USA Triathlon is recruiting collegiate runners who can swim and is here to answer your questions (sponsored)

Is your 100/500 yards in a 25 yard pool? Is your 100/500 metres in a 50 metres pool? If yards in a 25 yard pool, I know one or two athletes who can do those times easily.

You nailed it, he does long course exclusively at this point.

I toyed with doing age group tris after I finished NCAA running, but ended up doing decathlon instead for a number of years and committing to that.

She's talking 25 yards. Yeah, these swim times are very slow for a swimmer. Wouldn't make most D3 teams. The reason being that you have to be a sub-14 5k guy to even be in the conversation. So essentially, Barb is looking for someone who is a super fast runner and a competent enough swimmer to train very hard for a few years and then be able to stay with the pack.

What is the definition of fully-funded in regards to Triathlon? What does that entail?

Don't forget that USA Triathlon also discovered the future 2020 Olympic Gold Medal Female Marathoner.......

So, USA Triathlon is actively recruiting people who are good at one or more of the required disciplines? That idea is just CRAZY enough to work.

They've been doing it for a long time. There was a guy named Ryan Trail who was an All American for the University of Wyoming who went on to the Olympics in triathlon. The key is finding someone who can swim as most runners sink like stones. I would have thought Pierce Murphy would have been a good candidate given his surfing background.

Luv2Run wrote:

Hi Barb,

I was thinking about this just a day or two ago.

Of the top 30 men and women in the US, how many specialized in triathlon at an early age?

How many detoured away from triathlon in college for a scholarship in one of the sports (running or swimming---few cycling opportunities out there)?

If you are a top junior US triathlete are you making it toward the top or getting "pushed" out by better runners (or maybe even swimmers)?

Great question! I'm glad you were thinking about triathlon.... the answer really differs on gender. As mentioned in other posts, the ITU has 3 different ranking systems (WTS= highest level race series points for 1 year. ITU World Ranking= open to other lower level races and 2 year cumulative. Olympic Qualification Ranking = started last May and goes towards Olympic eligibility). I took top US athletes of all theses lists for notes below, which goes below #30 ranking. No tri experience prior doesn't mean an athlete didn't do one as a one off at 15 for fun. CRP means they were identified by and/or supported through this program to transition single sport to triathlon.

I must note that Juniors wouldn't get pushed out by CRP athletes. I'd like to think that there is room at the top for both! Really only Tony and Tamara put triathlon on the back burner in college while they ran, though they still did race in the summers.

Men first which is mixed bag of Junior only, College runner, and Junior to College back to tri:

Eli Hemming- came up through Junior series (born 1995), no college

Matt McElroy- NAU runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Kevin McDowell- Junior racer, went to UCCS while training triathlon

Morgan Pearson- Colorado runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Jason West- Penn State triathlete, no college single sport (though excellent runner), no Junior racing

Seth Rider- Junior series

Tony Smoragiewicz- won Bronze at Junior World Champs, ran at Michigan, returned to triathlon

Ben Kanute- 2016 Olympian, Junior racer, did club triathlon at Arizona

Women-- definitely more Collegiate Recruitment Program dominant.

Katie Hursey Zaferes- 2016 Olympian, Syracuse steeplechaser, no tri experience prior, CRP

Taylor Spivey- Cal Poly swimmer, did triathlon in college, but not at Junior, CRP

Kirsten Kasper- Georgetown runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Summer Cook Rappaport- Villanova swim/runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Renee Tomlin- Georgetown runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Taylor Knibb- Junior('17) and U23 ('18) World Champ, Junior racer, runs at Cornell but doing tri

Erika Ackerlund- swam and ran HS, no Junior racing

Sophie Chase- Stanford runner, no tri experience prior, CRP

Tamara Gorman- Junior World Champ ('13) to Minnesota runner to U23 World Champ ('17)

I hope this helps!

Yes, these are yards times, which are very ho-hum for a collegiate swimmer! We are assuming that there is much upside to these entry times once swim training is added. Send your friends my way if they can swim these times!

You nailed it, he does long course exclusively at this point.

I toyed with doing age group tris after I finished NCAA running, but ended up doing decathlon instead for a number of years and committing to that.[/quote]

Decathlon?!? Now you're talking complexity.

hmmokletssee wrote:

What is the definition of fully-funded in regards to Triathlon? What does that entail?

Funded enough to allow an athlete to train full-time without holding a job, within a squad with a coach overseeing 15+ workouts a week. The CRP Scholarship pays a living expense, per diem, coaching fee, and sport performance services, and race travel. No doubt athletes still need to cover some of the financial piece. Sophie Chase(Stanford runner) started in the CRP June 2017 and won her first 3 races (USAT paid travel), so prize purse helps offset costs.

joedirt wrote:

They've been doing it for a long time. There was a guy named Ryan Trail who was an All American for the University of Wyoming who went on to the Olympics in triathlon. The key is finding someone who can swim as most runners sink like stones. I would have thought Pierce Murphy would have been a good candidate given his surfing background.

Do you mean Ryan Bolton? He is a Wyoming boy, ran at UW, made the 2000 Olympic Triathlon team, retired 2004, went back to UW to get a masters in nutrition, started an elite running squad in Sante Fe, coached the 2015 Boston winner Rotich (all of which you savvy letsrun readers would know), and has just this week come back to the triathlon fold by being hired at in a newly created position-- USAT's High Performance Technical Advisor.

I'm talking about teenage kids. I had a high school XC and T&F teammate a long time ago who was a sub-4:45 mile runner and sub-4:45 500 yard swimmer. It's so rare for high school kids who are able to do both well while they are middle school and high school students. Do you look at high school boy sub-5:00 1600m runners and sub-5:15 500 yard freestyle swimmers? Also, high school girl sub-5:30 1600m runners and sub-5:45 500 yard swimmers? Based on your posts, you seem to want to wait until they are done with college. I know those are not high school state championship times, but it is so rare to see kids both running and swimming those times in high school.

I'm a 17:00 female 5K runner who swims 3-4 times a week as a part of training. I also swam year-round club from age 8-18. What would I need to get my 5K time down to for any consideration? And would some swim ability that exceeds the times on the swim test at all make up for my 5K time not being sufficient? I guess I am just wondering whether your prioritize running or swimming times? What about bike times? Is there a test for that? Sorry for asking so many questions!

Coronado HS alumni and Auburn XC/TF sophomore middle distance runner, Erik Armes went pro and he has sub 50 speed, 1:52 .21, and 4:10 mile speed. His dad is triathlete as well so he's well rounded in all three aspects.

SanDiegorunner wrote:

Coronado HS alumni and Auburn XC/TF sophomore middle distance runner, Erik Armes went pro and he has sub 50 speed, 1:52 .21, and 4:10 mile speed. His dad is triathlete as well so he's well rounded in all three aspects.

Sub-50 what? Is that 400m run, sub-50 100m freestyle, sub-100yd freestyle? Is that 1:52.21 200m freestyle or 200 yard freestyle or 800m run? If those are 400/800 running times, that indicates nothing regarding swimming.

His father? That indicates what?

They said they are looking for females running 16:18 for 5k. I’m not sure if they would consider a 17:00 runner since the female side of our sport is very talented, but if they do this is an amazing program to be a part of. The CRP has had tremendous success on the female side, and would be a great opportunity for you. If not, reach out to me at noreasterelite dot com. Would be interested in chatting.

I did mean Bolton (of course it was twenty years ago, so I confused his name with another guy I used to run against in that era). He was a stud athlete. You should ask Morgan if he thinks Peirce would make a good triathlete. He has the running chops and one would think the surfing would give him a decent shot at the swim portion (although he is shorter, which doesn't help on the swim). I did Xterra events for a couple of years after college and the main issue with runners is their inability to swim. Finding the ones that can is definitely the way to go.

runnerswimmer wrote:

I'm a 17:00 female 5K runner who swims 3-4 times a week as a part of training. I also swam year-round club from age 8-18. What would I need to get my 5K time down to for any consideration? And would some swim ability that exceeds the times on the swim test at all make up for my 5K time not being sufficient? I guess I am just wondering whether your prioritize running or swimming times? What about bike times? Is there a test for that? Sorry for asking so many questions!

Thanks for writing in. That is fantastic you get to cross-train the swim as part of your run training. Especially for those athletes whose technique is solid enough to be able to sustain hour long swim sessions (and I would assume if you swam as much as you did growing up), the swim can really be used to supplement run fitness.

Our US women are so dominant at the moment that we really need to stick to the 16:18 type of range for the 5k. If you are a lower classman, have time on your side, and especially are in a NCAA program which isn't getting the most out of you, we can start a conversation. I have weekly swim workouts I email out to collegiate recruits to give focus to the pool and I'd be happy to include you on that list, especially if you are swimming so much. Swimming straight is boring and I strive for creativity and education in my workouts. For ITU racing, the swim gets you in the game (bike pack) and the run wins the game, so we need to be backing athletes we think have the opportunity to win the game. So the questions is if 17' is your limit or if you have room and time to get faster?

I hope this helps.