Physical therapists Torey Anderson ’12 and John Rumpeltes were in Beijing to support Team USA. Photo courtesy of Torey Anderson.
Downhill skiers must be in excellent physical and mental health to succeed on the slopes. When Team USA’s athletes competed in the Beijing Olympics, the people making sure they were in top shape included two Whitman College alumni.
Torey Anderson ’12 and John Rumpeltes, who attended Whitman from 1974-76, are part of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s physical therapy team. They’ve traveled the globe to world-class competitions with their athletes, but this was their first Olympics.
It’s no accident Anderson and Rumpeltes were at the Beijing games together. As principal of a physical therapy company in the Puget Sound area for decades, Rumpeltes treated U.S. Ski athletes and began volunteering for the team. At the same time, he often recruited Whitman grads to work in clinical support for his company, helping them gain experience for careers in physical therapy or medicine.
Anderson was one of Rumpeltes’ recruits. As a biology major and member of the Blues ski team, Anderson had worked and trained at Whitman’s Sherwood Athletic Center. Later, when she graduated from physical therapy school, Rumpeltes introduced her to U.S. Ski’s medical director.
Within six months, Anderson was the head physical therapist for the U.S. Women’s Alpine Ski Team.
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