Student Q&A: Michael Bankes (DDS Class of 2025) brings intensity and commitment as a dental student and as a national-class ultra-distance triathlete11 min read
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This profile is one in an ongoing series highlighting School of Dentistry alumni and students.
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The challenging course of study and clinical care required for dental school produces a wide range of stress-relief strategies among students. Fourth-year student Michael Bankes has taken his idea of relaxation to a somewhat counterintuitive level of high-end athletics. Starting four years ago, he began training for and entering ultra-distance triathlons – the grueling race that combines a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon. It’s an endurance test that takes from 8 to 10 hours or longer depending on the athlete’s ability level and training. In August, Bankes became a national champion when he won the 2024 USA Triathlon Ultra-Distance National Championships during the Michigan Titanium event in Grand Rapids. He has set his sights on the most famous ultra-distance triathlon – the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, in 2026. He talked recently about how he went from being a moderate athlete and non-swimmer to a highly fit and nationally competitive ultra-triathlete while also completing his dental school requirements as he heads toward graduation next spring.
Q: How and when did you become interested in dentistry as a career? Anyone in your family a dentist?
A: Nobody in my family pursued healthcare, but I was interested in high school. It was just a matter of finding the healthcare profession that I connected with. My dad’s best friend from college went to dental school and is a dentist in Livonia, so I had shadowed him in middle school and high school. I shadowed many different professions. I then found a free dental clinic in Detroit when I studied at Wayne State University. In talking to the dentists there, I decided dentistry was for me. They got so much satisfaction out of their work and I saw the career paths that dentistry can lead to. That free clinic connected me to an endodontic clinic that I assisted at during my gap year between undergrad and dental school. I saw what specializing is all about and I liked the idea of being really, really good at one thing. Offering that service to patients to fill the gaps where general dentists can’t sounds rewarding for all parties. In talking with the dentists about their lifestyle, I knew that they can have great work-life balance, with family, kids, travel, etc. Plus, dentistry is always changing and evolving, which appeals to me.
Q: As you were growing up in Pinckney, Michigan, you played basketball in high school, but you weren’t a runner, swimmer or biker. What led you to ultra-distance triathlons?
A: I had run the Detroit Marathon in 2019 when I was a senior at Wayne State, basically just so I could say I had done one. I figured that would be the only one I did, but I fell in love with the training. When I graduated from Wayne State in 2020, I took a gap year during Covid before starting dental school. I wanted to be able to say I accomplished something big during my gap year other than just working. I decided I would enter Ironman Tulsa in May 2021, just before I started dental school. I began researching the sport and training. I got a stationary bike trainer so I could ride indoors. I didn’t know much about swimming, and it took me three months just to get comfortable in the water and to learn how to breathe well. It’s almost like learning another language. Running and biking are straightforward: you work hard, you push harder, and you go faster. But for swimming, it’s the opposite mindset. The harder you work and fight and thrash with the water, the slower you go. I think that that can be a great mantra to live by.
Q: How did that first Ironman go?
A: I did pretty well at just under 11 hours. Like with my first marathon, I thought I would do the one triathlon and that’s it. But I caught the bug again. I loved it. I knew more of what to expect and began progressing rapidly with my training so that I could become competitive for my age group. I loved the challenge of fitting the training in with my life. It makes me feel much better and much more accomplished each day. The daily stresses are just a little bit less when I’ve had my swim or my run in the morning. On the weekend, if I had a long week at school, a long bike ride clears my mind. It’s an odd way to do it, I think, but it’s what I enjoy. Making it work during dental school is not easy, but it’s gotten easier now in the fourth year when we’re treating patients in clinic with a schedule that can be flexible.
Q: After that first triathlon in Oklahoma, you then entered the Michigan Titanium event each of the last three years and won it this year with a personal best time of 9 hours and 16 minutes. That continual improvement was the result of disciplined training, nearly year-round, plus you hired a coach two years ago who directs your training. It seems like you are doing strenuous swims, rides or runs nearly every day from January until the triathlon in August. How do you mix that into the daily demands of dental school?
A: Hiring a coach was the best thing I ever did because I can really focus my efforts on dental school. When I finish school for the day, I just look at my phone and I have the workout right there. I don’t have to think about it. My schedule depends on how close I am to a race, but it is normally two or two and a half hours every day as I build toward the race in August. The weeks vary but have the same sort of structure. Monday would be a morning swim at 5 a.m. and an easy bike ride in the afternoon. Tuesday is hard bike ride with intervals, then a shorter run. Wednesday is a morning swim, then bike or a tough run and speed session. Thursday would be a medium-long run, race pace or faster. Friday morning swim, then an easy run later in the day. Saturday is a long ride every week building to 5 hours, followed by a short run close to the event to get my body used to the muscle turnover. Close to the race, I switch from swimming at the Ann Arbor YMCA to open water swims in a local lake, followed by a long run up to 22 miles. So all that maxes out at about 24 hours in one week close to the race; in earlier months it’s more like 14-15 hours a week. Most of my bike training is on the stationary bike because it’s much safer and more efficient, but I do go out on the local roads at times when there is less traffic. To make dental school work means getting the workouts in when everyone else is asleep, and having the discipline to save time after school to train again. I’m not perfect, but I’m consistent.
Q: Aren’t there lots of easier ways to relax away from dental school?
A: I don’t have to do this triathlon thing. I could work out and be healthy without doing the Ironman stuff, but it makes me tick. I think it supplements my dental school and, likewise, dental school supplements the training. I choose to put a lot of work into it so that I can perform well, because if you don’t put in that number of hours, you are not going to have fun on race day. The swimming has become my favorite. I do it in the morning with some great, encouraging friends. I’m exhausted afterward but I’m just loose and everything feels good. All the challenges of dental school just seem a little less difficult and stressful in my head.
Q: As you head toward graduation in May, what are your future plans for both dentistry and triathlons?
A: School always comes first. At the end of the day, Ironman is fun, but my career is certainly more important than the one-hour bike ride I have after school on a given day. I’m planning on finding a position as a general dentist after graduation, followed by an endodontics graduate program in the future. My girlfriend, Sarah, is also a dental student and is applying to pediatric dentistry graduate programs, so we’re not sure where we will end up yet. I want to work in an underserved area for at least a year or two. You can gain really valuable dental experience while also helping people who are desperately in need of dental care. As for triathlon, my ultimate goal is to race in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in 2026. It’s the mecca of endurance sport. That’s what I have my eye on – a top 10 age group finish would be a dream come true. I have to qualify at another Ironman event and I’m looking at Ironman Wisconsin in 2025. It has a very tough bike course and cycling is a strength of mine. You need to place well in your age group and there are only so many slots that qualify for Kona. Based on how I did in August at Michigan Titanium, I’m optimistic I can do it.
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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu. Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.