Team CWW is a non-profit organization that seeks to enhance women’s lives through fitness; training each woman so that they may ultimately complete an athletic event such as a triathlon, duathlon, 5k, marathon or a cycling event. From January to September , our organization provides specific training plans and group workouts with certified professional coaches in three disciplines – swimming, biking, and running. Team CWW has been offering affordable training programs to women in the Denver and Boulder areas going on 14 years.
The Team CWW Program is divided into 3 levels - Beginners (Novice) , Experienced, and Elite/Competitive athletes.
Each year CWW organizes 6 rehearsal triathlons/duathlons/running/cycling that coincide with national and locally known events, such as the Tri for the Cure, the Boulder 5430 Series, IronGirl, Rattlesnake Triathlon, Harvest Moon long course, Venus De miles and many others. The rehearsals are full fledged race simulations held on the actual race course with volunteer staff and local vendors. The rehearsal events; 3 in Denver and 3 in Boulder are offered to all of our members at no cost and then made available to the general public as space allows. These rehearsals allow athletes to ‘test the waters’ practicing their nutrition needs and athletic fitness. The camaraderie of the women is amazing, with everyone encouraging their teammates, many who are new to the sport, often eliciting tears of joy as each member realizes her potential. During and after each event, we provide the athletes with fuel to replace energy lost and to start the recovery process. This is the most important factor in ensuring that our athletes are ready for the ‘real thing’
Celeste Callahan - Founder and Queen
CELESTE CALLAHAN, the founder of CWW, seeped into athletics without a road map. The crops of her successes were planted in the infertile soil of Pre Title IX, and, for someone raised so as not to be a tomboy or to excel at anything hard or “the boys would not like you”, she greeted each road race win or triathlon medal with shock and confusion as to what would happen next, and would it involve hair growing on the palms of her hands.
Her foray into coaching happened accidentally as well. In 1997, her best friend Judy Flannery was killed in a biking accident just days after asking Celeste to become the Rocky Mountain Regional Representative of the newly formed Women’s Commission of USAT. “What do I have to do?” Celeste asked. “Get women interested in multi sport, “ Judy replied.
CWW began , coincidentally, the night that Judy was killed. Forty women came to her door, and blended with twenty others from Team Survivor. That group of 60 women has grown in 12 years to over 500 with a long waiting list. Celeste thought she needed some sort of papers. So she got a Personal Training Certificate, a first aid card, and later was one of the first graduates of USAT’s Coaching Education Program. She is a Level II Coach. She is also an official Race Director.
Coaching Philosophy:
Her COACHING PHILOSOPHY is, Newton’s Third Law, a reaction to how she was raised. She believes strongly that there is no obstacle that cannot be circled, climbed, or razed to the ground. If a woman wants to do a triathlon and is 65 and has MS, OK. We’ll get this done. In fact, she says that she eats obstacles for breakfast.. Tell her that something cannot be done, and you’ll be looking for crow for supper.
Athletic accomplishments
She does not like to list her athletic accomplishments because she cannot remember them all. In the sport since 1984, she has done almost all national championships, most of the world championships in triathlon and a fair number in duathlons. In 2002 she gold medaled at worlds in Cancun for triathlon, and in 2007 she got a silver at world du’s in Hungary, a sport in which she is also a national champion. She is a 4 time Ironman finisher, 3 from Hawaii. She holds the senior women’s record for the team bike Race Across America, and she plans to break that record this summer. She sits on the National Board for USATRIATHLON.
Her six grandchildren under 3 years old have joined “her people from CWW’ as favorite topics to talk about.
Yoli G. Casas - Team CWW Program Designer and Head Coach
Yoli brings her passion, education and experience of coaching triathlons and endurance athletics for over 25 years. She has a Masters degree in exercise physiology and applied kinesiology and currently works at the University of Colorado as a research assistant in the area of exercise, aging and cardiovascular health, particularly in postmenopausal women.
Yoli has her Expert Level II Triathlon Coaching Certification, Race Director Certification, and ACSM personal trainer certification. She helped thousands of athletes of all levels through the years. This year is her 14th Season as the program designer and head coach for Team CWW Triathlon (voted best women’s triathlon club in the nation by USAT).
Yoli also is the Head coach and program Designer for Team Wild ( Women Inspiring Life with Diabetes) and Hermanas Training Team ( Transforming the lives of Latina women by promoting Fitness and Health)
Coaching Philosophy:
Coaching is about making it fun, believing, teaching, compassion, encouragement, patience, support (lots of it)….listening…..just being there throughout the athlete's journey.
Her coaching interest is helping people through their life challenges by incorporating athletics into their lifestyle and helping women of all levels and ages achieve their athletic goals and in the process empower them to believe in themselves.
Athletic accomplishments
- World long distance Duathlon Champs (Ironman Distance) (Zofinger, Germany) 22nd place
- World long distance Triathlon Champs (Ironman Distance) (Nice, France) 19th place
- National age group Championships (Hilton Head Island) 10th place
- Competed in over 10 international Marathons: 2:38 PR
- 1985-1996 Elite/Professional Endurance Athlete (running & triathlon)
- Venezuelan National Junior Champion in swimming 1975
- Venezuelan silver medalist in the Tennis National championship 1983
- Competed in National and International Running events.
- Member of the Pan American Peruvian Team in the Marathon in 1991
- 4th in the South American championships in the 10,000 meters in 1990
- Peruvian National champion in the 5,000, 10,000 and Marathon 1989, 1990
Publications
Manuscripts
- YG Casas, Schiller BC, CA DeSouza, DR Seals.
Total and regional body composition across age in healthy Hispanic and white women of similar socioeconomic status.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 73, No. 1, 13-18, January 2001
- YG Casas, BC Schiller, BL Tracy, CA DeSouza, DR Seals.
Age-related declines in leg strength and performance in sedentary Hispanic and Caucasian women. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 1999 - acsm-msse.org
- BC Schiller, YG Casas, CA Desouza, DR Seals.
Maximal aerobic capacity across age in healthy Hispanic and Caucasian women Journal of Applied Physiology, 2001 - Am Physiological Soc, Vol. 91, Issue 3, 1048-1054, September 2001
- Schiller, BC, YG Casas, BL Tracy, CA DeSouza, DR Seals.
Age-related declines in knee extensor strength and performance in sedentary Caucasian and Hispanic women. Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, 55A: B563-B569, 2000
- Hoetzer GL, BL Stauffer, JJ Greiner, Y Casas, DT Smith, CA DeSouza.
Influence of oral contraceptive use on endothelial t-PA relase in healthy premenopausal women. American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology and Metabolism, 284(1):E90-E95, 2003.
- Hoetzer, GL, BL Stauffer, JJ Greiner, Y Casas, DT Smith, CA DeSouza.
Oral Contraceptive use and endothelial release of tissue-type plasminogen activator in vivo.
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (In review)..
Presentations
- Irmiger HM, GL Hoetzer, DT Smith, M Ng, Y Casas, JJ Greiner, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza.
Regular exercise improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation in obese adults.
The FASEB Journal, 17:A1271, 813.12, 2003.
Presented at the 2003 Experimental Biology annual meeting in San Diego, CA.
Ng M, DT Smith, GL
- Hoetzer, HM Irmiger, JJ Greiner, Y Casas, BL Stauffer, CA DeSouza.
Lack of an age-related increase in plasma C-reactive protein in endurance-trained men.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35(5):S107, 2003.
Presented at the 2003 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in San Francisco, CA.