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Lindsey Dehlin (Formerly Weier) Joins Atomic
Lindsey Dehlin is the youngest American skier to ever go to the Olympics. She has been a junior national champion, USSA Senior National Champion, NCAA National Champion, NCAA all American and Lindsey has represented the US at the Nordic World Championships and two Olympics. A Northern Michigan University Alumnus, Lindsey was part of the team that took first, second and third for all the women’s Nordic events at the 2007 NCAA Championships. She now resides in Marquette, MI with her husband Dan and is finishing her Bachelor’s degree from NMU. Lindsey switched to Atomic for this coming year.  Lindsey Dehlin with "encouraging results" (Photo Credit: TeamToday.org) Rick Halling: That was an amazing performance put on by Northern Michigan at last year’s NCAA National Championships. First, second and third in all of the Women’s Nordic events. You and the other NMU girls did not seem the least bit surprised when you pulled it off. Were you pretty confident going into the events? Lindsey Dehlin: We went into it figuring we could all have really great races. We went into it relaxed and prepared. It was exciting to have the top three spots in the skate race and even more exciting for the classic race because a double sweep hasn’t been done (I don’t think…) Rick Halling: Here is an interesting statistic. In the last 15 years there have only been four Americans who have managed first place finishes in the Nordic events at the NCAA Nationals. All four of those skiers have been NMU athletes. What does Northern’s coach, Sten Fjeldheim, do differently from other coaches to get results like that? Lindsey Dehlin: I think a big part of it is Sten’s experience, he has been doing it for years. He is really good at figuring out what each individual athlete needs to work on. He knows how to put together workouts that make us better. Sten does a good job of motivating his athletes, he gets us to want to work hard. Rick Halling: Who will be your coach of record this winter now that you have graduated? Lindsey Dehlin: Sten and Jenny will be my coaches in the fall. The US Ski Team coaches Matt Whitcomb and Pat Casey will be my main coaches once I start traveling and racing with the US Ski Team.  Lindsey rollerskiing in Park City (Photo Credit: TeamToday.org) Rick Halling: That is quite a point of controversy in the US Nordic community. Many regional coaches who have helped develop athletes feel completely cut off once their athletes make the national team. What are your feelings about this issue? Lindsey Dehlin: I think the US Ski Team is trying to get away from that. It has happened in the past, where athletes were completely cut off from their old coaches when they made it to the Team. The Ski Team’s new coaches communicate more closely with athletes’ regional coaches now. My coaches at NMU and the US ski team all communicate and just want what is best for me. Rick Halling: There has been so much debate about regional input vs. national control, I don’t want to open a can of worms here. Let’s go on to another subject. Why did you switch to Atomic? Lindsey Dehlin: I knew Atomic would get me what I needed to race my fastest and to make it as a cross country skier. I knew Atomic has fast skis and I wanted to be a part of it. Rick Halling: I was at an international coaches conference in Ramsau last September and quite a few of the coaches were complaining about those silly little plate thingies that are on top of some skis to hold the bindings. They call them “Norwegian Booby Traps.” Some coaches were telling us horror stories about bindings ripping off those plates in races. Is part of the reason you switched to Atomic because we don’t put one of those plates on top of our skis? Lindsey Dehlin: Yea, I thought those things seemed kind of weird…but I don’t know enough about that.  The Noweigan Booby Trap Rick Halling: It looks like the US will sit out the Tour de Ski again this year. What are your feelings about that? Lindsey Dehlin: I don’t know enough about it. I’m not sure why they decided not to do it this year. Rick Halling: What is your favorite event and why? Lindsey Dehlin: The 10K, either skate or classic. It’s not as fast as a 5K, but it is over before you are too tired. But I pretty much like everything. I used to not like sprinting very much, but I’m working on it and it gets better every time. Rick Halling: Where is your favorite place in the world to race? Lindsey Dehlin: Torino. Partly because it was the Olympics and the crowds and everything were so much fun. But I liked the hills, they had long fast downhills that were really cool. Marquette is my favorite place in the US, we have so many trails and so much snow. Rick Halling: I have heard from some of your teammates that you get pretty nervous about flying. Have you ever tried flying “Commando?” It’s a lot more relaxing if you aren’t wearing underwear. Lindsey Dehlin: No, no, I haven’t tried that...yet…. And “pretty nervous” is an understatement. Rick Halling: What have you done to make the flights more relaxing? Lindsey Dehlin: Basically I sit there and panic. I guess I picked the wrong sport to be deathly afraid of flying. People around me think that I don’t fly very often… Sometimes it helps to have a teammate with me to calm me down, but usually it’s just terrifying the whole time. On the longer flights like over to Europe and to Japan last year I took Ambien and tried to sleep as long as I could. Rick Halling: You should try flying “Commando.” It really makes a possible strip search at the airports in Amsterdam or Frankfurt more interesting. 
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