University of New Hampshire Athletics
Olympics: Clare Egan
1. What is your daily schedule like nowadays leading up to the Olympics?
We started training on May 1st and continue twice/day, six days/week throughout the summer and fall leading up to our competition season, which runs from late November to late March. Summertime brings the heaviest training load, with an average week comprising nearly 20 hours of physical "on time" plus several additional hours of stationary shooting work.
2. Where are you currently training?
I am based at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY.
3. What event will you be competing in if you make it to the Olympics?
There are two Olympic biathlon events that are open to all biathletes at the Games: the Sprint and the Individual. Additionally there are two relay events for which each nation selects its top athletes: a relay for each gender contested by four men or women, and a mixed relay contested by two men and two women. There are also two events whose participants are determined by results from the other races: the Pursuit is contested by the top 60 finishers of the Sprint, and the Mass Start is contested by the top 20 biathletes on the World Cup ranking list plus 10 more who have done exceptionally well at the Games. My goal is to qualify for all six events.
4. How has UNH prepared you for this high-level competition?
UNH was the critical stepping stone between my Division III undergraduate athletic experience at Wellesley College--where I started the club ski team-- and my professional athletic career as a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project and later the US Biathlon Team.
5. When is the final selections for your national team being made?
US Biathlon has a multi-stage qualification process so there are many opportunities. I missed my chance to pre-qualify during the World Cup season last year, so my next chance will be during the first three World Cups of this winter, during December. That's my goal and it will be a great Christmas present if I can pull it off! My last chance will be in January, but I don't intend to wait that long.
6. What does it mean to represent your country and the University of New Hampshire at the Olympics?
I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but it would be an honor beyond anything I've ever known! Being a good ambassador of the United States is my favorite part of being on the US National Team
7. Why did you choose UNH as the college to continue your studies and compete?
After surprising myself with some promising results during my senior winter at Wellesley College, I decided to look into Division I ski programs that might consider taking me on as a "low experience but high potential" athlete for my last year of NCAA eligibility. I'm so grateful to UNH for giving me that chance. Ever since I had applied to UNH as a high school senior, I always liked it's happy campus, and the Wildcats were a perfect fit. In addition to skiing, I had the very humbling and rewarding experience of running Division I cross-country and track, and was also able to get my master's degree in Linguistics.
8. What do you miss most about UNH?
I miss Tuesday morning track workouts, I miss the ski team locker room, I miss the exhausting daily rhythm of being a student-athlete, I miss my house in Dover and the people with whom I shared it.
9. What are your goals at the Olympics?
My goals are to qualify for the 30-woman mass start and to reach the podium as a member of the mixed relay team.