April 28, 2009

Garden City, N.Y. -

While not an NCAA sponsored sport, triathlon is contested on the collegiate level by means of a national meet put on by USA Triathlon (USAT). This year, 423 males and 313 females from all over the country gathered in Lubbock, Texas to take part in the Collegiate National Championship. The contest consisted of a 1500 meter swim, 40k bike and 10k run. Adelphi athletics caught up with sophomore Tom Eickelberg, a multi-sport athlete from Leonia, New Jersey and the first ever Panther to compete in this event, for a brief chat. Tom is on the swim team as well as the cross country and track and field teams. We sat down with him to find out about how his trip went.

Adelphi Athletics: Tom, how long have you been competing in triathlons and how did you get into them?
Tom Eickelberg: I’ve been competing in triathlons for about five years now. I started out doing them as a part of a relay; I would do either the bike or the swim while other members would do the run. My dad has been a triathlete for about 10 years now and seeing him so passionate about something made me want to give it a try.

AA: With such a busy schedule, cross country in the fall, swimming in the winter, and track in the spring, how do you train for triathlons?
TE: The sports are not really all that different; they each have to do with fitness. My cross country/track coach, Adam Siepiola, has helped me train and has been a big part of my success in recent triathlons. I get my base fitness from cross country in the summer and fall and then swimming through the winter gives me a feel for the water that I really need. During track season, Adam gives me the flexibility to ride and swim alongside my usual running schedule which helped a lot. The bike suffers a little, but I know what I have to work on.

AA: Do you find it tough to balance all of these activities while still being a full-time student?
TE: I’ve had great role models. They’ve taught me how to manage my time well enough to be successful in both the classroom and in athletics.

AA: So the triathlon was in Lubbock Texas. Have you ever been to Texas before?
TE: No, this is the furthest west I’ve ever been.

AA: How did you manage to get your bike down there?
TE: I flew with it…in a bike box. I wasn’t in the box, but the bike was. The airport workers were a little shocked when I went to go check it in. The box is big; big enough to fit a bike in it. But it wasn’t a hassle.

AA: Tell us a little about Texas.
TE: It was a bit of a culture shock actually. I got there and it was beautiful out, but it was windier than I’ve ever felt; gusting to 50mph! I felt like I was looking at the ocean because the land was so flat; it was quite the sight. Texas was more or less the way I envisioned it, tumbleweeds and all. It was 70 degrees when I landed, but two days prior, there had been a hail storm with watch for snow surprisingly. The air the morning of the race was a frigid 38 degrees. I’ve never been so cold getting into the water.

AA: 38 Degrees! That’s extremely cold to be swimming. How cold was the water?
TE: The water was around 54 degrees, which is no bath. I only had a short sleeve wetsuit so the swim was a bit uncomfortable to say the least.

AA: For all of the readers who are not familiar with these distances, can you give the equivalent in miles?
TE: The swim is .93 miles. The bike is just under 25 (miles) and the run is 6.2 miles.

AA: Take us through your race. Describe the swim, bike and run.
TE: I started the swim with the lead group but lost touch with them about a half mile in. I was having trouble feeling my fingers and toes. I came out of the swim in eighth place and had a really good first transition. I got on the bike and could not feel my feet so I struggled for the first five to six miles until I got used to it. The bike course was hilly and very windy and I struggled to keep a decent pace. I came into the second transition still not able to feel my feet, but had a good transition none the less. It took me a while to get into a rhythm on the run and I couldn’t get my legs moving even though the temperature rose to 70 over the course of the race.

AA: Despite the cold weather and water at the start, are you happy with the way things turned out?
TE: I was really happy to represent Adelphi and it was a really great learning experience. I’m looking forward to go again sometime in the future.

AA: You were 56th overall and 48th out of undergrads. Are you satisfied with your performance?
TE: I would have liked to have done better. But considering I caught some tough breaks this spring with my training and combine with the weather made this a really tough race for me. I am excited though to improve on my performance. Hopefully next time I’ll do some things differently in training and maybe I’ll be able to crack the top-20.

AA: What are your summer plans?
TE: I hope to qualify as a USAT Elite and compete at some Continental Cup Races and at USAT Elite National Championships. I also hope to get some great summer mileage in for next cross country season. Coach Siepiola and I are working on a training program now which will allow me to do both.

Collegiate National Triathlon Championship by the numbers:

1st - The position out of DII triathletes Tom came in
48th - Tom’s Place out of Undergrads
56th - Tom’s Place overall
57 - Graduate Participants
313 - Total Women
366 - Undergrad Participants
423 - Total Male Participants
736 - Total Participants

Tom’s Times for Each Part of the Triathlon
Swim - 22:34 (20th Fastest)
Transition 1 - 1:36 (8th Fastest)
Bike - 1:12:46 (175th Fastest)
Transition 2 - 1:02 (6th Fastest)
Run - 37:47 (60th Fastest)
Total Time - 2:15:44

Complete Results:
http://www.pigmantri.com/jmsracing/results09/usatcollegiate09b.html