St John’s aims to make a splash in the Niantic Bay Triathlon
Bishop Laura Ahrens will join Mother Jackie and other members of St John’s in three Triathlon teams on Sunday 9th August to raise money for our Thursday pantry.
Rt Rev Laura Ahrens, Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut
St John’s has recruited one of Connecticut’s two Episcopal Bishops to compete in the Niantic Bay Triathlon. Bishop Laura Ahrens, an experienced runner, will take on the 3.2 mile (5 kilometer) course along the oceanfront and ending on the beach.
Mother Jackie, who has run 26 marathons and competed in the Chicago Triathlon, will complete all three of the challenges – a half mile swim, 11.4 mile cycle race and the 5K run.
Mother Jackie (and Gus)
St John’s star swimmer, Christie Hayes, will join Mother Jackie in the water for the half mile around Niantic Bay. Christie, who is 78, holds no fewer than three current US records in her age group - for the 1,000m and 1,650m (one mile) freestyle and the 400m individual medley - and has been inducted into the Halls of Fame of Wiliam Smith College and New England Masters. She is also a member of a relay team that in March 2026 set a US record in the 400m medley, and the 400m and 800m freestyle.
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Christie Hayes
Participants from St John’s aim to raise money for Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries which operates from St John’s and five other coastal churches.
Mother Jackie said, “I see the effects of food insecurity every day in my practice as a doctor, even along what we think of as a relatively affluent coastline, and the impact has been getting worse since the cuts in food assistance.
“Food pantries like ours are more important than ever in providing basic nutrition to people of all sorts who would otherwise go hungry.”
Making up the second St John’s team and biking the triathlon’s 11.4 mile course, is another Episcopalian, Peter Chomowicz, currently a member of Calvary Church in Stonington Borough. The third team comprises our Junior Warden, Chris Cooper, who will swim, St John’s member Scott Todd who will take the bike, and church secretary Laura Stefanski, who will run.
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Chris Cooper, Laura Stefanski and Peter Chomowicz
Mother Jackie said she hoped the triathlon would spark an interest in the three sports, adding “I see our Christian ministry as promoting physical and mental as well as spiritual wellbeing, and sports such as swimming, cycling and running are important and fun ways of achieving that.”
The three courses our athletes will tackle:
Maps courtesy of the Hartford Marathon Foundation
Close as it is to the start of the triathlon swim, St John’s is in a good position to raise some money from opening Roger’s Field to parked cars once again. Former Senior Warden Dick Miller is organizing a team to manage the parking from the crack of dawn on Sunday morning.
The St John’s pantry is inside the church hall between 2.30pm and 4.30pm each Thursday, at 400 Main Street, Niantic. Donations can be earmarked for our pantry, including by writing a check to “St John’s Episcopal Church, Niantic” with “SSKP” placed on the memo line to indicate the intended destination of the donation.
