USA Triathlon has announced that the 2021 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championships will return to Tempe, Arizona, next year on April 9-10.
The city was set to host Collegiate Club Nationals in April 2020 for the fourth time, but the event was ultimately rescheduled to October 16-17, 2020, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USA Triathlon High School National Championships, which were held alongside Collegiate Club Nationals from 2016-2019, will not be held in Tempe next year. Instead, that event will be restructured to become part of the USA Triathlon Youth & Junior Nationals beginning in 2021 in West Chester, Ohio.
Home to Arizona State University, Tempe has a rich history of hosting USA Triathlon National Championships – including:
- The Collegiate Club National Championships (2013, 2014, 2019);
- High School National Championships (2019), USA Paratriathlon National Championships (2014);
- Women’s Collegiate Triathlon National Championships (2017, 2018, 2019); and
- Age Group Draft-Legal National Championships (2019).
The city has also hosted multiple ITU Pan American Cup events and non-drafting triathlons such as IRONMAN Arizona and Life Time Tri Tempe.
“For years, Tempe has proven itself as a world-class host for USA Triathlon National Championships – from the versatile and scenic venue at Tempe Town Lake to the unmatched support from city officials and the community as a whole,” said Brian D’Amico, Director of Events at USA Triathlon.
“We appreciate the city’s willingness and flexibility to set its sights on 2021, after COVID-19 prevented us from gathering this past April.”
“We are thrilled that USA Triathlon included Tempe, Arizona in their 2021 schedule of events,” said Brian McCartin, President & CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office. “Tempe’s residents and our hospitality community will be ready to welcome these talented collegiate athletes this spring.”
Approximately 120 collegiate triathlon clubs are represented annually at Collegiate Club Nationals, and more than 1,200 collegiate athletes participated in last year’s event in Tempe.
The 2021 event will begin the morning of Friday, April 9, 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, 20km bike and 5km run course.
On Saturday, April 10, the entire field of collegiate club athletes will contest the marquee event of the weekend, the non-drafting Olympic-Distance National Championships — a 1,500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run.
Racing concludes with the Mixed Relay on Saturday afternoon. In this race format, which will debut as a medal event at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, each team is comprised of two women and two men. Each athlete covers an approximate 300m swim, 6km bike and 1km 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.
