Growing up, Dr. Gary Chu (Racine) loved his orthodontist, Dr. Peter Syndroy. Not only was his friendly and personable chairside manner a trait that Dr. Chu wanted to emulate in his own career one day, but Dr. Syndroy’s lifestyle outside of work also sparked interest.
“Due to his patient schedule, he was able to go skiing in the middle of the week instead of just on weekends when the slopes were crowded,” said Dr. Chu. Today, Dr. Chu is living that same lifestyle he once admired. In addition to being an orthodontist, Dr. Chu is an Olympic-qualifying sailor, a cross-country skier, a watercolor artist and a musician who plays six percussion instruments. Did we mention he has an identical twin who shares many of these same talents?
“It’s great having someone who knows how you think, understands you automatically when you have a problem, and who shares the same gifts and talents as you,” said Dr. Chu on having a twin brother, Norm. The two grew up in Colorado after their father retired from the U.S. Air Force there. Before that, they had lived in Massachusetts, Madrid and Berlin.
Dr. Chu and Norm were co-valedictorians in high school. Norm would go on to swim for Colorado College, and Dr. Chu would go to the University of Colorado Boulder with a gymnastics scholarship. Ultimately, the two ended up attending the University of Texas Dental School in San Antonio together. Norm is now a private-practice dentist in Houston and an adjunct professor at the UT Dental School.
The twin dentists are also sailing partners, and together qualified for the United States Sailing Team and were the alternate team to represent the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “Sailing has been a great outlet for Norm and me,” Dr. Chu said. “We learned to sail our sophomore year of dental school because a girl in our study group had a little Sunfish sailboat… [She] offered to teach us how to sail on Canyon Lake in Texas near our dental school.”
Dr. Chu shared that qualifying for the U.S. Sailing Team was a wonderful accomplishment, especially because most of the teams they competed against were professional sailors who sailed full-time. As dentists, Dr. Chu and Norm were only able to dedicate blocks of time during the week to train, since they would need to eventually fly back home to see patients.
“One of the most important factors in becoming competitive at the Olympic level is to develop training relationships with others who will share their knowledge with you and allow you to become as good as they are,” said Dr. Chu. “Talent is often knowledge that can be shared with others.”
Currently, Dr. Chu sails with Robbie Daniel, a world-renowned sailor from Clearwater, Florida. Together they are the United States Formula 18 Catamaran National Champions, winning that title twice in 2016 and 2019. They are also the 2018 World Masters Champions in the F18 class.
Dr. Chu attended the University of Iowa for his orthodontic residency, which is where he met his wife Diane. He needed a crew to race his sailboat, and the commodore of the Iowa Sailing Club recommended her. The two have been married for 35 years, and they have a daughter who is a second year general surgery resident in Detroit. Family means everything to Dr. Chu, as his wife and daughter have truly shaped his life.
During the sailing off-season, Dr. Chu and Diane cross-country ski. Competitively, they have skied several marathons and have done a few 24-hour marathon relays with their skiing friends. In their spare time, they like to ski in a more leisurely style on the groomed trails across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. “We are fortunate to live in an area where world-class Nordic skiing is readily available,” he said.
On top of sailing and skiing, Dr. Chu and Norm have a creative side and watercolor paint as an artistic outlet. Dr. Chu’s clinic walls display many of his own paintings, which are typically landscapes or action scenes from familiar pastimes, like sailing or fly-fishing.
For the last 20 years, Dr. Chu has been playing percussion for his church’s praise band. He taught himself to play, along with direction from their band leader. He plays congas, bongos, shakers, cymbals, tambourine and claves. “Music is a very powerful means to reach people spiritually, and it is a great form of ministry,” he said. “It is integral to who I am and helps me to keep my priorities in order – God, family and then work.”
