Last weekend, I competed in my final triathlon of 2021. Wow. That feels weird to say. This sport means the world to me and I can’t believe the place I’ve gotten to in such a short time.

Crossing the finish line at each race is a surreal feeling, but this one was different. I was in a race not with beginners and locals like I am used to, but with women who are accustomed to winning national championships. The fact that I even finished this race still blows my mind, and as I look over the past few months of racing, I am grateful for every second.

I can’t help but smile when I think about my teammates. Elizabeth Harita ’22 and Kate Simmons ’22 are two of the most incredible, strong, hilarious people, I have ever—and probably will ever—meet. I never want to forget all the pre-race hysterics, bike ride conversations, and obscene amount of jokes made about our ridiculously formfitting wetsuits.

The fact that next year I will not have these two girls with me at every race is deeply upsetting, but I know that every time the three of us come home, we can go on a group ride or make a quick run to Peet’s Coffee and all the memories will come flooding back.

Triathlon is truly a unique sport. Not only is it one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports, but the community of athletes is, in my experience, one of a kind. Each race, I look forward to meeting the people next to me in transition and hearing their stories about how they got started in triathlon. At my very first race over two years ago, a man came up to me after I finished and told me that the bike I rode was the same one he used in his first race in 1979.

In that moment, I realized had joined something bigger than myself. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to continue competing in college and hope to keep all the lessons I learned while wearing my Rosary Academy kit with me in the years to come.