Rose Teszler, a junior from Newton, Massachusetts, was one of two athletes from Swarthmore’s track and field team to participate in the NCAA indoor championships this past weekend. Teszler placed fifteenth in the preliminaries of the 800m with a time of 2:16.11, finishing fifth in her heat. The event marked the end of Teszler’s successful indoor season, where she won the 800m gold in the Centennial Conference Championship, a silver in the distance medley relay, and a bronze in the 4×800 relay.
Jacinta Fernandes-Brough: How was the experience of competing in the NCAAs?
Rose Teszler: It was surreal just to be there. At first, it was a little intimidating to watch all these other incredible athletes compete. As my race got closer, I tried to take a step back and just enjoy having earned the opportunity to compete at that level. It was fun to treat the race as a celebration of sorts, where I got to run as hard as I could with a bunch of talented athletes.
JF: What has been your most memorable moment of the season so far?
RT: The most memorable meet was probably the “Last Chance” meet I ran in Boston to qualify for Nationals. I was really, really tired after our conference championship meet, and I was unsure whether to keep racing or end my season. Luckily, a few of my teammates really encouraged me to enter and run. At the meet, I got to watch all of them set PRs, which really fired me up for my race. Then I got to have them all cheer for me, and since I’m from the Boston area, my dad got to watch me run as well.
JF: What is your favorite thing to do with the team outside of practice?
RT: I really enjoy our team game nights. We have a large team (especially when you add up the men’s and women’s teams) that does a lot of different events, so a lot of us don’t really get to train together. Game nights have been a really fun bonding experience and are always hilarious.
JF: Do you have any pre- or post-meet rituals?
RT: I like to drink A LOT of coffee about 90 minutes before I race. It does make me jittery, but I think that’s what I’m going for anyway.
JF: Why did you choose Swarthmore?
RT: I thought Swarthmore students were a lot more down-to-earth and approachable than students I met at other schools. The academic programs also seemed strong across the board, which was helpful because I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I also give credit to my coach, Pete, for showing interest in me as an athlete because my high school times didn’t get me a ton of attention from college coaches.
JF: What is your major and why?
RT: I’ll first say that my answer to this question has changed a million times. I think I’ve finally settled on Economics and Global Studies because I like taking a lot of courses from different disciplines and likely want to work towards a career in policy.
JF: What is your favorite class you’ve taken at Swarthmore?
RT: My favorite class was probably African Cinemas with Prof. Yervasi. I never considered myself a humanities person, but I actually got super into the class and all my assignments. The class taught me a lot about storytelling (and the politics of it) and has definitely changed the way I think about movies and their meaning.
JF: Favorite Sharples bar?
RT: I’ve often said that no bar goes round for round with Thai Bar. Every dish is good.
