Corinne Boyle

Age: 18
Family: Parents, Don and Cynthia; Siblings, Evan and Elise
Sports: Swimming, Triathlon
Hometown: Niskayuna

Creating Something Beautiful

By Kristen Hislop

To graduate from Hamilton College, you had to pass a swimming test. You also had to give a speech or take a public speaking class. I tested out of the swim test (since I was on the team) but had to take public speaking and it was traumatizing. Those are probably two of the scariest challenges people face! Some mothers put their kids in swim lessons and give them the basics. Others like to prep their kids for the bigger challenges ahead, so they tell their kids they only have to swim until they can beat them in 100 meters (me) or 1650 meters (Cynthia). Corinne Boyle’s mom Cynthia swam in college and was preparing Corinne for greatness. The swimming team started in first grade for Corinne and by the time she was 13 she didn’t want to quit! Her mom had actually said swim until you are 13 or beat my time of 18:38 in the 1650. As a sprinter she was not interested in going long, but by 13 had formed some fast friendships and a love for the sport.

Corinne is not someone who sticks her toe in the water and just tests. As she says, “I’m very competitive so if I’m doing something I’m going to put all my effort into it.” Go big or go home is an effective way to understand Corinne’s outlook. Her family went to the USA Cycling 2023 Road World Championships to watch her professional cyclist brother compete in the U23 time trial in Glasgow, Scotland. It was there that she decided she would do something epic – Ironman Lake Placid. “I wanted to end my senior year with a bang! There were a lot of relatively unrelated reasons. One is, I want something to go into college with that I can look back on and say ‘I did that! I can do hard things! I can do this!’ I also wanted to do something no one else in my family had done. It’s a nice reminder that I am strong and just a little bit special.”

While Corinne had the swimming down and plenty of cycling gear (and advice) from her brother, the run was all new. Before getting started with Ironman training, Corinne says “getting myself out the door for a long run was hard, but the thoughts about quitting during the run were the worst. When you start calculating different routes that would get you home earlier, when you feel blisters forming on your feet, when you are putting in max effort, but your legs flat out refuse to go any faster you then know you’ve entered the pain cave. Then the cave starts to seem more like a tunnel, and you can see the last turn before you’re back home, that is a fantastic feeling. Pure relief!” You are likely getting the feeling that Corinne is a mentally tough athlete. Her club and high school coaches would tell her she likes pain. She says, “I don’t think that’s true. I like working hard. I like that feeling of my muscles tearing and growing back stronger and more prepared for the next day of stress. I like feeling strong.”

Corinne started her training on August 17, 2023. As soon as school started, so did the high school swim season. That meant some two a day workouts at 4,000 yards each, meets and of course some biking and running. Corinne had goals to qualify for the high school state championships, so she needed to keep her swim performances high, but also start building her biking and running capabilities. She made the states, but that didn’t mean a break. Club swimming took center stage as she worked towards Region 1s (February) and Gold Champs (March). She focused on getting comfortable and strong on cycling and running.

This was all during her senior year. Now Corinne does say that she had a lighter load senior year, but she notes, “I have a bunch of processing disorders that make me slower than a lot of people in most tasks. In fact, I recently found out I’m in the third percentile for reading fluency. This, along with swimming year-round, forced me to learn how to manage my time. I would block off time during class, at home, or on the weekends to work on assignments, and figure out where and when I am the most efficient with my time. As an eighth grader I had my study schedule figured out so high school wasn’t much of an adjustment.” Yes, efficient with her time and able to balance swimming, triathlon training, AP classes and the social commitments of a senior.

Many of us get thrown curveballs in life, but with a full plate Corinne was tossed a fast ball in May. While out on a group training ride with her mom and brother, her mom sustained a life-threatening injury and spent a couple of weeks in ICU and is still recovering. Cynthia completed quite a few triathlons before having children and has ridden thousands of miles. As an experienced rider you still can’t always avoid freak accidents. Her helmet absolutely saved her life. She’s been struggling with memory and balance since, while her fractures have mostly healed. Of course, Corinne and the rest of her family were at Cynthia’s bedside just as longer mileage was supposed to be picking up. 

Corrine managed it like a pro as she prioritized family and came back to training as much as she could. Fellow Ironman Nanette Hatch, who did open water swims and a Lake Placid course ride with Corinne notes, “I am inspired by her level of maturity. She was committed to training, her studies and her family joyfully.” When most seniors have serious senioritis Corinne was out putting miles on the roads. She was evaluating her race nutrition needs and staying focused on her sleep and recovery.

Fast forward through prom and graduation to July 2024. I couldn’t find Corinne before the start of the Ironman Lake Placid swim. I was looking for an 18 year old in a swim skin (racing swim suit) and she had decided on wearing a wetsuit! I checked in with Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman – who asked, “Do you have the list of the youngest athletes?” Yes, Corinne Boyle was the youngest female starter along with a boy who was celebrating his 18th birthday at the race. Corinne got a prerace shoutout from Mike Reilly. I saw her beautiful smile heading into the water. As a lifeguard for the swim course, I was at the exit, so I got to cheer for and hug many swimmers. Corinne had started a bit back but passed a lot of people on lap one. She says, “The swim was really enjoyable. I don’t think I’ve ever paced myself that much. The second lap I got a little stuck behind the other swimmers, but it was all fun.” 

After she headed out on the bike I ran into her parents. They still weren’t sure about this whole event, especially her younger sister Elise, who was realizing this was going to be another very long day watching a sibling do something epic.

As those who have done it, you know the bike course at Lake Placid is hard. The hills are relentless. Talking about those hills, Corinne said, “The hardest part was the last 10-ish miles of the bike. Those last 10 miles felt like two hours! A blister formed on the sole of my foot. I bonked hard. I had been fueling well but my body just refused to put any more effort than I was giving. Most of the last 10 miles are uphill so that made it not fun. At the very end of the bike someone yelled to me “Only a marathon left.” I don’t think I’ve ever been more irrationally angry at someone. He was right, though I was more than half way through.” 

I had told Corinne she would toss her bike to a volunteer and be happy not to see it for a while. She knew the run would be tough, but I knew she had the mental fortitude to conquer it. She says, “If I hadn’t found my running buddy, I definitely would have quit.” Probably not, but again, as anyone who has tortured themselves on that course knows, your new friends make it doable.

Corinne had been chatting with one of those new friends on the bike. Both being swimmers they commiserated about getting passed by a lot of cyclists. “I told him that I was going to have to walk most of the run. A lady behind me agreed that walking was the best course of action, and we jokingly agreed to walk it together. Then she promptly passed both of us. Later, not far into the run, I see the same woman again, walking. I start up another conversation with her and we chat. We decided that we can run the downhills and flats, then walk the uphills (luckily for us it’s a hilly course). So, we do. She is struggling the whole time with back pain and I’m struggling with just being a bad runner.”

When I asked Corinne what surprised her most about the day she said, “everyone was so kind and supportive. They were all excited to meet the crazy teenager who wanted to do an Ironman as if they weren’t all doing it too!” At 18, I think it is extra hard to understand the magnitude of finishing an Ironman race. I agree with Corinne that “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I’m trying very hard not to make it my personality, but I do know that it’s not something most people will ever do, but other people do their own impossible challenges. I just chose Ironman as mine.”

Corinne just started her freshman year at RPI in Troy. “I’m majoring in chemical engineering, and RPI has a really cool program that I’m super interested in. They are working on ways to create clean energy from photosynthesis in algae and sucking up CO2 from the air and water with other types of algae. I would really like to work on that.” She’s found her crew with the Engineers swim team. Their first meet will be in October.

Many athletes are one and done when an Ironman is their first triathlon. It is a huge commitment and the ‘do not finish’ count can be high in races like Lake Placid. Corinne finished with a huge smile after ringing the first-timer bell on the speedskating oval, and hearing Mike Reilly once again say her name. She has already asked about volunteering at local events while in school and says, “I don’t think I’ll do another Ironman until I graduate. Maybe that will be my graduation gift again. I’ll make it a tradition. But I definitely see some sprint tris in the near future.” Maybe she can get the Engineers swim team all doing triathlons. No doubt this student athlete has a bright future. And when she wants a break from swimming and triathlon, she will likely be singing and rowing! 

Often student athletes get very focused on their sport and have trouble pulling their identity away from one sport. Corinne was quick to offer, if swimming wasn’t in her life, “I think I’d be a rower. Being out on the water is so scenic and beautiful. It’s also so fun to work as a team, coordinated with three other rowers who are as dedicated as you. It’s invigorating, you feel so alive. I also love to sing and being in choir is a similar feeling to being in a boat. Everyone is working together to create something beautiful.” 

Corinne is wise beyond her years. It is so true that people working together create beautiful things. We had a crew of athletes training for Ironman – all ages, backgrounds and speeds, but this group worked together to ensure each had a spectacular and beautiful race day. Cynthia, Don and Elise were on the course at 4am until 16 hours later when Corinne crossed the line. With her recovery, Cynthia shouldn’t have been out in the noise, sun and heat, but there was no way she was missing that finish line. As I stood with Don near the first-timer bell, we talked about his kids. They worked together as a family and through a very traumatic injury this spring to allow their kids to realize greatness. To have the experience of working together with others to create something beautiful. Elise was done with the day long before Corinne finished, but she was out there! Currently Elise is trying to come up with her epic event that will entail her family standing around for a solid 16 hours while she does her thing – probably not athletic! 

We can all learn from Corinne. Embrace your passion, work hard, try something new and work with others to create something beautiful.

Kristen Hislop (hislopcoaching@gmail.com) is a USA Triathlon and Ironman U coach, and race director for the Delightful® Run for Women. Hislop Coaching now offers a mindset coaching program for all ages and abilities called Stronger Than Yesterday. She is a proud mother to two boys who run in college and her husband who races and volunteers at many local events.