CLASH Coastal Mississippi Welcomes Olympians and College Athletes to Gulfport

It is the only Americas Cup in the United States and, thanks to the postponement of the World Triathlon Championship Series Abu Dhabi, tomorrow’s Americas Cup Triathlon in Gulfport, Mississippi will include 2016 Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen. The American star (who also won the world championship a couple of times) highlights tomorrow’s Americas Cup race, which leads off a huge weekend of racing at CLASH Coastal Mississippi that also includes USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Club Championship, along with a sprint and “Daytona Distance” age group race.

I’m here in Gulfport as the lead announcer for the race, but was able to grab some photos and do a few interviews about the race weekend today as athletes checked out the event site.

We did a quick interview with Jorgensen earlier today just before she jumped into the water for today’s familiarization swim to get some insights as to why she’s racing here in Mississippi this weekend:

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We’ll have more on how Jorgensen does here in Gulfport in a race recap tomorrow night.

Collegiate Club National Championships

One of the mainstays of USA Triathlon’s national championship program is the Collegiate Club National Championships which will also be part of the huge weekend of racing here in Gulfport this weekend. The weekend of racing includes a draft-legal sprint distance tomorrow, followed by an Olympic-distance race on Saturday morning and a mixed relay on Saturday afternoon. (The mixed relay will be streamed live on the CLASH Endurance YouTube channel.)

We caught up with Chad Cunningham, USA Triathlon’s Club Program Manager, to get some insight about the race:

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Here’s an edited recap of that conversation:

How many athletes are going to be racing, and why is this such a big deal?

“There are over 1,000 registered so far, and I think we’ll end up around 1,300 total registrants — maybe even a little more. It’s a blast of an event because you have every level of athlete here, from future Olympians and professional athletes all the way down to people doing their second race ever. And then the team aspect adds another layer with the mixed relay. Watching the teams race, and watching athletes cheer on their teammates as they chase them all around the venue, is an awesome experience.”

How important is an event like this for USA Triathlon in terms of growing the sport?

“It’s huge. The Collegiate Club program introduces a lot of people to triathlon during their college years. A lot of these athletes were cross country runners or swimmers in high school, and then they get to college, find their triathlon club, and all of a sudden they’re doing triathlon. In fact, it recently surpassed all other age groups as the fastest-growing age group in USA Triathlon membership.”

What would make this a successful weekend for you?

“As far as I’m concerned, a successful weekend is everybody having fun. Good weather, and everybody just having a great time.”

What does it mean to bring an event like this to Gulfport, Mississippi?

“Gulfport, Mississippi, is an awesome location. The beaches look amazing — I hope I can get out there before I leave. The community is very welcoming of this event, which is a big deal when you’re hosting something like this. The governor is excited and has been mentioning it, so it’s really a big deal for the community. And from a logistical standpoint, a lot of clubs drive to Collegiate Club Nationals, which can be quite a trek. The great thing about Gulfport is that it sits right in the south-central part of the United States, so no matter where you’re from, most clubs can realistically drive here.”

Finally, what are you most looking forward to this weekend?

“The whole thing is going to be a blast, but the mixed relay is always the most exciting event — I think it’s the most exciting event in the sport at any level. But beyond the racing, there’s a game night, a video competition, and so much more that happens here at Collegiate Club Nationals. It’s going to be awesome.”

Wildflower Roots

We also caught up with USA Triathlon’s Chief of Sport Development, Tim Yount. He’s been working for USAT for 35 years, and has been involved with the collegiate event since it got started. Yount provided some of that history in a chat we had earlier today:

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Here’s an edited version of that chat, too:

Can you give us some background on how this event got started and why it’s become such a big deal?

“It’s a funny story. I like telling it because it really talks about the origins of multisport — of triathlon. Terry Davis, the race director of the Wildflower Triathlon, had been putting on some amazing events. He invited all the collegiate clubs in the California region to come to his races, and because the events were so great, those clubs told other clubs, and it developed into a pretty big race in California.

About four years in, Terry called us and said, ‘What would it take for this to be a national championship?’ We didn’t have a formal process back then, so I said, ‘Terry, what will you do with it?’ He said, ‘We’ll have people camp out, we’ll do bonfires, we’ll make it an amazing experience for the collegiate athlete.’ We said, let’s do it. So he essentially created the opportunity to host a national championship, which he did for about six years. Then in 2003, USA Triathlon said, ‘This is something pretty big — we need to take ownership of this and move it forward,’ which we were able to do.”

Has the event been growing? And where does the NCAA program fit in?

“When you look back at the numbers, we had some really robust years from 2014 to 2019 — growing every year in terms of athletes, programs, and clubs attending the national championship. Then COVID hit, and everything had to be put on the shelf. We’ve been rebuilding since then to get back to pre-COVID numbers, and we’re actually starting to do that right now. We’re near 150 collegiate clubs and nearly 10,000 total triathletes around America participating in the sport at some level. The 20-to-29 age group is the fastest-growing segment in our sport, which is right where most collegiate athletes fall.

As for the NCAA program, it actually complements Collegiate Club very well, and vice versa. Athletes coming out of high school now have options — do I want to compete as a varsity athlete, or as a club athlete? On the men’s side, where we’ve started varsity women’s programs, we’ve added what we call a hybrid men’s club model, so the institution that has varsity women also has club men. They train together, work together and influence enrollment together. The same race style — draft legal — is used across both, so the crossover works really well for marketing, recruitment and bringing in new programs and athletes.”

What do you most look forward to at this event?

“When I come to this event, I just laugh the whole time. The kids are so creative, they have so much fun, and the energy they bring is unlike any other event I go to. I go to a lot of events — world championships, national championships — and this is my favorite. It’s my favorite because we are changing lives. These 18-year-olds who start college, who never thought they could ever do this sport, learn how to do it and get better every day as they move from freshman to graduate student. I’m looking forward to seeing that energy, that excitement, and seeing how amazing these kids truly are.”

CLASH Endurance Events

Since the CLASH Endurance crew are gluttons for punishment, there will be more racing on Sunday, including a sprint and a “Daytona”-distance (one-mile swim, 25-mile bike and a nine-mile run) races.

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