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Cynthia Lynn Sherwin
1973-2007
Early on Monday morning, April 23, 2007, Cindy Sherwin left her Lower East Side apartment and began her day with a grueling bike ride on Riverside Drive. She was training for her first Ironman Triathalon scheduled for Lake Placid, NY in July. Cindy was an experienced marathon and triathalon competitor. She ran the New York Marathon five times and competed in numerous triathalons. The Ironman, the ultimate triathalon, was a personal challenge, and one she had dedicated herself to with the energy and passion she applied to all the other important commitments in her life. The Ironman required eight months of hard training in addition to her full schedule as an elite fitness instructor and a nutritionist, obligations for radio and TV appearances and, most recently, a new-found pleasure - speaking to elementary and middle-school children about the central theme of her life, examining the close relationship between nutrition and fitness.
This would be characteristically busy day for Cindy. She started with an early morning cycle ride in preparation for the 100-mile Ironman bike portion, a packed schedule of clients throughout the day, and perhaps a run in Central Park late in the afternoon.
But this wasn't to be a typical day for Cindy. Midway through her ride, Cynthia Lynn Sherwin suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and died suddenly at the young age of 33.
Cindy demonstrated the athletic prowess that was to become her hallmark very early in her life. She started walking at nine months. Passers-by would stop to stare at this tiny golden-haired person, barely two feet tall, walking down the street beside her mother. She negotiated the stairs at a year and was at home atop the jungle gym at two. Before leaving elementary school, she was already an accomplished gymnast and was a competitive swimmer.
She grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, the oldest of three, with her brother, Jeff and sister, Lauren. Several years later, Cindy attended Staples High School in Westport, CT. and was a member of the diving team. Cindy's accomplishments in athletics through her high school years evolved into interest in the field of motion science.
Backed by a sound academic record, she was admitted to the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan where she earned a Bachelor of Science Degree. During her four years at Ann Arbor, she became increasingly interested in the relationship between personal fitness and nutrition. This would become the focus of her continuing education and professional life.
Shortly after graduation from Michigan, she attended Columbia University Graduate School and earned a dual Masters of Science Degrees in both Applied Physiology and Nutrition Education. Then, continuing her schooling in the field of nutrition, she returned to Michigan and earned a Registered Dietician Certificate from Wayne State University, School of Medicine, interning at the cancer center where she consulted with patients on their specific dietary needs during chemotherapy.
Cindy began her professional career as a personal trainer in Manhattan, first at Equinox and then at other facilities throughout the city. In time she added ACE and ACSM certifications as well as certifications in AI stretching and Pre- and Post-Natal Training to her long list of credits. Throughout this period, she continued to apply her extensive knowledge of anatomy and motion science to her work as a trainer, emerging as one of the most sought-after fitness instructors in the New York. She specialized in endurance training, multi-sport conditioning, pre-and post-natal training as well as weight loss. Cindy also had a large following of private clients, people in business and the arts, that she trained on a regular basis. In recent years, she was the Director of Education at one of New York's elite gyms, where she designed and implemented a "Trainer's Training Program," a program used for training fitness instructors.
In addition to her passion about exercise and training for personal fitness, she was equally ardent about nutritional fitness. With her academic background and professional experience, she became an articulate spokesperson for personal fitness and wellbeing. Cindy counseled fitness clients about good eating habits, provided private diet counseling for weight loss and medical problems, consulted with runners and swimmers about proper intake and lectured various groups, both adults and children, on the advantages of good eating habits.
Cindy Sherwin was a recognized expert in the field of exercise science and nutrition. She was on the Advisory Board of Fitness Magazine and you would often see her in its pages along with those of Vogue, Weddings, New York Magazine, New Beauty, Shape, In Style, Self, Blueprint, Allure, Glamour, Elegant Bride, Nylon, The Martha Stewart Show, OK Magazine or New York Runner. She appeared on The Fox News Channel, The Food Network, Local Fox 5, MSNBC, or WNBC offering fitness and nutrition tips as a consultant contributor. She was one of the national spokespersons for Vitamin Water and was lecturer to school children and an educator to personal trainers.
Accolades and press clippings aside, Cindy Sherwin made an astonishing impact on the lives of the people she met. Barely five feet tall and beautiful, with extraordinary blue eyes, long golden blonde hair and a radiant smile, she lit up every room she entered. More important, Cindy had a heart that belied her small stature. She had the uncanny ability to make people believe in themselves and strive to do their personal best, whether it was a young woman struggling with a weight problem or a fifty-year old man training for his first triathalon. Often, her clients became her friends and many people lovingly acknowledge that she changed their lives.
On a chilly, rainy Friday afternoon, April 27th, the day after Cindy died, there was a Memorial Service in her honor at Riverside Chapel. The obituary would not appear until the following Sunday. Without any formal notice of Cindy's death, word spread throughout the country and over five hundred people attended her service.
Rest in Peace, Angel. You left us far too soon.
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