An accomplished athlete and a critically acclaimed musician, Rory Stuart took the time to tell us about the triathlon side of his life in this spotlight interview.

                              Rory Stuart on the run at Tupper Lake Tinman

You were very successful in a sport practically unrelated to triathlons. Tell us about that.
"I was a competitive handball player. By far the best I'll ever be at any sport. I worked hard at it, but was also much better genetically made for it than for running, tri's, etc. I quit playing out of concern for my hands, given the work I do. But I did play in the Nationals twice. My second year in the Nationals, my final match was extremely close. My opponent beat me the first game, I beat him the second game, and he just squeaked ahead of me by a couple of points to win the tie breaker. By the next year, I had stopped playing. The few folks who'd finished ahead of us had graduated, and my opponent won the Nationals. So, maybe I could have beaten him and been the top collegiate player in the country that year (ah, 'it might have been...'. But nobody ever hears about handball players, so you wouldn't have heard about me anyway (laughter). In any case, I'm glad I retired from playing handball to save my hands"

To save your hands? This has to do with your music, yes?
"Yes. I'm a jazz composer and guitarist! I do performances, recordings, and teach in the Jazz department of New School University. For more about this, check out my website, www.rorystuart.com If anyone wants an email about upcoming performances, please reach me at rorytri@donotspamrorystuart.com. (folks: remove do not spam from the address). You'll often find some cool Westchester Tri Club folks at my performances, for which I am very grateful!"

How does performing affect training time?
"The main problem is the schedule-I end up playing late nights, and don't get to many of the morning group training sessions that I'd like to."

What's in your race plans this year?
"It's a low key year, there's nothing on the calendar yet. Might go do something at Tupper Lake, we'll see."

In a low-key year, are you doing things differently than in the past?
"After many years of neglecting my running so that I could focus on my weaker sports, I'm rebuilding a running base. This coincides with a busy schedule in the rest of my life (the jazz music), and running is certainly the time-efficient training! I have thoughts about building and doing some big tri PRs next year, we'll see."

In terms of tri-equipment, anything new recently?
"I'm less of an equipment junkie than any other (male) triathlete I can think of. Rather than being fired up about the toys, the equipment required for tri's (especially cycling) is the only downside of the sport to me. Having said that, I did finally get a road bike, and was doing some roller workouts, finally able to go for an hour on the rollers without having to be in a doorway(!)."

There's always new skills, and sub-skills to master. Is that partly why you do triathlons?
"Mainly, it's TO BEAT JAMES KELLY! Just kidding, James (laughing). The real reason is that it's fun! That's 95% of it, the other 5%, I guess, is that it's an intriguing puzzle to try to solve."

What was your introduction to triathlons?
"Early in my running days, I think it was my cousin (the same one who got me to do my first marathon) who told me about this guy, Dave Scott, who had won a race called the Hawaii Ironman in an impressive time. This was the first I was aware of triathlons and, while I spent a little time thinking about the splits Dave Scott had done, I remember also thinking 'I know people think running marathons is extreme (which I don't any more), but this triathlon thing is really over the top. I'd never do that!'. In the '80's, I was a member of NY Road Runners, and they had Dave Scott come for a guest talk, which I went to. I was impressed with him as a person and as an athlete, and now I got to thinking it would be fun to at least try a short tri.

Do you remember what your first race was?
"With minimal non-run training, I did the two Harriman No-Frills races in 1989 and enjoyed them; I decided that, one day, when I got a chance to train more in swimming and cycling, I would do more of these."

Dave Scott continued to play an influential role, didn't he?
"Yes. By coincidence, I was on a plane to Davis California that summer, in between the 2 Harriman races, and there was Dave Scott a few seats ahead of me. (I could tell that nobody else on the plane had any idea who he was-unlike the stares that some football champ I've never heard of would be getting!). I spoke to him while we were getting our baggage when the flight landed, and he was the most unpretentious warm and generous guy you could imagine, inviting me to swim with their group in Davis, etc. Finally, in 1994, I decided to train for tri's, joined YWCA Masters, where I immediately met Paul Reale and Rich Izzo, started cycling, and did some races. By 1995, I trained for and completed Lake Sunapee Ironman-one of the most fun races I've ever done, even though many things went wrong and I did a remarkably slow time(!) -- and I was hooked! In hindsight, Dave Scott was the inspiration."

So your connection with this crew was through Paul and Rich?
"Yes. I met Rich and Paul almost immediately when I joined Masters swimming at the Y in White Plains in 1994. We trained together and I soon met Tom, Don, Bob, Maryann Stevens, and Tara training (cycling and running) with them... soon joined by Chuck and the rest of the gang. Rich used to often talk about how cool it would be to form an official club, and it evolved from there."