Triathlon and Transformation

Present-day female students most likely do not remember a time without Title IX. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects students from sex-based discrimination and exclusion in education programs or activities. Title IX benefits all women, especially female athletes, and protects women from not having equal access to the opportunities their male counterparts have. These two memoirs recount the lives of Celeste Callahan and Dottie Dorion who were athletes before Title IX was passed. Callahan and Dorion were runners and triathletes who constantly battled gender norms and stereotypes. The memoirs of the two athletes consist of oral and written accounts stitched together to form their journey through sport against societal standards and pressures.

Celeste Callahan has experience as an English teacher and author, and holds a master's in theology. She took up running in the mid-1970s, triathlon in the mid-1980s, and has served on a number of International Triathlon Union and USA Triathlon committees and as a member of the USA Triathlon executive board. She is the founder of the first all-female triathlon training nonprofit. Dottie Dorionis an accomplished artist with a background in nursing, education, and sports. She worked for Title IX compliance in Northeast Florida. She started running in the early 1970s, took up triathlon in the early 1980s and was chairperson of the International Triathlon Union Women's Committee. Jane E. Hunt is an assistant professor at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia, with a research interest in women and individual participatory sports. A runner and triathlete, she is also founding president of a local triathlon club.