How influential were your parents in your athletic career and in what ways?

My father used to take my siblings and me to a roller rink on the weekends. It was a simple place where a parent could keep an eye on five children while also allowing them the freedom to roam as they please. He ended up getting a part-time job there just to save money taking us.

I became a rink rat, and at 5 years old I saw the speed team practicing and I said to my dad, “I want to do that.” From that moment he did everything he could to support me skating. We didn’t have money. We gave up a lot, sacrificed more than we should have, and probably made irresponsible decisions, but he did it to support my dream.

Do you have another full-time job or business? How do you balance work and training?

I am a Senior Team Leader at a Target store in Salt Lake City. I’ve worked for Target since 2009 and I’ve had to support myself throughout my entire journey. I work 40 hours every week, 5 nights a week. Depending on the time of year and my exact position, over the years I’ve managed anywhere from 40 to 10 employees. I train all morning and then I go home and work all night long. I get home after midnight, in bed by 1:30 a.m. and I am up at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday for training.

I sometimes have to miss workouts because I have to go to work, but for the most part I just do all of the workouts consecutively with minimal or no rest or break in between in order to get them done. Without working a full-time job I could not afford to skate, nor could I afford to live, so balancing it, although not ideal, is something I’ve accepted as a part of me.

I’m the only national team member to work a full 40-hour job. During the holiday season (Q4) my racing season is under way and my work life picks up quite a bit. Our store hours extend another hour. Last season in a two-week stretch I worked 100 hours ending on a Friday at 1 a.m. I went home, woke up at 6 a.m. and got on a fight to Asia to compete in World Cup’s 3 and 4. I know times like that keep me from competing at my best. I know if I weren’t working I could achieve better results. But that isn’t my life, I work to support myself and at the end of the day I don’t have any regrets. Plus, it’s motivating to see how many people tell me it’s not possible.

Do you have any pets?

I have two dogs. The first is Splinter, a Chihuahua/schnauzer mix. He looks like Master Splinter from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That is how he got his name. He is technically my dog.

The second is Charlie, a bichon frise. He is technically my girlfriend’s dog. We live together with both dogs. They are both 6 years old.

My dogs are awesome. It’s funny because they are the opposite of my girlfriend and I. Splinter is more like her, and Charlie is more like me. But they are great. When things are really going rough for me, coming home dead tired from training and then sleep deprived from work they are right there waiting to do whatever I’m capable of. Sitting down, laying down, taking naps, they just want to be along for the ride and that’s a really good feeling to have.

In your hometown of West Chester, Penn., what are your five favorite spots to relax, eat out, etc.?

I’m from rural Pennsylvania so I have a few chains out east and a few local places.

#1 Jerry’s Pizza Pie in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. My favorite thing is the cheesesteak stromboli. And yes, it’s as good as it sounds.

#2 Rita’s Italian Ice — Shaved/water ice at its finest.

#3 Wawa — Think Subway meets gas station. Except their hoagies are delicious. And during the holiday season they make the Gobbler hoagie which is about as awesome as it sounds.

#4 Turkey Hill — This is all about the tea!

#5 Shady Maple — Brunch done right!

How much time do you spend training each day?

4-8 hours a day. It varies depending on the day of the week and the time of the year. Early/summer training is longer days. Competition season the days get a little shorter.

What’s your typical training day/schedule?

I wake up at 7:11 a.m., because that extra minute adds up over the course of a season. I get out of bed, drink a glass of water and have breakfast. Depending on my current state of sleepiness it might be fresh fruit with yogurt. It could be granola cereal, it could be a Froozer Smoothie, or just a Usana Nutrimeal shake.

From there I’m off to the Utah Olympic Oval and arrive at 8 a.m. I run/stretch/warm-up for 45 minutes and then get on the ice. We spend two hours on the ice. Afterward we’ll spend about an hour training off the ice but with skating specific workouts/imitations. From there I’ll head into the weight room right away and knock out an hour to an hour and a half weight session. I’ll leave the oval and get home with about 15 minutes time to eat/shower and leave for work. I’ll get to work at 2 p.m. and leave around midnight, get home and asleep by 1 to 1:30 a.m.

How do you work to achieve your daily goals?

I keep a positive attitude. A few years ago I made a conscious effort to wake up every day with a fresh outlook. I know it sounds cliché, but it can actually make a huge difference. It would be easy for me to dwell on how much I worked the day before or how tired I am from not being able to cool down or utilize proper recovery techniques but it wouldn’t get me anywhere. So I start over each day even if I have to consciously tell myself to do so.

What is your favorite workout or fitness trend?

I love getting on the road bike for a really hard climb. When you’re climbing you only have one option and that is to keep pushing. If you stop or just prolong the pain, you fall down.

What’s the most grueling work out you’ve ever done?

That’s a tough question to answer. I could probably give a hundred different answers. I remember once doing a pyramid work-out on the ice. It consisted of starting at a certain number of laps for a set, after the set you get 60-90 seconds rest before your next set, which is 1 lap longer than the previous. You add a lap each set with your rest staying the same. Once you get to a certain number of laps in a set you head back down, taking 1 lap off each set. Except this time we went up, back down, up, and back down. But it was before I was a World Cup athlete and most of our team was off competing internationally, so it effectively came down to a complete work-out with myself and 1 other team mate. Afterwards our coach said he didn’t expect us to make it half way.

What would people be surprised to learn about training for the Olympics?

That we train all four years!!!! No but seriously, we grind out session after session but we are just regular people. We just work out a lot more.

Is there anything you do for training that’s out of the ordinary or experimental?

Nothing too bizarre. At least not to us. But to a normal person some of it may seem a little wacky. We’ll take a balancing ball or disc, and then use one of our turn bands to replicate the position/lean/body angle we would have on the ice. Except we do it while balancing on one leg on the balancing disc. I’m sure if you saw someone doing that at a gym you would take a picture.

What’s your nutrition plan?

My nutrition has been my Achilles heel. Because of my training combined with my work schedule it makes eating healthy more difficult than I would like at times. I have two nights off a week that I have to cook lunch and dinner for the rest of the week in order to have enough food.

If you are to indulge, what’s your go-to snack?

Chick-fil-A. It’s my weakness, it’s so good! Chick-fil-A sandwich with cheese and a sweet tea!

What is your earliest memory of doing or seeing skating?

Well, I was a transition athlete so my start is a little different. I was an inline speed skater to came over to ice after seeing a fair amount of success. If we just count them both as speed skating then my earliest memory is when I was about 5. I was used to skating at the roller rink all the time and I saw the speed team and told my dad I wanted to do that. One of the parents of a skater brought an old pair of skates for me to try a few weeks later, and they were probably 3 sizes too big. I told my dad they were fine because I wanted to skate. I had to have looked like I had clown feet.

What’s your  earliest or favorite memory of watching the Olympics?

I remember watching the 2004 Athens Summer Games. My brother and I watched a lot of track and a lot of swimming. We even had an Olympics video game. I remember saying, one day I’m going to go to the Olympics and win gold, and he would say, yeah and I’m going to go too and win the silver. 2006 would be my earliest memory of the winter games. At that point I was a older and some of the inline greats were having enormous success on the ice (Chad Hedrick).

Was there a specific “breakthough” moment/competition when you finally realized you could compete in your sport at a high enough level to reach the Olympics?

I don’t know if that one moment really exists for me. I told myself since I was a teenager, probably 14 years old, that I would go to the Olympics for speed skating. I wasn’t that good yet, but every year I made huge leaps. I think I told myself that so much it stopped feeling like a dream and more like just the next step. Once I came over to ice I didn’t know I would actually be good enough right away. But I set strong goals for myself and I improved early on at an accelerated rate. In under two years on the ice I knew I could get there physically.

What’s something cool, weird intense about your sport that people don’t normally see? What’s the hardest part of your sport?

Everything! The sport in general, you have someone training hours every day in a completely unnatural body position that is hunched over and muscularly is asymmetrical, then they put two knives on their feet and go over 30 miles per hour just inches off the ground.

Who is your coach? How long have you been working together and what’s your relationship like?

My coaches are Anthony Barthell and Alex Izykowski. They were my coaches shortly after I started ice and then again in 2016 to present. I think we have a good relationship. They both understand the uniqueness of my circumstances with work and the technical pitfalls of my skating style.

Who do you socialize with most within your sport or any sport?

Probably Kimi Goetz. She’s my girlfriend’s sister, and since we’ve been dating for over 10 years she’s basically my sister.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

My longtime inline coach was chockful of great advice. I could probably answer this question with a different piece of advice every day of the week. But as a child I had quite a temper. So I would get angry or upset and put on a show. I remember when I started getting pretty good my coach told me I needed to act like a champion. That anyone could win a race but that doesn’t make them a champion. A champion carries themselves a certain way, acts a certain way in victory and defeat alike.

What’s a big obstacle that you’ve overcome in your life?

There are a few I guess. The big one I guess is just money. Even as a kid my family never had money. I remember one year, I was probably 17 years old. I had already competed in world championships, I had won nationals and broken records, but I had no money. I remember taking coins to a collection machine just to try and get enough money to pay the entry fee for my brother and me to compete in our national qualifier.

There was a winter after my parents split up that my mother fell back into bad habits with alcohol and drugs. It was the middle of a Pennsylvania winter and our heat was shut off. It was like 38 or 40 degrees in the house. I get asked a lot how I can work as much as I do and still skate. The first few times I was asked that question it caught me off guard. Eventually I settled on, if it’s all that you know, or if it’s the only way to keep going, naturally you will always find a way.

Within your sport, who has been your greatest influence and why?

Probably one of my former coaches, Jae Su Chun. I was still transitioning from inline to ice and trying to find out who I was as a short track speed skater. He saw something no one else did, he helped me and turned me into a real short tracker.

What advice would you give to a young child just starting out in short track?

Going fast and looking cool are both really fun. But if you don’t focus on skating the right way you’ll get left behind.

Who is your most interesting teammate?

Aaron Tran! There isn’t anything un-interesting about him. His jokes, his completely off-topic remarks, his attitude, he’s just a big kid doing what he loves.

Are you a fan of any other sports?

I’m a Philly fan! Eagles/Sixers/Philles. Right now I’m a big Joel Embiid fan. He just seems like a cool guy with a good sense of humor.

Do you play any other sports?

I competed in inline speed skating for years, going to 5 straight world championships and 1 Pan American Games.

Who was the most influential in helping you achieve your dreams?

That’s tough to name just one person. I guess my Dad. At the end of the day he worked incredibly long hours every day growing up, sacrificed pretty much any personal satisfaction and vacation, and all he wanted in return is full effort. We’ve had tense times and fights but at the end of the day I get it. And, I like to think he’s one of the reasons I have the work ethic that I do. He busted his butt to give me a chance as a kid. I bust my own just so I can continue with that chance.

Did anyone ever tell you that you wouldn’t be able to succeed in your sport? How were you able to overcome that?

Growing up I was always told by someone I couldn’t do it. But I always nodded my head, stored it in the back of my mind and went to work. I was too small, or too slow, or too weak, then I was a fluke, couldn’t do it again, didn’t deserve it, etc. I loved being the underdog. When I was younger I use to convince myself that all of my competitors were training together to beat me. When I was tired or sluggish or didn’t want to train, I would tell myself they’re training somewhere right now to beat you. Then when I went out training really early, or really late, or for the third or fourth time in a day, I use to tell myself this is the one that counts. Here is where you can make up some ground.

If you were not an athlete, what would you be doing?

I would love to be a sports radio host.

When you have time off, what would constitute a perfect day for you?

A perfect day for me is simple, my girlfriend and I are both off from work. We take the dogs for a walk and enjoy our time together. It doesn’t happen very often so when it does just the company is great for me. Sometimes we’ll take the dogs to a park or something.

How do you unwind after a competition?

I normally don’t, haha. I dissect everything. Look at every potential mistake big or small and how I can fix it to not let it happen again. I watch the videos over, and over, and over again.

What are some of your hobbies?

Usually in my free time I just spend it with my dogs, either taking them to the park or just on walks. I also ride my motorcycle for fun, usually just to work and practice because of my schedule but occasionally I’ll be able to take it up into the canyons.

What is your music of choice while training? What’s on your workout playlist?

If the song is good, I can listen to pretty much anything. Five songs that are on one of my training playlists are:

1. Eminem – Legacy

2. Nas – The Message

3. Ice Cube – Steady Mobbin

4. Dr. Dre – The Watcher

5. Lloyd Banks – Warrior Pt. 2

Have you been to South Korea before? What are you most looking forward to about the Games being hosted in South Korea? Anything you want to see or do?

I’ve been to South Korea four or five times now. Short track is a huge deal there so I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and for the sport to be in the limelight in the host country.

Do you like kimchi or any other Korean foods?

I like bulgogi and kalbi beef!

What will success look like for you in PyeongChang? What are your goals?

I want great execution for myself. Too many times I’ve finished a race and felt like if I had just executed a little bit better I would have achieved a lot more. I think the physical skill will be there, I just need to nail the execution of my races. That in I want to do everything in my power to help make sure we come home with a medal in the relay event. We have a superbly talented team and just need to put it all together and we can make it happen.

Will you head home for the holidays prior to the Games? What do you most look forward to? If not, where will you celebrate and with whom?

With Olympic Trials being a week before the holidays and some of my family coming to watch, I will not travel home for the holidays. I’ll spend it with my dogs, my girlfriend, and probably her sister and my teammate, Kimi Goetz. My dad, brother, sister, her husband, and two children are coming to watch my Olympic Trials so I’ll still experience the holidays with my family.

What’s on your Christmas or holiday list this year?

I think with our Olympic Trials being so close to the holidays, just having that satisfaction to be able to say you’re an Olympian would be the best. Knowing you are about to travel and compete for the most elusive podium in sport.