ALUMNI

EVENTS AND ALUMNI SHAPING OUR WORLD

AN OLYMPIC FOCUS - LINDSAY THORNTON ’01

What does it take to help an elite athlete achieve optimal performance? For Senior Sport Psychophysiologist for the United States Olympic Committee Lindsay Thornton ’01, it takes a team of dedicated support staff and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Boston University.

"My job is to figure out how to make athletes who are already the best in the country use their minds as tools to become to best in the world,” says Thornton. Combining a deep understanding of neuroscience, psychology, and physiology, she uses advanced tools to assess and train the mind-body connection for athletes who have qualified or hope to qualify to represent the United States of America in the Olympic Games. “It’s a really exciting and stressful time for these athletes. I appreciate being able to be a service provider for them as they go through this process.”

At the Summer Olympic Training Center located just outside of San Diego, California, Thornton assesses an athlete’s breathing, blood flow, heart rate, muscle tension, and brain wave patterns during rest and task periods to understand how each individual’s system might respond to the stress of competition. “Every athlete responds to stress differently,” says Thornton, and, “sometimes the response can hinder performance; it’s like giving a speech in front of people. While a little bit of anxiety can help focus your attention and prepare, too much activation doesn’t allow you to get your words out and your mind feels clouded.”

Thornton analyzes stress responses to find the best way for each athlete to manage and use fight or flight reactions to their advantage during competitions. Another aspect of helping athletes achieve optimal performance is sleep monitoring, “to help them get efficient and high quality sleep at night.” Thornton asks athletes to wear sleep monitors to track their nighttime rest. She looks for anomalies in sleep patterns, such as how long it takes them to fall asleep, how many minutes they wake up throughout the night, or how much movement occurs. “Sleep is an athlete’s number one recovery opportunity, and it’s essential that they can get adequate recovery.”

When asked about her path to discovering sport psychology, Thornton recalls her time in independent study with former Head of School Dr. Jerry Larson, whose degree and alma mater matches Thornton’s exactly. “We shared the same mentor at Boston University, Dr. Len Zaichkowsky,” says Thornton, “and my independent study with Dr. Larson was about sport psychology.” Larson remembers Thornton as “an athlete and a curious student. Since Lindsay studied with my doctoral advisor, it has been fun to watch her career develop.”

My job is to figure out how to make athletes who are already the best in the country use their minds as tools to become to best in the world.

Before enrolling in Cheshire Academy, Thornton was a competitive gymnast intent on pursuing her dream to go to a Division I school. “When I applied to Cheshire Academy, we made sure there would be an arrangement that would let me pursue this dream. I went every day after school to C.A.T.S. Gymnastics from 3:00 to 8:00pm, and someone would save dinner for me so I could eat during study hall.”

“Especially with all the physical and mental demands of gymnastics, it seemed natural that Lindsay followed her passion for the mind-body connection, high performance, and helping others achieve their potential,” says Larson.

Thornton recalls the effect that Cheshire Academy had on her academic career. “I would say that overall the small class sizes really gave me confidence in my abilities as a student. Prior to going to Cheshire Academy, my identity was wrapped around being an athlete and that’s really how I saw my future. The Academy taught me that I have an academic ability, too, and I think that really came out during the small class settings. I was challenged, and I really had a fun time in the classroom. Cheshire Academy made me realize that I was smart, and I could go to an Ivy League school.”

“Lindsay is another great example of the student-centered nature of the Academy,” says Larson,“which encourages the development of abilities and skills that will make a difference not only in student’s lives, but the greater community, like Lindsay’s influence with Olympic athletes.”

As Thornton considers the path she took toward her current career, she reflects on the time she spent overseas, both during college and after. “I’ve lived in Spain, Germany, England, and worked abroad. I don’t think I would have even considered these options unless I had exposure to internationalism through Cheshire Academy.”

In fact, Thornton is looking forward to attending the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.“For me I have the best job possible. There’s not another job I’d like to do,” she says. The mission of the Olympics drives her passion for work each day. Says Thornton, “One of the things that’s really exciting about the Olympic movement is that it doesn’t matter what country you’re from, it doesn’t matter about the economic or political status between two countries. Sport really rises above all that; it levels the playing field.”

CROSSING THE LINES - LENWARD SIMPSON ’68

When Cheshire Academy Trustee Lenward “Lenny” Simpson ’68 was in grade school, his tennis coach drove 17 hours from North Carolina to Tennessee so the team could play in the National Boys Championship. When they arrived, Simpson said, they were not allowed to play because they were black. “We got back in the car, and I’m crying. I’m nine years old,” he said. Simpson recalls what their coach told them. “Remember this day well. Use it to your advantage in the future.”

The memory of racist exclusion was told by Simpson at the Academy’s MLK Day events in 2016. His childhood coach, Dr. R. Walter Johnson, who drove the team to the ill-fated Tennessee match, later founded the American Tennis Association Junior Development Program for black tennis players. Johnson also coached tennis greats Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, who were Simpson’s training partners.

The pattern of discrimination against black tennis players continued as Simpson entered his teens. He told the story of being 13 years old and attending the National Tennis Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan with Ashe, who was 18 at the time. After Ashe played a nearly four-hourlong match, officials said his next match would be in just 45 minutes. Simpson was angry at the scheduling and asked Ashe what was going on.

“He took me across the campus and I was hollering, ‘what are you going to do?’” Simpson said Ashe sat him down and said, “Think about this and decide. You can sit here and be angry and bitter, or you can get up and be with me and go through this with me.” Simpson said he agreed to watch the match, which Ashe lost, but he still made the cut to join the world’s largest international tennis competition as a member of the Davis Cup team.

Simpson told the students at the MLK Day event that he followed his coach’s and Ashe’s advice and stayed positive. “I could have had the biggest chip on my shoulder,” he noted. Ashe went on to become the only black man to win Wimbledon and the United States and Australian Opens. In 1985, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. “Through the tool of tennis I had my intellectual ability developed,” Simpson said, noting that the opportunity to attend Cheshire Academy became possible due to his tennis prowess.

Simpson’s athletic career began when he was five and visited a neighbor’s tennis court. It so happened that Althea Gibson was on the court practicing. In 1957, Gibson won Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals to become the first black player to win either tournament. Simpson went on to be the youngest male to play in U.S. Open Championships at age 15.

In North Carolina when Simpson was young, public schools were segregated. After meeting Gibson and excelling at tennis, Simpson was approached about going to private school. He first went to The Hill School in Pennsylvania, and the following three years he attended Cheshire Academy.

During his MLK Day presentation, Simpson asked about the difference in attitudes about achievement at Cheshire Academy and some public schools. Jemimah Frempong '18 responded and was asked to join Simpson in front of the audience. She talked about getting good grades and the stigma that can bring. “In a school with a huge black population, it’s not cool to make an “A,” he confirmed. “I’m so proud to stand here with Jemimah. I applaud her goal to stand up as a leader. She’s helping to keep the [MLK] dream alive at the Academy. You don’t have to do it only on January [19]. Celebrate it everyday,” he urged.

Simpson’s presentation for MLK Day included a screening of a new documentary “ALTHEA” about the life of Althea Gibson. Simpson is featured in the film by director Rex Miller, whose mother played tennis with one of the sport’s most successful athletes. In an article from the online site “Tennis Panorama,” Miller talked about his motivation for making the film. “Everyone knows who Arthur Ashe is,” he told the media outlet. However, he said, very few know about Gibson’s success.

Senior Master Chip Boyd, the head boys varsity tennis coach, introduced Simpson at the MLK Day presentation. Boyd said Simpson’s athleticism while a student at the Academy was unparalleled. “He played at the U.S. Open, then returned to campus. He was still a student here. Lenny came here as a sophomore and played three sports: tennis, basketball, and soccer. He was a very good athlete.”

Boyd has known Simpson for 25 years. “He has a charismatic personality. He is a great guy and it’s evident he is well-liked by alumni and students,” Boydsaid. Simpson’s ongoing support of tennis is now centered on his “One Love” program. Based in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, the youth tennis foundation teaches elementary and middle school students how to play tennis as well as what Simpson calls “life lessons.”

Members of the boys varsity tennis team know about those life lessons. The team went 7-5-1 in the spring, their best record in a number of years. “We expect to have quite a good team in 2017,” Boyd said. “They will make Lenny proud.”