Team Leader Provides an Update from Olympic Games, Korea Training Camp

USAT Sport Performance Director Scott Schnitzspahn, who is serving as Team Leader for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team, offers this look back at the Opening Ceremonies and the team's first day at their Cheju, South Korea training camp. 

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Opening Ceremonies 

Well, the team is finally starting to come down from their high from marching in the Opening Ceremonies.  It was such an honor for me to take part as a staff person with all of these great athletes.  It is a night we will never forget.  We started at 5:15 as the entire Team USA gathered in our Opening Ceremonies attire supplied by Ralph Lauren.  The wool pants and jacket with the hat looked great for the first 30 seconds, then the sweat started.  Within a minute of exiting our dormitory, Hunter's shirt looked like he had jumped in the pool with his clothes on.  He was going for the award for the biggest sweater, but we decided that award went to one of the wrestlers whose tattoo on his back was perfectly visible through his soaked shirt.  We all agreed that while Hunter didn't get the gold, he was at least in the medals for that award. 

The highlight of the night for the triathlon team was meeting the President of the United States and getting to meet and get to know all of the other athletes from the other teams.  We especially enjoyed interacting with the NBA players who were incredibly friendly and went out of their way to interact and inspire their fellow Team USA teammates.  Marching into the Birds Nest (National Stadium) was exhilarating and witnessing the lighting of the torch lit a fire in our athletes as well and really made them feel part of the Olympic experience.  

Exiting the stadium and getting back to our dormitory was handled very well by the organizers and the athletes were asleep by about 2am.  I had a couple of hours of administrative work to do before heading to bed myself.  Three hours later they were up again to board the shuttle to the airport for our departure to Korea.  Amazingly everyone was wide awake, still buzzing from the experiences of the night before.  We shared stories, looked at photos, and laughed all the way to Cheju, South Korea where Team Manager Katie Baker met the team and took them to the training center. 

First Day in Korea 

Their bikes were waiting for them for a quick spin, built up that morning by Olympic Team veteran mechanic Jeff Donaldson.  Dietitian Bob Seebohar had a nice dinner prepared for the team that evening and then heads finally hit the pillows for a well needed night's sleep.

It's nice to have the whole team together now as we have joined Sarah Haskins who came to Cheju straight from Team Processing and replacement athlete Becky Lavelle arrived the day after we did.  So far everything has gone smoothly, with the exception of an occasional heavy downpour that keeps the humidity nice and high, but causes some delays to training now and again. 

Each day the athletes complete their planned training sessions with support from coaches Andy Schmitz and Sharon Donnelly who make sure rides are sagged and runs are timed and swims are completed. 

Great Support Staff 

Team Manager Katie Baker manages all the moving parts, primarily transportation and lodging, uniforms and apparel, and photojournalism.  Dr. Alex Keith is our chiropractor and makes sure that all the athletes, and occasionally the staff, are firing on all cylinders.  He really is a guru.  He also makes sure the ice baths are ready each day and all the medical notes get sent to the USOC medical team back in the athlete village in Beijing.  Jeff Donaldson makes sure all the equipment is perfect each day as our mechanic.  Jeff was also the mechanic for the U.S. triathlon team at the Athens Olympics.  Bob Seebohar from the USOC is our dietitian who works with the cook at the training center to make sure the food is well timed, plentiful, good, and safe.  Bob also acts as our sport science support, collecting and testing urine samples from each athlete throughout the day to monitor their hydration status, which is a struggle to maintain in the heat here.  In his spare time, Bob is also Sarah's personal coach. 

Speaking of personal coaches, the athletes have great support from personal coaches Bobby McGee, supporting Matt Reed primarily and everyone in some capacity, and Tim Crowley, here as Jarrod's coach.  Training partners and spouses Nate Kortuem, Sarah's husband and training partner, and Alicia Kaye, Jarrod's wife and training partner, are also here, along with Jarrod's biomechanist, Pam Minix.  My job as Team Leader is to make sure everyone has what they need to do their jobs and direct the symphony, keeping everyone on the same page of music.  With this team, that's not particularly hard.

I must say that we couldn't have such a successful camp without the support of our friend Ki from the Korean Triathlon Federation.  He took the time back in March of 2007 to meet with me and Randy Wilber from the USOC here in Cheju on a cold and windy few days (so different from this week) as we searched for the best training site for our team and other U.S. teams throughout Korea.  Ki always has the answers to our questions, solves our problems and plays interpreter.  There is nothing that Ki cannot accomplish in Korea for our athletes and those from a number of other countries who are also here training.  He is the sport of triathlon in Korea.  He even organized a small sprint distance triathlon as a preparation race for many of the athletes here on Monday morning that was organized as well as any race in U.S., even if we only had about 25 Olympic athletes competing.  Thanks Ki and thanks to everyone in Korea who is supporting us here for our camp!

Tags: 2008 Olympic Team