On March 8 70 participants took to the pool, cycle studio, and treadmills at Alumni/Wang for the return of the Indoor Triathlon. Two of our Recreation Ambassadors, Sophia Ashebir and Aiden Hallinen were two of that group of 70. We caught up with them to talk about taking some swim lessons before the Triathlon and what it was like going through the experience.

Here’s that conversation:

MIT Recreation:  Sophia and Aiden, I wanted to first kind of talk about the swim instruction experience that you both had kind of leading up to the try. What was that experience like for either one of you?

Sophia Ashebir: Yeah, my experience was, I would say, phenomenal. I went in knowing how to swim like enough to, like, save my life and whatnot. But I’ve never been a lap swimmer, and I knew I wanted to dip my toe into doing a triathlon eventually. So that’s why I chose to do like, learning the swim lessons. And Demetris [Chambliss, MIT Recreation’s full-time swim instructor] was great. He was so amazing. I feel like he really met me where I was at. I feel like I was nervous going into the swim lessons, and he provided so many great, like, technique changes and, like, literally put his face in the pool to show me how to do something. And, yeah, I just had, like, a really, really great experience with him as a coach.

Recreation Ambassador Sophia Ashebir (middle), is seen here pedaling past the competition during the 2025 Winter Triathlon at Alumni/Wang.

Aiden Hallinen: Yeah, same sort of thing. I mean, I had a little bit more experience doing some lap swimming, doing some distance swimming, but I’m not very good at it, so Demetris was really helpful in working on some of the problems I’ve been having with breathing, and I guess you could say like lung control, essentially, because you can do a lot of things for about 25 meters, but then after that point, you Know Your whether or not you’re controlling your breathing is how you control your heart rate, and that kind of precipitates a cycle. So it was really good in bringing me to a place doing eight, 910, strokes between each breath, which I didn’t even think I could do. So that was really great. And then sustained practice and really breaking stuff in it at the lower level, so that when you went and practiced by yourself, you know you had a good foundation to practice off of. So he was he was really good.

MR: What would you what would either one of you tell people who are kind of thinking about doing sort of some more swim instruction, even as adults who know how to swim?

AH: I’d say it really just starts with the acknowledgement that even if you you are a good swimmer, or you think you’re a capable swimmer, that you can always get better. Think that kind of extends to just about anything in life, but specifically in the pool, because you don’t necessarily interact with the swimming medium or the pool on a daily basis, it’s good to just continue to have to hone in your skills and to learn from people who have actually, you know, competed and excelled in that activity. And you know, again, your your body’s going to change as you get older too, right? So the things you were once capable of or were capable of when you were swimming more regularly, you might not be capable of now. So, you know, it really does not. There’s really nothing to lose from doing it, and really only stuff to gain. So that’s a that would be my, my pitch,

SA: Yeah, I think similarly, I would say, go for it, in that as a kid, I did group swim lessons, but this was my first time doing private swim lessons, and I feel like the one on one instruction was like, super helpful to, like, really solidify some of the techniques. So for that reason alone, of like, having like, the one on one instruction, I would say, to do that, and the Demetris, and I’m sure, like, all the other instructors are, like, super knowledgeable in the swim arena, so it’s worth investing in that if that’s something you’re interested in doing. Awesome.

MR: So how else did both of you train for the try outside of swimming? What else did you do to sort of get ready for for a kind of game day last Saturday or last Saturday?

SA: So I continued to practice swimming even after the swim lessons, and tried to keep going a couple times a week. I do run in my spare time, so I feel like I continue to keep running throughout the week, and then I bike to commute. So I feel like I just keep, kept up my physical abilities generally. And I think mainly my focus was to like practice swimming, because I felt like that was my weakest domain area.

AH: Yeah, same sort of thing I tried to focus on, on getting in the pool, getting the pool consistently, because it’s, I’d say, the activation energy between, if you’re comparing between the three different activities, it’s a lot harder to, like, get your kid together, you know, your towel, your bathing suit, your goggles. You know, you got to worry about going at a time when the lanes are open, like all these other things that lead into added difficulty of swimming by, you know, hopping on a stationary bike, or just putting on running shoes and going out. I also like to run in my free time. So that one was pretty straightforward. And then biking is, you know, also pretty straightforward, you know, you just, you just don’t go when everyone else is going, and you should, should get a bike. So just consistently doing that week over week, trying to do swim and bike on the same day, just trying to, I think, I think I did a couple days where I did all three, yeah, so it’s really just like replicating what you’re going to do day of because, you know, you can prepare really well for all of them individually, but the the actual activity is all of them in sequence. So, you know, making sure you get in your preparation right beforehand. And then, you know, emulating that through practice. And then also, you know, there are some things that are going to pop up on the day of so having the grit from prior experience to get through that is also useful, very useful.

MR: So let’s talk about it  of the tri. You’re doing all the different disciplines. Would love to know what it was like swimming in  Alumni Pool as part of the triathlon. What was that experience like, and what was sort of going through it,

AH: That’s a good one. I’m, again, not a great swimmer. So I was really just trying to focus. I’d like a I’d like an idea of how I wanted to approach it. I don’t have great swimming stamina. For whatever reason, stamina from outside the pool does not translate to inside the pool. So I was just kind of doing 100 to 200 meter, kind of legs, essentially. And so I would go for that long, and if I could keep going, I would keep going. And if not, I’d take a, take a little break and kind of recuperate, get my breathing rate down, get my heart rate down so that I could, I could go back and attack it. Day of, it was cool. I mean, you know, there’s only, I think there’s only, like, six lanes, five or six lanes, so there weren’t that many people. You know, you’re just kind of going with other people, and then you your rhythms kind of get de synced. So then you’re just swimming in a pool with other people who are swimming in a pool. It’s not really like a race or anything. Couldn’t hear the music at all. So I think that was just there for the people who are keeping score. But otherwise it was. It was kind of neat. There’s a little there’s a little crowd, but it was also kind of tough with the timer too, because you didn’t really know how much you had left in the tank, and you didn’t want to, like, how much am I? Should I put out now I’ve got, like, two more events left and that kind of thing. So again, those are all just like experiences for a first timer to kind of get through and figure out where our limits were.

SA: I feel like going in to the triathlon and into the pool section. I was super nervous. I was like, What did I sign myself up for? Like, it’s like, noon on a Saturday, and now I’m about to do a triathlon or and so someone in the locker room was like, Really, it’s all about pacing yourself. And so for the swim, I think I had known that going in, but that solidified it in that I wanted to go, it’s nice and slow, like I wanted to be able to make sure I’d still had enough in the tank come to run, because I felt like I would be strongest at that and so, yeah, I feel like the first couple laps were a little rough. I was like, everybody’s watching me. This is all. This is all so interesting. But I think, yeah, to your point, like eventually you’re just swimming laps, just like you would any other day in either the sea center or alumni. So I feel like found my rhythm, and then just slowly but surely chugged my way on through the swim.

MR: What was the cycling like up in the cycle studio over there at alumni? Was that? Was that an interesting experience? It’s kind of a funky building.

SA: It was so fun. I loved the cycling part. I forget the instructor’s name, who was there when I was there, but she was so hype. The music was great. We could put in like, our wrecks of like, our hype up song, and like, people were cheering and clapping. And I feel like the time really, like, flew by there. And I feel like I was in the rhythm. I felt hyped that I finished the swim, which was going to be, for me, the hardest part. And I was sitting, like, who doesn’t love to sit? And, yeah, I just really enjoyed the bike ride portion,

AH: I was very excited for the fans. The fans are fantastic. The, not the, you know, applause applauding fans, but the actual, like, physical air cooling fans. Yeah, it’s very nice. Yeah, it was kind of interesting. I mean, we all kind of, we all line up in in parallel, and kind of stare at the wall and just pump as hard as we can. I had my air pods in so I didn’t really have the whole music environment. I was kind of just like zoned, zoned in on the little number, making sure it was going up as fast as I possibly could manage. Yeah, that was fun. I mean, I felt by far the best about the bike in all the activities. And I think because of that, my run suffered a little bit. Is a lot easier to like intake fluids during the bike as well. So those are just like things to consider. It’s like, again, lessons learned of how to actually conduct the art of the triathlon, as opposed to just like focusing specifically on the activities and the muscles that you need to build for that or that, I suppose the other skills you need to build. So that was that was cool. But again, great environment. It was really, really interesting. I had no idea that that little room existed up there. And I imagine they get some, they get some pretty good psych spin classes up there. So maybe one day.

Swimmers, like the one above took place in the 2025 Winter Triathlon.

MR: Had either of you ever worked out at Alumni before the Triathlon?

AH: I’d been there once or twice, but not upstairs. I’d swam in there. That’s where I actually did my lessons with Demetris. And I’ve, I’ve worked out in there a couple times, but it’s not as it’s not as foolproof as the Z center, for sure.

SA: Yeah, similar. I swam there for the lessons. I think I’ve been to a spin class before, okay, and have used the gym, like maybe once or twice, but predominantly, I’m in the sea center. It’s an interesting building. It’s a fun building.

MR: What was the running like?. How are you feeling? What’s going on? Are you just trying to not pass out at that point? What’s the vibe?

AH: I’ll preface this. I’ve run timed 5K’s. I run all kinds of, like, time middle distance events, and I got my ass kicked on this run. I was my body was not ready for the I just did not have enough electrolytes in the system. Granted, I was coming off recovering from the flu, so that kind of threw off my my rhythm. I’m still recovering. I got some stuff in my throat and whatnot, but the Oh man, I it wasn’t. I had like, pain everywhere. I felt like my stomach was going to implode. I felt like I was going to cramp within the first, like, three minutes, right? And you’ve got, you know, 12 more minutes of running, which didn’t help that. I tried to run my like, target, 5K pace, or, yeah, yeah, 5k pace. And it just, it was really tough. I had a girl next to me who was running at like, a pretty good pace, and so I just really tried to stick with her and will myself to the finish line. The hardest part really, was actually taking on fluids, because I ended up, like, dropping, I don’t know, like, two minutes off of the pace on the treadmill, and just trying, it was basically like a walk, jog, and, like, dump the water on my face, try and get it in there, and then, you know, close it up, throw it back and put the pace back on to where you wanted to go. But that was by far the toughest thing. That was really battle more against, you know, yourself and your mind just telling you to quit the whole time. Not that I did anything that spectacular. I didn’t even like run that fast, but it was more just like a proving to yourself that, like, even when you really want to quit, that you’re, capable of more than that. Felt obviously the consequences of that the next day and the next following days. But, it was good, even though I didn’t get my target to prove to myself that I was, you know, capable of pushing through. Yeah, and that was tough.

SA: Yeah, the beginning of the run, not so fun. I think I think this is the part of the triathlon where I realized I probably should have looked into how to properly fuel for a triathlon. I feel like, at the beginning, I was like, oh, like, why am I a little dizzy? But, yeah, I feel like drinking water, and then just like, going slow. And then also the gym was, like, pretty quiet, or, like, it was like, instrumental music. And I almost always, like, always run with music. And this is also the first time I don’t think I’ve ever run on a treadmill without music. And I was like, in a different world, I was like, my thoughts are eating me alive, like, I just want to quit this run and, like, go run outside or do something else. But I actually was doing this with a friend, so I feel like we were chatting the whole time. And then at the end of the run, I feel like it was important to me to, like, finish strong. And so I ended in a sprint, and I felt very powerful in that moment. It went from like I feel like I am not going to finish this, to Why are my inner thoughts eating me alive in this silence, to chatting with friend, to finishing, finishing with a quick speed. I feel like, overall, given the circumstances in this being the first triathlon, I feel very happy with where I ended.

MR: Alright, last question for you both: Will this be your last triathlon, or is this just the beginning?

AH: Yeah, I’d like to do an open water swim. I don’t really have any I don’t have a bike, I don’t have a wet suit, I don’t really have anything other than, like, running shoes. I don’t have any of the equipment you would need to conduct that. But I think that would be a different test. Instead of, you know, having, it’s a different set of skills swimming in open water, right? You’ve got to, you’ve  got to have a good kind of survival stroke, and you’re not as reliant on, like, full on swimming efficiency like you would be in a lap pool. And then a lot of those triathlons are made or made or broken during those transition moments. And so that would also be a kind of a different challenge compared to an indoor triathlon. I think that would be, that would be really fun, just a function of, like, timing. It’s pretty hard to do that in the Northeast any anytime, other than, like, three a three month to stretch, so we’ll see how that goes. But yeah, I think I’ll be fun.

SA: Yeah, I think, most definitely, I think there’s a triathlon in August in Boston that now I’m eyeing. But yeah, I feel like afterward, I felt so like strong and powerful and accomplished that I want the high. It was just so fun. Yeah, I would do it again for sure!