Dare2Tri, an organization based in Chicago that provides equipment and training to physically disabled athletes so that they can complete a triathlon, is becoming a club at LT this month. Dare2Tri has collaborated with LT in the past by providing equipment for disabled students to complete the sophomore triathlon, club sponsor Cassie Niego said.

The first triathlon that Dare2Tri provided specialized equipment for was two years ago, when founder of the Dare2Tri chapter at LT Emma Korzyniewski ‘19 was a sophomore. She helped another student complete the triathlon and was inspired. She emailed the co-founder of the organization, Keri Serota, to tell her about the impact that Dare2Tri and its mission had on her. Korzyniewski began to get more involved with Dare2Tri and worked with Neigo to get LT students to volunteer at the Dare2Tri kids camp this summer, she said.

“Those kids fell in love, and we decided that this needed to be something bigger,” Korzyniewski said.

So, Korzyniewski, with the help of Neigo and Serota, began working on creating a plan for the club at LT. The Dare2Tri club will have three  main focuses, Korzyniewski said. The first and main focus is volunteering.

“Dare2Tri has events all year, and they always need volunteers, especially teen ones,” she said.

Second, the club will have fundraisers, where the money raised will go to Dare2Tri directly, Korzyniewski said. Lastly, Korzyniewski wants to get the whole community more involved to end some stigma that may exist surrounding those with physical disabilities, she said.

“I feel like some kids, and society as a whole, seem nervous around people with disabilities, which is unfortunate,” Korzyniewski said. “We are all together, and we can work together.”

Neigo echoed Korzyniewski’s goals, and stressed the importance of physical activity in breaking down the barriers that exist between able-bodied and disabled students.

“The physical activity breaks down so many barriers,” Niego said. “Our volunteers forget that they are working with someone with a disability.”

The long term goal of the club is to not only have volunteers for outside Dare2Tri events, but also potentially have a triathlon and paratriathlon at LT, Niego said.

“Volunteers are getting physically active and it also allows for the physically disabled to get active as well, so everybody wins,” Niego said.

Overall, the club aims to unite able bodied students and athletes with disabled ones to work together to achieve a common goal, Korzyniewski said. Dare2Tri’s mission is to show that physical disablilites are not as debilitating as they may seem.

“There are so many people out there that are just as able as you are,” Korzyniewski said. “Even though these people are physically disabled, they can outrun and outswim you.”