Smithtown Track Coach Is Olympic Hopeful

SMITHTOWN, NY —Blue Point native Jack Flood may be on his way to the Olympic Trials as an Olympic hopeful in the men's decathlon, but the 24-year-old says he draws inspiration from the high school athletes he coaches at Smithtown West High School. After spending last year student teaching and helping the boy's track team reach success, Flood moved to North Carolina to focus on training for the Trials, an effort that requires almost total dedication, he told Patch.

"The kids that I coach at Smithtown text daily to see how I'm doing and I see how they are doing,” Flood said. “We feed off each other; they inspire me. They have a super strong work ethic."

Flood himself knows firsthand the work ethic needed to achieve high levels in the sport of track and field. After competing in the decathlon at SUNY Cortland, Flood saw increasing promise in himself—he recently placed third at the U.S. Indoor National Championship—and decided to commit fully to his Olympic dreams.

“I knew I had to still progress as an athlete,” after college. He moved home to Long Island after graduating in 2017 where he had to manage training alone at a high level while also completing his teaching requirements. A typical week of training for Flood involves two to three workouts a day, so he can practice the range of skills decathlon requires, from throwing, sprinting, jumping to hurdling.

Flood thinks he has an outside chance of making the US Olympic team this year. The top three finishers at the trials, held this June in Oregon, will make the team. But he says it may be a few more years before he peaks as an athlete and plans to continue competing on a national level and is eyeing the next trials in 2024 when he will be 28 years old, a prime age for the sport. Training for the sports makes it hard to hold down a full-time job, and sponsorships are few and far between.

“I’m willing to take the risk because I only have my my youth for so long,” he explains. Flood is currently working as a substitute teacher in North Carolina where he trains with a group.

The athlete says he hopes to one day see his career come full-circle back to teaching, with a goal to be a physical education teacher, possibly back on Long Island.

On March 8th Flood is planning to visit Long Island to attend a fundraiser held by supporters to help raise the funds he needs to compete on the circuit, from hotel to meet fees. The fundraiser is being hosted by Cavanuagh's, a Blue Point pub.

"It's a chance for me to see old friends and everyone who's supported me," Flood says.