Heartbeat: US Biathlon Podcast

Judy Geer: Passion for Sharing Outdoor Sport

Building a Venue that Feels Like Home

Olympians Judy Geer and Dick Dreissighacker had a vision when they bought an outdoor sports center in 2008. Today, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center has become one of the most vital sports centers in the country for biathletes and cross country skiers. From her home in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, tucked amidst the maples, aspen and larches, Olympic rower Judy Geer talked about her passion for outdoor sport in an episode of Heartbeat: The U.S. Biathlon Podcast.

HEARTBEAT NOTES

It was a late fall day at Craftsbury. Light snow still blanketed the ground. Most of the leaves had fallen. In typical fashion, Judy was juggling a busy day balancing grandmotherhood with a desire to get in yet another rowing session on the water.

When COVID-19 gripped our world last spring, Judy and husband Dick joined with athletes to come up with a pact to keep Craftsbury an active and healthy environment. That bond between the athletes and the venue kept it open and alive, with athletes sequestered in a self-imposed bubble - looking out for each other.

Judy Geer is one of those very special individuals for U.S. Biathlon. Listen in to Heartbeat to learn more about her own upbringing, where she gained her passion for sport and how she loves to give back today.

HEARTBEAT PREVIEW

To hear more, listen to Heartbeat: The U.S. Biathlon Podcast, as Judy Geer talks about gaining a passion for outdoor sport as a young girl, evolving into one of the nation’s top rowers while qualifying for three Olympic Teams and the mission she and her family have put in place at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Here’s a preview.

Judy, welcome to Heartbeat. I imagine you’re in that transition season in Vermont?

We had a really gorgeous, vibrant peak foliage season. It seemed a little early. We've been very dry here and we were initially worried it was just going to not be that great because of the dryness, but it ended up being lovely. And then after the oranges and reds of the maples, we moved into the yellows of the birches. And then we have this third season that I really love, which is the larches or tamarack season, where those trees turn just really golden before they drop their needles. It's been really lovely. And then earlier this week, we got eight inches of snow. And so it's you know, it's been a roller coaster

How did you gain this passion for outdoor sport?

When I was a young girl, I got into swimming and I swam winter and summer - summer in salt water and winter in the pool. I grew up at a time when there weren't that many sport options for young girls, to be honest. And you weren't able to do as many things as boys were. But swimming was there and it was very active and it had good coaches. I enjoyed the competition and I think that really gave me an aerobic base that set me up well for my future sport endeavors.

How did you find your way into rowing?

When I got to college, I heard of rowing and it just sounded intriguing. I'd grown up in water. So I was very comfortable with the whole idea of being on water. When I then saw the sport of rowing, I was just immediately intrigued with it. I started college at Smith College. Smith and Wellesley had rowing for ladies. They've had rowing for a long time. It was proper rowing for young ladies. It was very different than the rowing that I ended up doing, but it taught me how to row. And then when I transferred to Dartmouth, they were just starting a women's rowing program. I joined it and I rode the Head of the Charles for the first time that fall. I was totally hooked.

How did your family get into biathlon?

It started with my son Ethan. He was a boy and he was into guns. I was a mom who was not thinking I wanted my son to be into guns. It's sort of that classic situation. But I thought, OK, if we're going to be into guns, let's learn about them. Let's learn about how to use them in great, positive ways.

How did your acquisition of Craftsbury come about in 2008?

It happened over a number of years, back to 1986. We would go to Craftsbury as guests and sculling coaches. We would bring the kids along - sort of a working family vacation. Later, we knew that Russell Spring, the owner and the founder, was getting older. He was starting to think about what the future was going to be. And so we began talking with him and we spent a couple of years chatting with Russell and about our vision and their vision and did it align. For us, it was the idea that we were in a position to make it...

HEARTBEAT NOTES - FROM FAIRWAY TO BIATHLON RANGE

It’s a bit mind-numbing to think about the schedule Chloe Levins has led as a golfer, mountain biker, biathlete and student. But spend a few minutes talking to her and you learn quickly that she’s a very organized, focused and fun-loving 22-year-old. Biathlon is complex with myriad pathways into the sport. Chloe started younger than many, introduced to the sport at just 13. Her last nine years have been spent learning. In our podcast interview, Chloe shares her pathway into the sport and lessons she’s learned as a biathlete. Whether you’re a fan of biathlon or just like to hear a great athletic success story, listen to this episode of Heartbeat with Chloe Levins: From Fairway to Biathlon Range.
- Tom Kelly, Heartbeat Host

CHLOE INSIGHTS

Training in Lake Placid with Clare Egan this summer

Clare is definitely a role model for me and I've looked up to her since we began biathlon together seven or eight years ago under Algas Shalna. So just by being in her presence, it's been a great development for my own training.

Goals for the season ahead?

Hopefully I can get myself to the IBU Cups. I've had experience on the IBU Cup in the past years. But this year there will be no Junior World Championships for me since I’m a first year senior. So just getting myself to Europe, competing in IBU Cups and getting myself the opportunity to hopefully qualify for a World Cup this season would be great.

Your first international experience was Junior Worlds in Belarus? What was that like for a 15-year-old?

It was very exhilarating. It was strange at first. Obviously, it was an interesting place to go for my first trip to Europe, not as glamorous, one might say, as Italy or Austria, but nonetheless, there were great crowds at that event and people asking me for my autograph as a 15-year-old girl at her first major biathlon competition. It was pretty funny and motivating, too. But I have great memories from that event. I was really, dare I say, lucky to to clean the sprint in that competition. Just have really great memories of being with my coach (Algis Šalna) in a country where he had trained in when he was an athlete and had so many connections.

What was the feeling like for you at the Youth Olympic Games?

You just felt the energy like the Olympic energy as soon as you stepped foot into the Olympic Village. At the racing venue, it was just so much different, so much fun. There were thousands of spectators there watching us. Just to get the chance to meet other athletes from around the world that were your age and were committed to their sports just as much as you and also attending school and balancing that kind of sport and life and student. The dynamic was really a good experience for me. I cleaned my first four stage race, which was another kind of stepping stone into the thrill of biathlon and in kind of the addiction that I think a lot of elite athletes feel when they get to clean and when everything comes together on a given day.

What’s the secret to biathlon?

Biathlon about managing your variables, whether it's yourself, the weather, the zero that you had, the ski conditions, your start time, all these different things. Who knows what's going on in your life on the day that you're supposed to perform. Balancing all those aspects of sport is a really great challenge that I'm still figuring out. Even though I've been doing biathlon since I was 13, I'm definitely a work in progress and have a lot a lot more to do. But I'm excited for it. And the thrill of hitting five, four, five when you're at your limit is second to none.

What lessons have you learned from biathlon?

The most important lesson, for me, is just to put my blinders on. Use your teammates, collaborate with your teammates, work with your coach, but also just listen to your body and listen to your mind and what it's telling you. And also, even on race day, put your blinders on. You shouldn't know how anyone else is shooting on race day. You should just be so within yourself that the flow comes naturally and everything kind of just, you know, flows out of you.

FUN FACTS YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT CHLOE

• Strangest experience while studying neuroscience? Hint: it was alive!
• Why she loves Antholz? (it’s the food)
• Golf course she’s dreaming about playing? (it’s in Scotland)
• Favorite pandemic Netflix binge? Hint: she’s up to season five

Max Cobb found his way into biathlon while a collegiate skier at Dartmouth. Today, he's piloting U.S. Biathlon into the future as a well-recognized Olympic and international sport leader. Known widely as his support of athletes, Max talks about his own past and traces the growth of biathlon as a sport in America. He rekindles memories talking about past medals but also takes a look at the future of U.S. Biathlon.

Growing up on a fifth generation family farm in Topeka, Kansas was a long ways from the Paralympic ski tracks of PyeongChang. In 2018, Dan Cnossen became the first biathlete to win a Paralympic gold medal, earning a gold, four silver and a bronze in biathlon and cross country. Cnossen's story is remarkable - a decorated war veteran who lost both legs above the knee on a 2009 Navy Seal mission in Afghanistan. A year later, he was on cross country skis at West Yellowstone, Montana. Heartbeat explores his life, motivations and resiliency in an emotional hour long interview with Dan Cnossen.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Heartbeat Ep 3 - Dan Cnossen

Tom Kelly: [00:00:18] Biathlon is a unique Olympic and Paralympic event. It challenges participants with opposing athletic endeavors in a singular competition. It [00:00:30] combines the heart pumping Arabic aspects of cross-country skiing match with the intense focus of precision marksmanship. Two diametrically opposing forces testing every ounce of physical and mental strength of the athletes. Welcome to Heartbeat. The U.S. biathlon podcast. I'm your host, Tom Kelly, and I'm proud to bring you regular insights into this fascinating sport. Today's guest on Heartbeat is an amazing athlete and a remarkable American. Dan [00:01:00] Cnossen grew up on a farm outside Topeka, Kansas, an unlikely environment for a cross-country skier. In 2009, Lieutenant Commander Dan Cnossen, a leader of Navy SEAL Team One, lost both his legs in Afghanistan when he stepped on a mine. Undaunted, he found a pathway in sport from a hospital bed in Walter Reed Medical Center to the tracks and shooting ranges of Sochi and Pyeongchang. He became one of the most decorated stars of Paralympic sport, [00:01:30] winning six medals in South Korea, including a gold the first ever by a U.S. by athlete. And Dan, it's an honor to have you join us on Heartbeat, the U.S. biathlon podcast.

Dan Cnossen: [00:01:41] Thanks for having me, Tom. I'm looking forward to our talk today.

Tom Kelly: [00:01:45] So where are you coming to us from today, Dan?

Dan Cnossen: [00:01:48] Coming to you from Natick, Massachusetts, a suburb just west of Boston.

Tom Kelly: [00:01:52] A beautiful place. Is that your training base?

Dan Cnossen: [00:01:56] Yes, it is. For most of the year, minus the time that I'm away for [00:02:00] camps on snow or the occasional surf trip. Not happening this time of year. Right now, the coronavirus and everything going on.

Tom Kelly: [00:02:09] I want to get into talking surf a little bit later, but I know all of us are in kind of the same boat right now with Corona virus having dictated our life. And for athletes training and and your goal setting. What have you been doing over the last few months in Natick, Massachusetts?

Dan Cnossen: [00:02:27] Well, you know, we came back from our [00:02:30] world championships, which was prematurely canceled before the first race even began. This was going to be an Östersund Sweden and this was in early March. We came back, I believe, on March 12th. And and then since then, I've been readjusting. I'm thinking that it's not at all really appropriate to be complaining about my situation, cause I'm in a very fortunate situation where I can stay healthy and still get my workout worn outside. And a lot of people are in situations like that. So for the most part, I've been following [00:03:00] my training plan, not really going to the gym because gyms haven't been open yet, but that's OK. And I'm enjoying being outside and doing a lot of reading and maybe doing the occasional talk like we're doing and spending time with family, talking to family who are not co present. And also, I decided to start setting for the GRV again to have another test that I'll take in late September.

Tom Kelly: [00:03:26] Yeah, you know, I think like all of us, you have to improvise [00:03:30] a little bit without access to the gyms, have you improvise things around home, like for lifting weights or other kind of exercise?

Dan Cnossen: [00:03:39] Yes, I have done a little bit of that, but I just had no home gym equipment and it was in high demand. Hard to get a hold of. And I haven't really prioritized getting it. I can do some push ups and things like that and certainly can do core exercises. But really just looking at other ways of getting strength through my [00:04:00] training platforms, through hand cycling, maybe doing hills or through the prone paddleboarding that I do as another form of cross training. And that is certainly a strength intensive activity. So doing sprints and things like that. And it's just been a load for me, honestly, a nice little departure from the ...