Tonight I am sitting by the open window with the cool breeze and the smell of rain on asphalt filling the room. Two blocks away there is yet another Brazilian live band playing in the compound. If you have not spent time listening to Brazilian music, you might want to try it. Lovely stuff.
I thought I would talk a little about the female squad we brought with us here to Rio. Our Armed Forces National Champion this year is Air Force Captain Kathy Rakel. Kathy is an Air Force Intelligence Officer stationed in Arizona and lives and trains in the same area with trips to Southern California to train with her coach. This is Kathy’s second National Armed Forces title and first CISM competition. To be honest, I did not know Kathy before this trip. We exchanged hellos at Armed Forces and traded a few emails with details on the trip before this, but we came on this trip as strangers to the other. Kathy has been very single minded in her preparation for this event and has bypassed the sightseeing and touring here in Rio for the most part, so she and I have found ourselves running and swimming a fair amount together in the afternoons here locally. This has given us the opportunity to get to know one another a bit in the last 10 days or so. Kathy is an extremely impressive individual. If one were to look back at her life in her 26 years they would be blown away by her accomplishments. She is the type who only has one speed- full on, and her life shows it. It has been a blast to get to know her and hang with her a bit. Kathy is high speed for sure, but has a lovely, calm, and enjoyable personality that allows you to just hang out and get to know her. We have had a lot of fun just chatting about whatever comes to mind and truly exchanging in conversation. I am excited about watching her race this weekend. A race this size, with the international talent that is present, will be an excellent test for Kathy. I think people are going to be surprised with her performance. I won’t be. I can feel what is coming. Kathy is going to lay down a blistering race and I am going to have a front row seat to watch it.
Air Force Captain Colleen O’Connor and I were on the same CISM team that competed in Sweden in 2006. I actually don’t remember Colleen that well other than her birthday was on one of the days we were there and we did something nice for her. Colleen and I have since reacquainted and I have the honor of personally coaching her and her sister. Colleen is the real deal both in life and in sport. Colleen was the second place female at Armed Forces and is only going to continue to get faster. Colleen is an Air Force pilot and has a very challenging international flight schedule, which can be a huge disruption to her triathlon training. We have managed to come up with a system to keep her training rolling even when she is bouncing around the globe. Colleen is a former NCAA Division 1 swimmer and brings that work ethic to her training. We have also become solid friends along our triathlon journey. Colleen is a blast; she is sweet, intelligent and mature. The world needs more Colleen O’Connors’. Colleen’s training here in Rio has been awesome and I expect her to bust out a big one this weekend. I can’t wait!
Captain Erin O’Conner is the younger sister of Colleen. As I coach both sisters, I would sometimes get them mixed up when I was writing their training schedules, so I started calling them Big O and Lil O. Erin is Lil’O. Other than being a squirt, there is nothing little about Erin O’Connor. She goes big in everything she does. She was actually not even named to the Air Force squad this year, but due to an injury to a teammate, was a last minute addition to the team. So what did she do? She ripped out an amazing race at Armed Forces and finished third female overall! That is how Erin rolls. I love coaching this young woman. As one of my favorite Lieutenants from down in Corpus likes to say-she is legit! It would be wise to not look past Lil’O. She is a beast on the bike and as mentally tough as any athlete I have ever met. I love to get her fired up. I can tell when I am successful because her eyes quickly tighten up just a bit; kind of like how a fire control radar locks a target. I have big plans for this kid. The fun part is I am sure her plans are bigger!
Air Force Staff Sergeant Jolene Wilkinson is an Air Force Reservist and a pro triathlete and personal trainer. Jolene and I met during our time together at the 4th World Military Games in Mumbai, India in 2007. Jolene gets my vote as the athlete most fun to talk with while walking on scary streets. I remember in Mumbai she and I talked our heads off while walking through some scarier parts of Mumbai. The same just happened the other day. After all of the Force Protection Briefs we have received before coming here, a few of us launched out the front gate to head to a grocery store a mile or so away. Jolene and I chatted non-stop the entire way there and back. After I got back, one of the other Team Captains told me that little stretch of road was one of the most dangerous in Rio. Classic. Some leader I turned out to be! Jolene comes into this race extremely fit and healthy. I always enjoy watching her race and Sunday will be no exception.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Laura Springer is no stranger to these higher level competitions. Laura has actually competed in CISM in Swimming and now in triathlon. Laura and I met in Kona in 2009. Laura has also raced on the All-Navy Cross Country team in addition to the other two sports. If you were to ever gone for a swim or run with Laura you would know why she is competing at this level. She is a truly beautiful athlete to watch. Her swim stroke is both graceful and powerful as she slices through the water with authority. Her running is the same. When Laura strides, she bounds from powerful stride to powerful stride with sleekness and grace. As a coach, I sit there and think- geez, that is just beautiful to watch. A pure athlete is how I would describe Laura. It is great to have her here.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Rachel Beckmann is a grad school student in Oregon, getting her masters in Chemical Engineering. This degree goes along with her Electrical Engineering undergraduate degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. If you were to read that with nothing else in there, you would never come up with who Rachel really is. She is probably the most intriguing of all these athletes to me. She not only comes with a 400 pound brain, she is also the real deal in multisport. She can go at any distance. I have seen her do good things in both Sweden and Mumbai at ITU military distance and we have also shared the same parts of the lava fields in Kona together. Rachel has a phenomenal sense of humor and my favorite kind of sense of humor. It isn’t the gut busting obvious type of funny ha ha’s. It is the subtle and nuanced observations from someone much wiser than her years. Rachel has impressed me every single international trip we have ventured on together. This trip is no different. I also pity the person that is not her teammate who tries to stay on her wheel on Sunday. Rachel will take them to a new level of difficulty. Rachel hurts people on the bike-males and female alike. One of the other international competitors here was eating lunch with me a couple of days ago and pointed over at Rachel. “Who is she?” he asks me in broken English. I thought he was sweet on her or something so I just said, “that is Rachel” with nothing more than that. “She strong on bike…mean on bike!” That would be Rachel! Rachel is never an athlete I ever wonder whether she is going to have a good day or a bad day. She will go like hell anytime, anywhere, at anything- not just triathlon. That is why I like and respect Rachel as much as I do.
Well, there we go. There are our girls. They are probably the strongest 6 I have seen us put together. I am really looking forward to their race on Sunday. Once I get back to real internet, I will upload a bunch of photos along with team pictures, etc.
Thanks for reading!
Jonser
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