Sophomore transfer Jake O'Polka was the top student finisher in last weekend's Grinnell College Triathlon. This was Jake's first triathlon competition and he did it with little training! Read his story below:
My times were:
Swim Time (750 meters): 13:26
Transition 1: 3:07
Bike Time (12.5 miles): 22:39
Transition 2: 1:24
Run Time (3.2 miles): 22:20 with a total time of 1:02:56.
This was my first triathlon and I didn't really know how to prepare for it, and honestly I didn't really prepare for it that much. The week before spring break I was in the pool for an hour a day, doing a lot of intervals switching going from pulling, then kicking, then swimming. And that's all the swimming I did beforehand. I went on a couple 20-30 miles bike rides during spring break, and that's all I biked beforehand. And I really didn't do any running outside of the football running sessions in preparation for the triathlon.
Congrats Jake and hopefully this is just the start of high-level triathlete career!
