(Male) Rookie of the Year: Ronald Adomako
Ronald Adomako joined DC Tri shortly after moving from the Greater New York City region. As he was living in New Jersey, he’d bike around the neighborhood when he did errands as a way to avoid owning a car. He’d run to stay fit and go to the gym for swimming. Shortly after the 2016 olympics, he realized he exercising all three sports of a triathlon discretely, thus he dared to compete in Harriman State Park for its 9/11 beginner’s triathlon- aquathlon weekend.
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He failed at this competition. Although Ronald was physically fit, he wasn’t psychologically prepared for his first open water swim. He asked to be pulled out of the race after 300 yards in the 1k swim. When he moved to the District of Columbia-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area, he found Wilson’s pool where he met David Payne and Catharine Myung, as Master swim coaches. Ron bit his time to join the New Triathlete Program for year 2017 and overcome the hurtles of swimming.
The program began with over 200 prospective NTPers and ended with nearly 50 who sought it through. From start to finish, Ron persevered through the program. Ron has brought tremendous enthusiasm and color to the spring 2017 NTP class. The swim was a major hurtle for Ron, but he broke through his plateau of the sprint distance during Peasantman and progressed to the olympic distance for the Jamestown goal race. He is currently in post recovery from the Kidner Procedure, in New York, a genetic condition of an extra foot bone that causes pressure on a lateral foot band (muscle).
Ron quietly toughed through a half year of continues training while he brought fervor to the Saturday morning bike rides and soaked up the clinical resources DC Tri had to offer. He found that pursuing triathlons has been inspirational to himself, other African Americans, and many folks at large. It is this reason why he decided to go through with the surgery – to continue racing in the long run. He has resumed walking as of Fall 2017 and seeks to do his next race in Spring 2018. I recommend Ronald Adomako for his perseverance, enthusiasm, and inspiration as rookie of the year 2017 in the male category.
