Collegiate Triathlon

The kick off of the school year here in Tucson means the University of Arizona TriCats are getting revved up and going again. This will be my third season as their head coach, a job I look forward to each year. It’s not without its challenges, but I thoroughly enjoy watching the students grow in triathlon and in life, through the challenges that triathlon brings.

I learned a lot about managing a team of 65 my first season. Sometimes it was herding cats, but all in all it was good. Coaching a team was new to me, but as long as the 65 stayed 65 I was fine. The second season started at 100 TriCats. Wow. Now this year it looks like 120 or so. This is good growth—and we’re all growing in our ability and relationships.

The leadership this year is good and motivated. They have some great ideas and look to be working to make them happen. I’m excited to be working with them.

The highlights from last year were the weekend training camps and the USAT Collegiate National championships. The camps were a blast, and a good way for the athletes to learn more about triathlon—and themselves—in such a short period of time than they had all season up to that point. We culminated the fall training camp with a mock race and the spring camp with a real race—the Desert Classic Duathlon. We’re planning similar camps this year.

Nationals were a great time and we performed well. From Kathy placing (read about her on my site) and Alex doing very well, to the other members of the team who all either PR’d big or overcame huge obstacles to finish, I was extremely proud of the team.

We’re also looking into a winter break camp for the collegiate teams in our region. This will be a great opportunity for those schools under snow in January to come to the perfect triathlon playground of Tucson for some winter cycling, running, and swimming.

I’m looking forward to some great performances out of the Arizona TriCats this year. Keep up with them throughout their season here.