Jeff Pawley

COVID-19, EAT MY WAVES

Jeff Pawley has embraced the challenges of these unprecedented times by playing a leading hand in revitalizing the sport of triathlon in his community in St. John’s, N.L. A committee member with the TriAvalon club since its inception, when COVID-19 hit in early 2020, he oversaw existing coaching staff take on different disciplines including online cycling sessions, weekly running workouts and dryland swim exercises with resistance bands. Little did he know that in October he would be nominated and accepting of the role of president of TriAvalon.

Rewind to the fall of 2016 when Pawley, quickly approaching his 40th birthday, was in desperate need of a goal. He had never learned to swim, so he chose that as a challenge to chase before his birthday. He undertook some lessons from a local business, SplashnDash, and quickly fell in love with the people, the energy and the sport. The following summer he completed his first sprint triathlon.

He has since completed many more local races, including Sprint and Olympic distances. He competed in Open Water Series (OWS) races and set a goal of completing an Ironman 70.3 before embarking on his ultimate challenge of becoming an Ironman, which has been on hold due to the pandemic.

In 2018, Pawley began helping out on the pool deck with SplashnDash, assisting with triathlon and OWS race setup, and inadvertently became the race director of the Paradise Body Quest Triathlon when the race director quit. He was truly enjoying the sport from a different perspective, as organizer, mentor and motivator.

Pawley attended courses within the NCCP Triathlon Adult Community Coaching program with coach.ca, describing it as “an excellent pathway to provide new coaches with the tools needed to succeed, and for the last year I’ve been enjoying the courses and learning from my coaching hours.”

In the Spring of 2020, the pandemic took hold. All triathlon related activities were cancelled.

Surrounded by uncertainty, and still prior to his appointment as president of TriAvalon months later, Pawley was offered the opportunity to take over the OWS and indoor swimming portion of SplashnDash. He agreed and rebranding it TrainForTri.

“It was a challenging start to say the least as this process started in the midst of COVID. Following our provincial government regulations, we postponed local events for safety reasons, but when we entered Level 2 of the pandemic and were allowed to have minimal gatherings, I then created a few events.”

This included a Virtual Open Water Swim Series where athletes reported back with weekly swim times, creating motivation and friendly competition.

“The first one was successful and I received lots of positive feedback, so I created a second event.” He worked with a local N.L. company to create beautiful stained glass medals, and held a third event – a fiveweek beginners learn to open water swim/ series.

“Following all guidelines with COVID screening forms and following all protocols, it was super successful, and by the end of the program we had new swimmers confidently swimming the 300-m course.”

Simultaneously, in his capacity as committee member on TriAvalon, and with COVID-19 measures still in effect, Pawley led a sanctioned OWS beginners’ group designed to provide confidence for new swimmers in open water.

“I had a dryland clinic in my living room with small numbers to go over all the gear needed. Then for the next five weeks I took them to the water. Setting up buoys and taking them out every Saturday morning. We had COVID-19 forms to complete for each session.”

With assistance from another coach, Paul Moores, Pawley assisted small group rides for members only, with signed COVID waivers.

Many club members now swim train with Pawley’s company, TrainForTri, which currently has four swims coached weekly. Tuesday is focused on technique and Thursday evenings are endurance nights. Each week there are workouts developed focusing on key components of the swim stroke. “With COVID and the current environment we are forced to be very fluid and have to adapt to change. We can’t meet as often to review drills or have dryland chats, so I send out emails with the weekly plan and videos to really drive home the purpose of the week. It’s really working well and when there is a will there’s a will to find the silver lining of each situation.” Says athlete Andrea Duguid about the Thursday swim nights, “I look forward to some kind of normal as we have faced the toughest year, and Jeff brought this together. For that 50 minutes you can forget the world we are living in right now and focus on smiles treats and a good workout with friends.”

In recognition of Pawley’s efforts, athlete Mel Culleton says, “Over the past few years, I have witnessed Jeff track down countless wetsuits, bikes, or other triathlon equipment, often for newcomers who he is just getting to know. He works hard to make the sport of triathlon accessible to all. Triathlon can be an intimidating sport to get into, but Jeff has the ability to make others believe they are capable of succeeding and takes them through things step-by-step at a pace that feels right for them.”

This sentiment is reiterated by Duguid. “Some of us had races we were training for and some just wanted to learn to swim for the first time or maybe learn to bike or finish their first 5 km. Jeff was there for all of us. He didn’t let COVID-19 stop any of us from training and still having a little friendly competition with the open water virtual series. He also took many hours out of his week to teach beginners how to maneuver the open water with clinics on what gear to wear (in a social distance setting), and then setting up all the buoys, kayaks and mats to help them get around the pond for their first 300 m swim.”

In reflection mode, Pawley says, “It was an amazing feeling learning about triathlon and I have to repay this back. I want to be the person to help, coach and be there for others. Now I’m living my dream of helping others full time as President of TriAvalon and through TrainForTri.”

As testament to his energy and optimism during the pandemic, Pawley had a homemade message made for all participants in the virtual open water swims he organized back in June. “COVID-19, eat my waves.”