At age 15, Jack Kashatus more than held his own in last year’s Back Mountain Triathlon, finishing in 2 hours, 47 minutes. Submitted photo Last year at the inaugural Back Mountain Triathlon, Jack Kashatus was the youngest participant to toe the line at Sandy Beach. He was only 15 years old last summer on race day.
Kashatus is a standout swimmer at Lake-Lehman High School, where his swim coach, Chris Kuhar, is a triathlete. Many members of Kuhar’s Lehman swim team decided they wanted to participate in the triathlon as the leadoff leg for a relay team. Which is pretty normal.
As we have mentioned in this column before, relay is the soft introduction to triathlon for many people. But being a swimmer on a relay team just wasn’t enough for Jack.
Maybe it was growing up around other triathletes who were close family friends like Mike Murray. Or hearing about triathlon from his Dallas Mountaineer Athletic Club (DMAC) swim coaches. Or just growing up at Harveys Lake, which has been the local hub of triathlon for the last 40 years.
Whatever it was, Kashatus made up his mind that he was going to do the whole thing on his first try.
As he later recounted, “The Back Mountain Triathlon was the first one for me. My mom’s boyfriend, Mike Murray, has been doing triathlons for years, so I’ve been around them, but I never actually did one.
“Then my Lehman swim coach, Chris Kuhar, asked my teammates and me if we wanted to swim on a relay team with people who were looking for swimmers. The other guys decided to do relays, but I wanted to do the whole thing.”
How did young Kashatus get so confident?
He said, “I’ve been swimming for DMAC and Lehman for the last five years, so I have a lot of experience with the swim. My coaches — Doug Yeager, Coach Zander, Matt Stretanski, John and Tracey McGurk, and of course Chris Kuhar — have helped me with swim, and I’ve grown a lot in the sport.”
The story gets better from there.
Jack only swam in a wetsuit one time leading up to the race. He didn’t own a bicycle. And he really didn’t do a lot of “run specific” training. Jack is a year-round athlete, and he had swim practice, lacrosse practice and golf practice. He was always on the go, and thanks to his swimming, he was in terrific shape
On race day he was confident: “It’s just like a swim meet or a lacrosse game. I was ready!”
But when Kashatus came out of the water in fourth place as a 15-year-old, ahead of many seasoned triathletes, there was a wave of energy and excitement on the beach. The smile on his face was beatific and contagious.
I know because at that moment, I was one of the spectators on the beach excited to see him exit the water and execute a smooth run from the beach to T1. His swim time was fast — 22 minutes, 3 seconds.
“Before the race, I never swam with a wetsuit before, but Mike (Murray) took me out the day before the race so I could give it a try,” Kashatus said. “Swimming with a wetsuit is different from swimming without one. It was cool to try something different and new.”
Next up was the bike leg of the course, a two-loop, 23-mile segment with two climbs up legendary Sordoni Hill. He only rode one lap of the bike course in his practice leading up to the race.
“My family is definitely active, and we spend a lot of time outside doing stuff,” Kashatus said. “My dad is active in the cycling community, so I’ve been around bikes for years, but I’ve never really done much biking on the road.”
Ken Kashatus, Jack’s father, loved to take his two boys on cycling adventures — “Let’s ride our bikes to the CVS, or let’s ride for ice cream.” Because of his father’s love of cycling, Jack has had a lot of exposure to the sport of cycling, even if he had never ridden a traditional road bike before the race.
Ken Kashatus reminded me that because of Jack’s swim background, “he was never afraid to suffer.” Jack borrowed a bike from his father, a Specialized Crux cyclocross bike, which is very similar to a gravel bike but made for cyclocross racing, not road racing or triathlon.
Jack finished in 2 hours, 47 minutes, an amazing time for any competitor and especially strong for a 15-year-old at his first-ever triathlon.
Jack’s proudest moment so far in his triathlon career was just getting to participate. The triathlon having been a staple at the lake early in Kashatus life, had disappeared from 2017-23.
“Last year was my first one so I guess my proudest moment was just doing it,” Jack said. “It was awesome to try something new and everyone involved was super supportive and helpful. That made it a lot of fun. I am definitely looking forward to doing it again this year.”
Jack Kashatus has been fortunate to have a lot of great influences in his life. I was able to speak to a few of them including his mother, father, coach and his mom’s longtime boyfriend. All of these influencers have been involved in the active lifestyle and it is clear that has rubbed off on Jack and his younger brother Cole in a positive way. (Cole should be old enough to race in a few years).
Local Ironman Mike Murray had this to say about Kashatus: “Jack’s a great kid. He comes from a terrific family. He’s quiet but super competitive. It doesn’t matter if it’s swimming, golf, lacrosse or video games with his brother Cole — he’s a killer.
“He came out of the water fourth overall last year and finished second in his age group after training for about 20 minutes, so we’re excited to see what he does this year with just a little more preparation.”
Kashatus’s mom — Sarah Saylor, a teacher in the Dallas school district — said, “I’m biased, of course, but I am his biggest fan. Jack gives 110% to whatever he does, and he’s not afraid to try new things. I’m so thankful for all the people who have poured into Jack, and we loved watching him compete last summer at the Back Mountain Triathlon.
“We are looking forward to cheering for him and all the athletes again in August.”
But it’s not just family and friends who had incredible things to say about Jack.
Kuhar had this to say: “Jack is a very respectful athlete as well as one of the hardest working swimmers in the pool. He is always pushing himself to the next level and never takes shortcuts. His hard work and determination have led him to great success on the Lake-Lehman swim team as well as on the triathlon course.
“I expect great things from him this year, not only at the triathlon if he chooses to do it, but also during his junior year in the pool.”
I asked Kashatus as one of the youngest local competitors in the sport what keeps young people from doing a triathlon. He said that the fear of not being able to compete is what keeps people away. But he stresses that this is the wrong approach in his opinion.
“Your attitude should be just to complete it,” Kashatus said. “Seeing a 15-year-old kid like me who can do it should remind you that anybody can do it.”
How will year two be different from year one for Kashatus?
“This year, I’ll plan to train a little more than that,” he said. “I’ve done a few open water swims this summer, so I guess I’m a step ahead of where I was already.”
And this year he is planning to use an actual road bike.
Good luck to Jack and all the other fearless competitors in the 15-19 age group this summer.
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