Lowell Bailey grew up in the NYSEF program before heading to UVM where he became an NCAA-All American while racing XC for the Catamounts. He then joined the US National Biathlon Team, and recently represented the US squad in Sochi-- his 3rd Olympic Games. In his free time, Lowell loves playing mandolin and guitar with his new band, "Swimming with Champy."
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| NYSEF alums Lowell Bailey (L) and Tim Burke (R) take a break during a training session in October |
During the Sochi Games, Lowell placed a disappointing 38th in the individual pursuit, but rallied to nab 8th in the 20km individual race-- the best Olympic performance ever by an American.
We sat down with Lowell this fall at the Olympic Training Center to discuss the importance of balancing a ski racing career with other activities.
Lowell. Welcome. Thanks for chatting with us.
My pleasure.
Lowell you had some of the strongest results of your career last season, including a great 10th place finish at Khanty-Mansiysk, which I cannot pronounce. Could you pronounce it for us?
Khanty-Mansiysk (Pronounced correctly in a thick Russian accent).
Thank you. So you’re headed to your third Olympic Games. How is this experience different from when you were gearing up for Torino?
In Torino, the Olympics was really about accomplishing a lifelong dream-- making an Olympic team and participating in the event. Moving forward after Tornio, the motivation and goal-setting changed alot. Now, the Olympics is what I want to do. I’ve prepared for these Games for decades. It’s all about as being as prepared as I can be and going for medals.
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| Lowell after finishing his leg of the relay in Sochi |
Tell us something we don’t know about Biathlon.
Hmm. Well-- did you know that we compete mostly on manmade snow. In fact, most of the snow we’ll compete on this season will have been made last season. They make it in February of last year, store it in a big pile covered with sawdust and spread it out in November. Those are the loops we’ll race on all season.
Speaking of racing-- biathlon is hugely popular in Europe. Any idea how many folks turned out for last year’s World Championships in the Czech Republic?
I believe there were 40-50,000 people at last year’s world champs. And that’s just spectators on site, that doesn’t include TV viewership, which is in the tens of millions.
Ironically that’s the population of Paul Smiths, NY. What a coincidence! Cool. Alright, shifting gears a little bit. What’s the toughest thing about being a professional Biathlete?
For me, the most grueling aspect is the travel. It’s a brutal schedule. I’m away from home for roughly 6-7 months a year, and I’m in Europe for at least four of those months. Living out of a suitcase, a different hotel, different country almost each week. Folks really only see the photos and clips of us competing and training in beautiful venues. Sure-- the venues are amazing. The places we stay are certainly resort communities, but being in a foreign country where you’re not a part of the culture is tough. I mean, we’re part of the culture in that we provide some entertainment value, but being at home-- even in the United States-- you can speak the language and relate to the culture.
We do have a family, and we travel as a large group. The World Cup is almost like a traveling circus most of the time. But you do get this isolated feeling being in all of these foreign places-- I do get homesick because I’m a social person. I crave community, especially coming from Lake Placid where we really have that inclusive community feeling.
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| Lowell in Ruhpolding, Germany-- in the thick of some World Cup action |
Lowell you seem to do a great job at balancing your full-time job as a professional athlete with your passion for music. What are some tips you might have for NYSEF athletes who are trying to balance athletics with school and other interests?
Everything about pursuing something else outside of sport can be looked at in two ways-- you can either look at it as compromising the quality of your training, or you can look at how it might increase the quality of your life. You need to weigh those variables. For me, like you said,I have a passion for music. It’s imperative that I pursue that in some capacity. Music fore me is a way to focus completely on something else other than biathlon. Then when I come back to training I’m that much more refreshed and recovered mentally and I can focus completely on training again. But it’s all about finding that balance-- finding a way increase your quality of life without compromising your training.
What’s the first thing you like to eat after a big race?
Right after the race-- this is a total nerdy thing-- I go right for the Power Bar and recovery drink. It just tastes so good, like a milkshake. But an hour or so afterwards, I like something hearty and home cooked, like a nice plate of spaghetti bolognaise, anything that fills you up. It’s all about getting some calories back in!
If your hand could have a retractable tool, which would function much like a Swiss-Army knife, with the ability to perform a task of your choosing—what would it do?
Good question! It can do anything?
Anything.
Hmm. I guess it’d be a multi-task biathlon racing tool. Maybe on the ski course it’d be a highly adaptable ski propelling device that would boost my speed on the course. On the shooting range, it’d stabilize my rifle so I’d never miss a shot. You know-- it could deploy while I was standing, come out onto my trigger and then take the perfect shot. I’m patenting that-- ‘The Perfect Shot!’
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| Lowell giving us a preview of next year's Rossi Dualtecs |
Great. Thanks and good luck this season Lowell!
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