Okay, maybe "helped" is a little too strong a word. This is more a story about how connections between people can snowball to have unexpected results.
A few months ago I read the Slowtwitch interview with Yvonne van Vlerken (link here). Upon discovering that Yvonne was from The Netherlands I immediately thought of my friend and fellow triathlete Petra Rainbolt who is also Dutch. So I sent an email to Petra with a link to the article and told her that I thought she would enjoy reading about Yvonne.
Well, not only did Petra enjoy the article, she emailed Yvonne and the two of them began corresponding (in Dutch, of course). When Petra learned that Yvonne and her boyfriend Thomas were planning to come to California to do some training at Lake Tahoe in preparation for Kona, Petra extended an invitation for the two of them (Yvonne and Thomas) to spend a few days with her and her husband here in Morgan Hill. The Rainbolts are both strong bikers so the four of them did some biking in the local hills on one of the hottest weekends of the summer. And I got to meet Yvonne when we did a little open water swim practice at a local lake.
Yvonne and local triathlete Doug Rainbolt doing a training ride.
Doug's wife and Dutch native Petra. Petra always wins
her age group in all the local races. Apparently Dutch folks
learn to ride a bike before they learn to walk.
The eventual Kona runner-up and me after a swim at a local lake.
She was freezing because she didn't bring a wetsuit. I guess she
thought the water here in California would be only a few degrees
cooler than Hawaii. :)
To continue the story, Petra's husband Doug, in addition to being a triathlete, is also the VP of marketing for a Silicon Valley company called Alacritech. The company motto is "We Invented Speed." So of course when Doug found out that Yvonne was now the world record holder for an iron distance race he offered her a sponsorship.
Yvonne doing a photo shoot for new sponsor Alacritech.
Which resulted in the new masthead on the company web site.
Now you might want to start writing down the names of the characters here (like when reading a Russian novel) because it gets better. Yvonne is a very strong biker and runner but swimming is her weakness. The Rainbolts and I have at various times all swum with our local Masters coach, Tim Thornton. So while Yvonne was staying with Petra here in Morgan Hill they stopped by Tim's Masters class one morning.
Well, Yvonne and Tim hit it off immediately. Not only did he give her some tips here at our local pool, they got along so well that Yvonne asked him if he could spend a few days up at Tahoe with her. And of course since Tim was tickled pink at having the chance to work with a world class athlete he accepted. And although Yvonne is still not a front-of-pack swimmer she says she now "feels like a dolphin" thanks to Tim's help.
Local swim coach Tim Thorton with Yvonne and boyfriend Thomas.
So ... because I just happened to read a Slowtwitch interview a few months ago, Yvonne van Vlerken:
Pretty cool, eh?
Dan
Various links and shameless plugs:
A few months ago I read the Slowtwitch interview with Yvonne van Vlerken (link here). Upon discovering that Yvonne was from The Netherlands I immediately thought of my friend and fellow triathlete Petra Rainbolt who is also Dutch. So I sent an email to Petra with a link to the article and told her that I thought she would enjoy reading about Yvonne.
Well, not only did Petra enjoy the article, she emailed Yvonne and the two of them began corresponding (in Dutch, of course). When Petra learned that Yvonne and her boyfriend Thomas were planning to come to California to do some training at Lake Tahoe in preparation for Kona, Petra extended an invitation for the two of them (Yvonne and Thomas) to spend a few days with her and her husband here in Morgan Hill. The Rainbolts are both strong bikers so the four of them did some biking in the local hills on one of the hottest weekends of the summer. And I got to meet Yvonne when we did a little open water swim practice at a local lake.
Yvonne and local triathlete Doug Rainbolt doing a training ride.
Doug's wife and Dutch native Petra. Petra always wins
her age group in all the local races. Apparently Dutch folks
learn to ride a bike before they learn to walk.
The eventual Kona runner-up and me after a swim at a local lake.
She was freezing because she didn't bring a wetsuit. I guess she
thought the water here in California would be only a few degrees
cooler than Hawaii. :)
To continue the story, Petra's husband Doug, in addition to being a triathlete, is also the VP of marketing for a Silicon Valley company called Alacritech. The company motto is "We Invented Speed." So of course when Doug found out that Yvonne was now the world record holder for an iron distance race he offered her a sponsorship.
Yvonne doing a photo shoot for new sponsor Alacritech.
Which resulted in the new masthead on the company web site.
Now you might want to start writing down the names of the characters here (like when reading a Russian novel) because it gets better. Yvonne is a very strong biker and runner but swimming is her weakness. The Rainbolts and I have at various times all swum with our local Masters coach, Tim Thornton. So while Yvonne was staying with Petra here in Morgan Hill they stopped by Tim's Masters class one morning.
Well, Yvonne and Tim hit it off immediately. Not only did he give her some tips here at our local pool, they got along so well that Yvonne asked him if he could spend a few days up at Tahoe with her. And of course since Tim was tickled pink at having the chance to work with a world class athlete he accepted. And although Yvonne is still not a front-of-pack swimmer she says she now "feels like a dolphin" thanks to Tim's help.
Local swim coach Tim Thorton with Yvonne and boyfriend Thomas.
So ... because I just happened to read a Slowtwitch interview a few months ago, Yvonne van Vlerken:
- Met my friend Petra, also from The Netherlands, and then
- Met Petra's husband Doug, Marketing VP for a high-tech company, and then
- Did a home stay with them, and then
- Landed a new sponsorship, and then
- Got to do some hot-weather bike practice which no doubt helped in Kona, and then
- Met our local swim coach Tim, and then
- Really improved her swim by working with Tim at Tahoe, and then
- Placed second at the World Championship in Kona.
Pretty cool, eh?
Dan
Various links and shameless plugs:
- Yvonne's web site (available in both English and Dutch), click here
- Her newsletter about her trip to California, click here
- Doug's company Alacritech, click here
- Doug has a hi-tech blog, but it's not quite what you would expect. Latest entry, click here
- My networking skills apparently do not extend to my own love life (blushing), click here