National governing body USA Triathlon (USAT) has announced that Tempe, Arizona, has been selected as the host city for the 2019 and 2020 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club and High School National Championships. The 2019 event will be held on April 5-6, and the 2020 edition will take place on April 3-4.
Home to Arizona State University, Tempe has a rich history of hosting national and international triathlon events. The city played host to the Collegiate Club National Championships in 2013 and 2014, as well as the USA Paratriathlon National Championships in 2014. The Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships for varsity student-athletes were held there in 2017, and will return to Tempe this November.
The city has also hosted multiple ITU Pan American Cup events and non-drafting triathlons such as IRONMAN Arizona and Life Time Tri Tempe. Major League Triathlon, a series of professional super-sprint mixed relay events, will also stop there this September.
“USA Triathlon is proud to bring the United States’ top collegiate club and high school athletes back to Tempe, a city that offers both a thriving multisport community and an excellent venue at Tempe Town Lake,” said Brian D’Amico, Director of Events at USA Triathlon. “We are grateful for the strong relationships we have with the City of Tempe, Tempe Tourism, Arizona State University and other local partners, which allow us to continue to offer premier championship events for our up-and-coming triathlon stars.”
“We are thrilled that Tempe is hosting the USA Triathlon Collegiate Club & High School National Championships in 2019 and 2020,” said Brian McCartin, Tempe Tourism Office President & CEO. “Tempe is an energetic triathlon destination, and we look forward to welcoming these stellar athletes as they compete in these prestigious events.”
More than 120 collegiate triathlon clubs are represented annually at Collegiate Club Nationals, and over 1,300 collegiate athletes participated in last year’s event in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In addition, approximately 150 young athletes will compete for top honours in the fourth running of the High School National Championships. Although Collegiate Club Nationals have been held in Tempe before, the city welcomes High School Nationals for the first time.
The 2019 event will begin on the morning of Friday, April 5, with the Draft-Legal Collegiate Club Championships. In this fast-paced event, 75 men and 75 women will compete for national titles and club points on an approximate 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run course. High school athletes will then compete for individual and club national titles on Friday afternoon, covering a non-drafting sprint-distance course of approximately a 750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run.
On Saturday, April 6, the entire field of collegiate club athletes will contest the marquee event of the weekend, the non-drafting Olympic-Distance National Championships — over a 1,500m swim, 40k bike and 10k run. Racing concludes with the Mixed Team Relay on Saturday afternoon. In this race format, which will debut as an Olympic medal event in Tokyo in 2020, each team is comprised of two women and two men. Each athlete covers an approximate 300m swim, 6k bike and 1k run before tagging off to the next teammate, alternating between women and men.
An awards ceremony on Saturday night will recognize individual medallists in each collegiate club race, in addition to the men’s club, women’s club and overall club champions for the weekend.
Registration for 2019 High School Nationals will open in the coming month, while Collegiate Club Nationals registration is set to open in early 2019.
