Spectrum
Diana Nyad ’73 spent two years training for her attempted world-record swim from Cuba to Florida and was held up several times by visa delays, inclement weather, and other unforeseeable barriers. She is pictured swimming last summer in Florida. Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters.
Foresters take it to the limit
By Mike Conklin
Diana Nyad ’73
Diana Nyad’s two attempts this summer to swim from Cuba to Key West, Fla., drew worldwide news coverage and held the real-time attention of thousands on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and CNN.com. These were the first marathon swim attempts for the legendary athlete in over 30 years.
Though Nyad failed to finish the 103-mile swim, owing to an asthma attack and sore shoulder in her first try and multiple stings from box jellyfish in the second, her efforts were every bit as inspiring as her previous endurance feats. This time, she was more than 60 years old.
“You’re only as old as you feel,” Nyad posted on her blog. “This is an inspiration to me that I will continue to challenge myself and I hope you all will too!”
Diana Nyad swimming
In the Lake Forest College community, there never has been a shortage of students, alumni, faculty, or staff challenging themselves to be physically active. The school is building a col- orful tradition of this, whether everyone com- petes at older ages in sports such as running, racquetball, swimming or tennis, or they test themselves for the first time at something new.
On any weekend of the year, Jackie Slaats, athletic director, says it is almost a certainty alumni are extending themselves significantly in an athletic endeavor. “I get feedback all the time on this,” she said, “whether it’s some- one running a marathon or winning a squash tournament.”
Nyad’s iconic, long-distance swim feats are one colorful chapter in this Lake Forest College legacy.
Nyad’s swimming history
A Florida prep-school swim champion when she arrived on campus, she competed in the sport and also played on an unbeaten varsity tennis team. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and, as the outstanding senior woman, was class speaker at Commencement. She is a member of the Forester Athletic Hall of Fame.
In a 10-year marathon-swimming career after college, Nyad opened with a record for women in a 10-mile Lake Ontario swim. In 1975, she won fame by swimming around Manhattan Island and established an international following.
In 1979, she became the first person to swim
102.5 miles from The Bahamas to the Florida coast, which took more than two days of non-stop swimming. She swam in nearly every large body of fresh or salt water in the world, including the Suez, the North Sea, the Nile, the Bay of Naples, the Barrier Reef, and she made a courageous attempt to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys in 1978.
Nyad announced in October that she will attempt the swim once again next summer.
“I will make it from Cuba to Florida,” she wrote on her blog. “For me. For you. For all of us who want to live inspired lives.”
After a post-swim media blitz, that included interviews with the “Today Show,” The New York Times, the BBC, the Associated Press, and many other international media outlets, she began touring the country giving speeches and training for her next attempt at the swim.
“I hope a couple will say, ‘I want to live life like that at this age,’’ Nyad told reporters. “I want the candle to burn bright. We have changed a lot. Our parents’ generation, at 60, they considered that old age. I’m in the middle of middle age.”
David Pendergast ’75
At an age some people might think of scaling back their fitness regimen, 58-year-old David “Hector” Pendergast added something new this year: He rode a bicycle 400 miles in six days.
Starting near his home in Westwood, Mass., the trip touched five states before ending at the family’s old farm near Gettysburg, Pa. The inspiration for Pendergast was to raise money for the Mac Pendergast Scholarship Fund established in the memory of his son, Malcolm, who died unexpectedly in 2007 shortly after graduating from high school and before he could begin classes at Lake Forest College.
Accompanying Pendergast in a specially-fitted basket attached to the handlebars was Billie, the family’s beloved, four-year-old Jack Russell Terrier.
The trip was a resounding success, raising approximately $11,000 and building a large following on the foundation’s blog that chronicled the ride through Billie’s perspective.
“We started with something like eight followers,” said Pendergast, “and finished with 20,000.”
The adventure was a catalyst for Billiebikes2, a charity organized by him to benefit children’s causes. “I hadn’t been on a bicycle in a long time,” he said. “I enjoyed the experience.”
Pendergast did not give too much thought to the physical challenge of riding 400 miles.
Though his sport at Lake Forest was lacrosse, he took up distance running mid-career after he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.
“I hadn’t had a physical exam in something like 20 years and failed a blood test,” he said. “It was a mild form, but I started running as a way of control. I got a life.”
Already an accomplished mountain climber, he started doing marathons and then graduated to ultramarathons – the equivalent of running three marathons, or more than 78 miles, in a day. In 11 years, he logged close to 20,000 miles either training or racing, including “five or six” Boston Marathons.
“I still do runs, but I am retired from ultramarathons,” he said. “I expect to do more biking.”
Joe Zemaitis ’02
Joe Zemaitis is a big fan of Nyad’s attempts. “She may be disappointed that she didn’t make it, but she’ll never know the impact she had just trying,” he said. “A lot of people have to ask themselves: What’s my excuse?”
As a founder and head coach of Swim Neptune, a competitive youth swim club that has grown into the largest and most successful of its kind in his home state of Ari- zona, Zemaitis focuses on the younger end of the athletic spectrum.
“My point has always been: Don’t put an age limit on your dreams,” he said.
Zemaitis started early with his dreams. At age 12, he decided he wanted to be the youngest to break the 10-hour mark in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. After years of work, he fulfilled his goal during his first semester at Lake Forest in 1998, thanks in part to supportive administrators and faculty.
He continued to compete in triathlons at the national level in the summers as a student, winning several long-course championships.
The College proved a perfect setting for these efforts, he says.
“As part of the swim team and cross-country team, I had two-thirds of my triathlon training covered,” said Zemaitis. “I spent a lot of time on the roads in and around Lake Forest on my bike and a lot of time in the sports center rid- ing my indoor bike trainer.”
He was on the Forester cross-country team all four years (captain for three), setting the school record in the five-kilometer race. He also swam four years (captain for two), setting school records in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle, as well as being part of a record-setting 800 freestyle relay team.
After graduating summa cum laude and as a Rhodes Scholar semifinalist, Zemaitis continued to compete as a professional triathlete, participating in world championships and earning the USA Triathlon Pro/Elite Rookie of the Year award in 2005.
Zemaitis retired from the triathlon circuit to commit himself to coaching positive growth of young athletes, partly by writing a book called Joe’s Rules: How Every Parent Can Help Their Child Excel in Life Through Sports.
In addition to starting Swim Neptune, he also founded the Foundation for Aquatic Safety and Training (FAST) to help empower children to teach others to swim.
The foundation was an extension of coaching seven-year-old Braxton Bilbrey, who became the youngest person to swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco.
Every year in April, in an exercise that draws media attention, Zemaitis brings dozens of swimmers from his program to make the 1.4-mile crossing.
“The reality is that 1.4 miles is simply a warm-up for many of my swimmers,” said Ze- maitis. “But when you do something like this, it resonates with people; it seems so outside their realm, knowing all about Alcatraz and prison escapes. Every time we do this it inspires a number of people, including our parents, to get more active. It’s the same with Diana Nyad.”
Robbie Ventura ’92
Robbie Ventura started as a hockey player and became a world-class bicyclist, racing profes- sionally for 12 years, including four with Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team that dominated the Tour de France.
Ventura accumulated over 70 wins in his pro career, was part of the U.S. World Team, and placed fifth in a world championship in Norway. In 2008, after two first-place finishes, the highly regarded El Tour de Tucson was dedicated to him. That same year, he added the Ironman Canada Triathlon to his list of accomplishments.
As the founder of Vision Quest Coaching in 2000, Ventura and his staff provide training programs for over 300 endurance athletes of all levels.
His firm is the official coaching service of TREK Travel, a partnership that has its home base in a new, 14,000-square-foot facility that merges a Vision Quest Performance Center with a TREK Concept Store.
When visitors enter his state-of-the-art workplace in Highland Park, Ill., just a short ride from the College, they are greeted by a sign that says: “We believe age doesn’t matter.”A few feet away on the same wall, there is a separate, poster-sized picture of a 62-year-old client finishing first in his age group in a triathlon.
“Most of the athletes we get want to be better bikers, swimmers, or runners,” said Ventura. “We have people of every age, all the way into their 70s, who come to us. The thing is this: Some sports require a skill set that is a gift, but you cannot teach a gift. Sports that are about endurance – biking, swimming, and running – are very trainable no matter your history.”
Ventura likes to have people pick an event they’d like to either complete for the first time or show improvement. These include marathons, 100-mile bike rides, and Ironman triathlons.
The annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon typically has as many as 25 runners who’ve trained with him. “We also have a host of events that are a bit less demanding that people can choose from,” he said.
The idea is to have a measurable target. This is the path to a sense of accomplishment, better health and new friendships, and almost every- thing is possible. Several years ago, Ventura coached a 45-year-old client who was 90-percent blind through an Ironman triathlon. “This was maybe the most emotional and satisfying finish I’ve seen,” he said.
Ventura is a member of the Forester Athletic Hall of Fame. A native of Kenosha, Wis., he entered college in 1990 and played on the hockey team that went 18-6-2 and advanced to the NCAA tournament that winter. He scored eight goals in both his freshman and sophomore seasons, but a shoulder injury ended his career.
Katie Snowden ’07
Snowden Ironman Wisconsin 2011
It’s not exactly like Katie Snowden wasn’t an active athlete in college. A native of Toronto, she was a four-year letter-winner on the For- ester hockey team, captain in her senior year, and finished No. 6 in all-time scoring. In cross country, she was also a four-year letter-winner, most valuable runner for four years and a team captain for three.
While she describes participation in these sports “as the most incredible experiences of my life,” there appears to be more ahead for her.
In her final weeks of school as a senior in 2007, then-Forester cross-country coach Tina McDonie mentored Snowden through her first marathon in Nashville, Tenn. Subsequently, she has run 12 marathons, including two in Boston.
Last year, her personal record of 2:46:26 in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon was the fifth best time for 2010 among Canadian women for the 26.2-mile run. “To have all of your hard work pay off on race day is one of the most gratifying and rewarding feelings in the world,” she said.
At the same time, Snowden also has been competing in half Ironman triathlons (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) in a buildup to this year’s full Ironman in Madison, Wis. Her ultimate goal is to one day qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
“I am definitely at the stage where I will continue to push my limits,” said Snowden, who trains 25-30 hours per week. “I like to think that I have only just begun to tap into my potential. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me.”
She will be in a perfect position to know those limits, having just completed a master’s degree in physiotherapy at McMaster University in Canada. From there, she is looking forward to building a career in sports medicine.
