Kathy Meany

A Life of Service

Age: 67
Spouse: Darwin Roosa (Athlete Profile, February 2011)
Hometown: Altamont
Favorite sports: Swimming, Biking, Triathlon, Tennis, Pickleball, Hiking
Inspired by: Possibilities

By Kristen Hislop

We often hear the phrase ‘a life of service.’ That’s what first came to mind when thinking about a profile about Kathy Meany. As I gathered stories, I realized it was way more than service. Kathy has spent her life making people better. Better students, better swimmers, better stewards of the environment, and better people.

You don’t rise from teacher to principal to school district superintendent without having an intense desire to create a better educational experience. But Kathy went beyond. Creating programs, knowing not only kids’ names, but their goals and challenges. She chose education as a path after 11th grade at Bethlehem Central High School. Her focus was always on students who had mild learning disabilities, problems learning to read and write, and learning English as a second language. 

Armed with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Special Education from University at Buffalo, Kathy started teaching at Shenendehowa Central Schools in 1978. She added two Masters degrees from the College of Saint Rose – one in Literacy Education and one in Educational Administration. She completed most of the requirements for a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at University at Albany. Her teaching took her to an international school in Brazil and then back here to Shaker/North Colonie School District in Latham. While many teachers stay at specific grade levels, Kathy taught primary school all the way through the graduate level. 

After 20 years teaching, she moved into administration. Kathy says of her progression, “I served as department chairperson, assistant principal, principal, and school district superintendent, first in several roles in North Colonie Central Schools and then at Menands School District. When I retired the first time, I became interim principal at Tech Valley High School and then coordinator of student services at North Greenbush School District. I fully retired four years ago.” 

Ms. Meany kept her maiden name “because I appreciate my family heritage AND because “Ms. Meany” is such a quizzical name for a teacher and a principal!” No one ever forgets having a teacher or a principal named Meany! She often runs into former students or their parents. “It’s gratifying to learn, in most cases that things worked out, and that the kid you worked with many years ago is succeeding in adult life” she says.

After swimming competitively for the Delmar Dolphins as a Bethlehem Central junior high student, she started swimming again after college as a form of cross training for running and playing tennis. “At that time, United States Masters Swimming (USMS) was in its early stage as the national governing body for adults, and the local branch, Adirondack Masters, quickly became very active. She served on the Adirondack Masters Board during the 1980s and 1990s, swam in coached workout programs, competed in pool meets and open water races throughout the Northeast, and helped to facilitate swimming opportunities for adults – including the Empire State Games.” As job responsibilities increased, Kathy took a 20-year hiatus from all of these endeavors.

Kathy came back to masters swimming as she was trying to retire! I say ‘trying’ because as soon as someone said ‘can you help us with x’ she was on a new project. Most of her own sporting endeavors had taken a backseat while her career consumed the majority of her time. After shedding some work responsibility, she was able to get back involved with USMS.

Coming back to it when masters swimming needed new energy, Kathy joined the board of USMS in 2017 as vice president and sanctions chairperson working to grow it. Reaching out to swimmers, coaches and officials, she reignited interest in local meets. Working with local pools she created a clinic introducing swimmers to meets, clinics, and workouts. With the Adirondack Masters Board and USMS, we’re back to having multiple meets and clinics where age 18+ train and compete alongside the veteran swimmers. Kathy develops opportunities for people to become better swimmers.

A passion for the outdoors has also fueled Kathy. When she learned that the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy was acquiring a large tract of undeveloped land not far from her house in Altamont and turning it into a preserve, she joined as a volunteer. “Since then, I’ve helped with creating and maintaining trails, leading hikes, raising money, and getting the word out about the importance of protecting our magnificent region from over development and promoting opportunities for people to be outdoors.” In 2018 she was awarded the Dan Driscoll Leadership Award for working with the MHLC staff to facilitate a team of volunteers. This group worked on the creation and expansion of the Bozen Kill Preserve.

Many people say ‘I don’t have time’ to exercise. Kathy says, “I just need more time.” She competed in road races, swim meets, tennis matches and triathlons in her 20s and 30s, until her career crowded training and racing. The multisport world became a passion in 1983. “It made sense that I would have gotten into triathlons and multisport races, as I was a dedicated swimmer and runner in my 20s and always loved to bike. During the first few years of teaching, my summer job was taking people on bike tours around this country and in Europe, and I worked part-time at the Downtube Bicycle Works. Transitioning into biking workouts and time trials in triathlons was not a big leap. I did five or six sprint or Olympic distance triathlons every year until my job change in 1995, until my work responsibilities lessened in 2014.” 

As those career demands lessened in semi-retirement, she poured herself back into triathlon training. Under the guidance of coaches, she was back into a schedule of tri training and races. But Kathy doesn’t just compete, she podiums! Third place in her age group, she stood proudly at the 2023 Long Course Aquabike World Championships in Ibiza, Spain. That finish meant she’s been invited to again don the Team USA uniform and participate in the World Triathlon Championships in Australia in 2024.

When asked how she got started in so many sports, Kathy explains, “I’d like to say that I ‘grew up playing sports,’ but that would imply that there were organized sports opportunities for girls when I was a kid. As a pre-Title IX female athlete (Title IX passed in 1972), opportunities for girls to compete in sports were limited. I remember being in elementary school and begging, along with my friends, for the physical education teachers and coaches of community sports like Little League, to allow girls to play on the teams and in sports programs that were available to boys. There’s SO MUCH more Kathy would like to say about this, but she’ll limit it to this, “Those early experiences lacking athletic opportunities continue to motivate me today in creating opportunities for people to participate, improve and enjoy.”

While she hits the national and international circuit with success, Kathy also can be seen at local races – competing in the event and volunteering, especially for Adirondack Masters Swimming, Capital District Triathlon Club, and Bethlehem Triathlon Club. Theresa Newton, says “She does any CDTC job necessary to have a successful race – including raking out seaweed, cleaning up goose poop, and managing many volunteers. She rolls up her sleeves, puts a smile on her face, and takes care of business!” 

Of volunteering Kathy says, “I devote time, energy, and hopefully expertise for a bunch of different reasons. I benefit from their purpose; enjoy being on a team of people working to get things done; understand the time and effort that it takes to accomplish things; and know that things don’t get done unless people who care step up and help to make things happen for the benefit of the people we serve. When you’re involved in an organization, you have a voice and can help influence decisions, large and small. I’ve met so many great people and have had FUN participating in these activities. And finally, there’s something about giving back to the organizations that you benefit from and giving to the communities in which you operate.” 

A quick question to a Facebook message group called Bad Ass Ole Women Triathletes returned accolades and stories: Stephanie Pitts says, “I love that she’s the biggest cheerleader for all of us! Her support at races is amazing!” Tricia Johnston shares, “Kathy an amazing athlete. She takes the time to talk and listen to people. In the past I’ve asked her questions and she takes the time to answer and be honest with me. She is an amazing, caring and kind person.” Tracy Perry says, “I can remember Kathy showing up at our Mohawk Towpath Duathlon training session a few years back and saying, ‘It’s been a while since I’ve done this stuff.’ Then, before I know it, she’s doing Worlds!”

Lisa Joyce shared, “My favorite is being at US Triathlon Nationals in Cleveland and the next day we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In one of the interactive displays Kathy started wailing on the drums. Yes, she has musical talent too!” Amy Perillo added, “One of my favorite memories is when a few of us went out to preview the Ironman Timberman 70.3 bike course in N.H. We all had dinner the night before and laughed ourselves silly listening to Kathy telling us stories. We all drank some beer and the next day Kathy blew us all away on the bike course.”

I’d be amazed if you aren’t exhausted by now, but I have to tell you Kathy’s newest sporting passion. I should mention that she was a collegiate tennis player! After spending time in Florida over the past couple of winters she got sucked into pickleball. “As a tennis player, I admit that I looked down a bit on the pickleball craze. Then I tried it and quickly found out how much fun it is, how much skill is involved, what a great workout it is, and how competitive people are.” She’ll be back in Florida this winter, playing tennis, pickleball, training for triathlons, and new this winter, serving as a literacy volunteer. Her hope is to be matched with a student, young or old, who is a native Spanish speaker so that she can practice her “very rusty foreign language skills” while teaching English and literacy.

Do you want to be better? Jump into anything Kathy Meany is working on and you’ll rise up. It’s true that rising tides lift all boats. Kathy is a force for good in the world, looking for ways to create opportunities and make a difference, and she never hesitates to lend a helping hand. She’s an inspiration and we’re lucky to have her in our community.

Kristen Hislop (hislopcoaching@gmail.com) is a USA Triathlon and Ironman U coach, and race director for the Freihofer’s Run for Women. The Hislop Coaching motto is “Do–Believe–Achieve” because she feels everyone is destined for greatness. She is a proud mother to two boys who run in college and her husband recently completed his first 70.3 triathlon.