Posted: May 25, 2006

Triathlon: Tuscaloosa To Host 2007 Collegiate Nationals

Colorado Springs, Colorado (May 24, 2006) - USA Triathlon is pleased to announce that Tuscaloosa, Alabama has been selected to host the 2007 USAT Collegiate National Championship.

The event, scheduled for April 21, 2007, will feature a 1.5k swim in the beautiful Black Warrior River and 40k bike and 10k run through the campus of the University of Alabama and on the scenic Jack Warner Parkway that runs along the river.

“It will be a great collegiate atmosphere,” said USAT National Events Director Jeff Dyrek. “It is a perfect course location, and it will be challenging. The community support will be excellent. When we met with the organizers, everyone was excited about the event.”

Tuscaloosa is the fifth largest city in Alabama, with a population of 83,000, and is home to the University of Alabama and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International. It is less than one hour from Birmingham.

"Tuscaloosa is honored to have been selected as the host city and we are excited about the opportunity to share our wonderful city with visitors from across the nation,” said City Mayor Walt Maddox.

Conducting a collegiate national championship is the latest effort by USAT to encourage the multi-sport lifestyle. The event had 550 participants in 2005 and 750 this year. The number of clubs participating increased from 35 to 62. Dyrek said that 1,000 participants in 2007 wouldn’t be out of the question.

Shannon Votruba, USAT’s multi-sport development manager, has been working on several development programs aimed at college clubs. “We contacted more than 900 college and university club and intramural directors in 2006 to introduce them to the benefits of the multi-sport lifestyle and what USAT can offer them,” said Votruba. “We will launch a collegiate racing program in 2007 that will earn collegiate clubs points throughout the season. We are also encouraging race directors to offer collegiate waves and to help support the younger athletes in our sport.”

Find out more about Tuscaloosa: www.visittuscaloosa.com.

To learn more about USAT collegiate triathlon clubs, contact Shannon Votruba at Shannon@usatriathlon.org or call 719-597-9090 ext. 106.

To talk to other college triathletes, sign up for the USAT Forum Collegiate Usergroup:
1. Go to USATriathlon.org and click on USAT Forum on the bottom of the homepage.
2. Click on “Register” on the top navigation or Login if you are already registered
3. Once you are registered and logged in, click on “Usergroups” on the top navigation
4. Click on “View Information” on the Collegiate Triathlon usergroup (must be logged in to view)
5. Request to be added
6. Once we receive and approve your request to be added you will receive a confirmation email.

USA Triathlon is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USAT sanctions 1,800 races and connects with more than 60,000 members each year, making it the largest multi-sport organization in the world.

For more on USA Triathlon visit: USATriathlon.org.

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