USA Triathlon's Recruitment Program Manager Is Here to Answer Your Questions About Its Recruitment Program & Rio 2016(Sponsored)

Why is this post still at the top of the "On the Boards" list if it hasn't been responded to in five days by Barb?

SAC wrote:

and Rio...

Yes, Rio too :)

Hey guys, here's a cool video Matt McElroy made about our camp in Flagstaff with Team USA Olympians Joe Maloy and Greg Billington. It's pinned to the top of our Facebook page. Enjoy!

asfsdagds wrote:

How are the spots on the olympic team decided? Do you have a single olympic trials race, or is there some sort of complex selection process? I'm asking because USA cycling is currently having big problems picking their team.

Our Olympic Team has been chosen. Triathlon has never had one single Olympic Trials like swimming or running because of the nature of the sport. This article which came out before our last Olympic qualifying race in Yokohama Japan in May describes the process:

Two of our females, Gwen Jorgensen and Sarah True qualified last year at the Rio test event by placing top 8. The criteria read that if we had 2 in the top 8 both would qualify. We actually had three in the top 8 (Katie Zaferes), but she didn't make it there. The press release on her team announcement is here:

In a overview nutshell, we used WTS races (highest level) for our Olympic qualifying events (Rio 2015, Worlds 2015, Yokohama). The number of athletes each country can have at these events is maxed at 6, but we aren't guaranteed that based on athlete rankings. So to even get on the start line athletes have to have consistency over a few years, which you could consider "prelims."

fifth year wrote:

Hi Barb,

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I was wondering if you would still be recruiting in a year? I'm about to start my fifth year as a ~16:30 5ker and former high school swimmer (mostly a sprinter -25.5 50yd free in HS but also swam around 5:20 for 500m when I was in eighth grade).

Absolutely! I would encourage you to email me sooner rather than later, as there are a bunch of things you can do your last year of NCAA that can help prepare you for triathlons post-grad, all of which can not detract from the task at hand of running fast. While we always have where we are in the Olympic quad in our minds, that isn't relevant to a runner graduating.

Clerk wrote:

The previous post may be deleted. So if it is, even though they are fair questions, I am curious what your stance is to the relative strength of Triathlon's doping/anti-doping culture compared to cycling, swimming and athletics. I also think it is worth explaining to your future talent pool what your official perspective is.

Hi Clerk, post not deleted, I was just AWOL last weekend and prepping for my OTC camp. All good questions regarding the concerns of PEDs in sport, especially with all that is going on recently in Athletics around the world and with cycling's history. My own opinion, which may be naive and idealistic, is that if athletes were tested as much as I was, I have to believe the sport is clean. I trained and raced believing so. For me it would have been very deflating to work so hard if I believed that there was rampant cheating. I would not be recruiting athletes into this sport, asking them to give so much of themselves, if I knew it was a sham or not fair. I would still start the sport today. Now I would be in complete rainbow land if I didn't think there was some, some where, but I have to trust the system, and I believe the ITU truly wants a clean sport.

From a federation standpoint at USAT, there would be no tolerance for cheating or looking the other way and absolutely puts no pressure to play dirty to win. It's just not in the culture here at all.

I hope that helps.

Clerk wrote:

What is the TV braodcast situation with USA triathlon and the ITU? I ask because USATF is on a pay-to-play arrangement, and likely the American Track League, the new Track Town thing, and other innovative meets are pay-to-play to be aired on ESPN or NBC.

Universal sports, when it existed, showed international triathlon events. does the USA Triathlon organization have a plan for airing for triathlon events?

And I realize these posts may not be your area. I ask about anti-doping and marketing, and you are here to talk about participation and recruitment. Any info you can provide is helpful. I haven't taken the time to learn about the sport, and will be using your answers as a starting point.

Definitely this question is not in my wheelhouse, but I like that you are a thinker! Let me inquire to our Marketing and Communications Manager and I'll get back to you.

Thanks for writing in and sharing your story about your triathlon career with others on this forum. It is a hard road, but what athletic endurance sport road isn't? For your 500 and 5k times, I'd say 5' eventually (a year to 18m of training) but a faster 5k than 15'. We have our standard at 14:10, but would give a little on the run side for the runner with a faster entering swim.

Support from USAT has changed so much over the years, from when I first started racing back in 1996 (there were no coaches or USAT support staff at the highest level races) to the mid-2000's when you were racing to now. The bottom line is, you never will know how good you will be unless you give it a go. And the question you (and others) need to ask is, will I regret when I'm 40 of taking a few years of my life to see how good I could be?

The IRS determines between a job and hobby if you aren't making money in 3 years. For me, I lost $ the first year, broke even the second (with expenses taken out), and made money the third. I did and do see athletes staying in the sport too long who aren't going to make the cut, but I bet a majority are glad in the long run that they at least tried. The non-draft racing landscape outside of 70.3 (half ironman) has been a challenge the last few years, too, so those races which were available when you raced aren't now. Thanks for sharing!

fifth year wrote:

For clarification purposes, I'm a female.

Got it! Please see my reply from earlier. I'd love to learn more about you,

. I think the more info you can know about options post-grad BEFORE you graduate, the better.

is this post still live? wrote:

Why is this post still at the top of the "On the Boards" list if it hasn't been responded to in five days by Barb?

mea culpa....

Thanks for sharing your story. One of the many reasons I love this sport is that someone like you can go sort of "low tech" with a bike and swim investment and still do well, and I hope have fun! Your engine and athleticism from running really helped carry you in that race, but we have plenty of age groupers without your pedigree do a triathlon just like you did, just not with the result. I wouldn't let those guys out there who are buying speed deter you from racing. Use it as more incentive to pass them on the run.

Regarding your niece, I have a few thoughts. First, if she can get her college paid for by running, then go for it! There is nothing like competing NCAA, being part of a team and representing your school.That said, triathlon is an emerging sport for women, so there are 10+ school with triathlon programs now which are offering scholarships. Learn more here:

USAT also has a vibrant Junior elite racing series as well as 45+ High Performance Teams around the country. If she would like to see what the sport is about and lives near one of them, I'd encourage her to go to watch or participate in one of their sessions:

We also have Junior benchmark testing. If she did those tests and sent our Junior/U23 Manager, Steve Kelley, he could give her a general idea of where she stands.

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I hope you make it back to the sport in the future.

I've asked Lindsay Wyskowski, USAT Communication Manager. Here is her reply. I learned a lot, too, so thanks for asking:

Universal Sports used to air the ITU World Triathlon Series (which are broadcast internationally) and when the channel dropped from the line-up, the broadcast rights shifted to NBC Sports Group. Every World Triathlon Series race this year has been broadcast (typically with a slight delay) on either NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) or Universal HD. The magazine shows from ITU World Cups have also aired on television or on the NBC Sports Live Extra app – the same place you can watch swimming or track & field trials.

In addition to the broadcasts on NBC Sports Group, ITU also broadcasts all the races live on triathlonlive.tv, and they have a robust library of past events as well. This has been an extremely popular way to watch the races by those in the triathlon community, and the price is very fair (normally about $23 USD, and on sale for $11 USD right now through the end of the year). If you were to buy a pass now, you could watch the Olympic test event show, as well as all the races from last season on-demand.

USA Triathlon is continually looking at ways to increase exposure of the sport in the U.S., which includes television. We are hopeful that the potential for winning a medal this summer in Rio will help expose the U.S. viewing audience to the sport, and in turn create more demand for the sport to be shown in mainstream outlets in non-Olympic years.

I did want to reiterate that USAT's High Performance structure and support has come a LONG way from 2006-2008 when you were at the OTC. It's a combo of centralized system (CRP resident program) and decentralized (outside coaches and athletes who chose to train with them). Support goes way beyond funds and means USOC resources (sports science), run/mental skills specialist (USAT staffer), staff at WTS events, etc... I wish I had it this good when I was racing!

There was a great profile on Jorgensen this morning with the college recruitment program mentioned. That's my dream too. To get out of the cubicle. Unfortunately, at 40+, it isn't going to happen.

If there's any NCAA swimmers on here that run well, they should consider triathlon. A great sport approved by the American record holder in the mile too!