run at just under 42 minutes. Justin Bandoro (G) demonstrated true endurance, finishing the race despite an injury on the bike. By the time the women’s race had started, the sun was shining and things were starting to dry off. Lisa Deng (Freshman) completed her first ever Olympic-distance race, with an impressive 25 minute swim. After recuperating and refueling with some well-earned southern-style fried chicken and a trip to downtown Clemson, the team spent the next day exploring Atlanta, GA before heading home to start training for the summer season and conference races in the Fall.