Today my wife and I volunteered at the Davis Aquatic Masters (DAM) Lake Berryessa Open Water Swim. This is the biggest event of the year for our US Masters Swimming team. While we had initially planned on racing in addition to volunteering,  but the race schedule fit poorly with our volunteer tasks. Since we just did Ironman Texas two weeks ago, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. Besides, helping our team put on the race was more important than racing in the race event. As I stood in the water ushering swimmers towards the finishing arch, I thought about the importance of giving back to your sport.

Triathlon helped me develop as an athlete, it introduced me to a whole new community and, finally, it was also the vehicle through which I met my wonderful wife. Through the Chico Triathlon Club, however, I brought new people…