What’s your name and what do you do?

My name is Dana Boehling and I work as a data scientist. I use statistics and programming to analyze data for the retail industry.

How did you choose Team Atomica?

I googled masters swimming clubs after I moved to Toronto and I liked that TA was both triathlon and masters swimming. It’s really cool – I’ve met such a variety of people with different goals and different strengths.

How did you get into swimming or triathlon?

I started out in triathlon, but was so terrible at running (it was never meant to be anyways!) After a couple years into a knee injury, I decided to stick to swim/bike duathlons. Then after joining Team Atomica’s masters swimming program I’ve just been focusing on swimming, which has always been my favourite sport.

What’s your favourite part about swimming?

I feel like I’ve always been meant to swim! I’ve met so many great people through the sport and also swimming comes with less injuries.

What’s one challenge you’ve set for yourself and achieved? How about one that you have not yet achieved? 

I challenged myself to do a 10K open water swim over the summer. I had only started open water swimming the year before and I had a lot of anxiety about being in the open water. None of the confidence I had in the pool was with me in the lake. I spent all my weekends at Cherry Beach training from early June when the water was only 12 degrees. In August I completed the Welland Canal 10K, which actually turned into an 11K because of a runaway buoy marker! The summer taught me a lot about the mental aspects of training in sport. I absolutely love open water swimming now and I conquered the hesitations I had previously. I have a lot of great teammates and coaches to thank for that.

Favourite snack after a hard workout? 

I know I should be saying a protein shake or kale – but it’s 100% ice cream for me.

What candy best describes you and why?

Pop rocks – just add water!

What’s one thing not many people know about you? 

Despite how active I am, I love my lazy lounging time. Weekends aren’t the same without a mid-day cat nap!