PREP WORK
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM TO SHAPE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF TRIATHLETES
By Lindsay Wyskowski
It’s an age-old question in any sport: how do you encourage more participation?
Throughout the more than 40 years since triathlon debuted at Mission Beach in San Diego, California, there have been key moments that inspired more people to complete a race and call themselves triathletes: the Sports Illustrated story, the Julie Moss crawl, the sport’s Olympic debut. Youth participation grew steadily through the 2000s, reaching its peak at nearly 60,000 youth members in 2013. Still, as a young sport, triathlon lacked a more permanent infrastructure to encourage children and teenagers to start the sport — and stick with it. The USA Triathlon High School Program is the latest initiative meant to welcome young athletes into the fold and become triathletes for the long haul.
USA Triathlon has spearheaded other programs to entice young potential triathletes to join its ranks. The Splash & Dash Youth Aquathlon Series was created in 2012 with 30 events and now spans all 50 states and has thousands of participants ages 7-15. The bid to make triathlon an NCAA sport was the next step in making the sport more visible to athletes at a young age. Though USA Triathlon supports nearly 40 High Performance Teams at the development level, the blossoming High School Program allows even more young triathletes a pathway to join and stay connected to the sport.
“You get to meet kids who have the same love and interest for the sport,” said Kaytlynn Welsch from Alvin, Texas, who has excelled as a duathlete in national and international championship events. “Being able to interact and make friends with them, you are able to get a better understanding of the sport and see how much fun it can be with people who love the same thing you do.”
The High School Program officially launched in January 2016, and more than 100 athletes competed in the first USA Triathlon High School National Championships in April 2016. In just one year, the program has grown to 100 teams across the country.
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28 | USA TRIATHLON | SPRING 2017
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