NCAA Triathlon Background

What is the Current Landscape of NCAA Triathlon?

National Level

At the end of the 2024 NCAA season, 40 schools were considered to have fielded teams during the season. The 2024 season is currently under review to determine if the sport has met the necessary benchmarks to advance in consideration to become an official NCAA sport.

Of the 40 schools that fielded teams in 2024, 37 teams had athletes compete at the National Championships (USAT reported 39 institutions). The schools who did not appear in the results of '24 Nationals included Chicago State (DI), Warren Wilson (DIII), and Coe (DIII). 

Divisional Breakdown of Teams at the 2024 National Championships:

• 14 DI teams

• 12 DII teams

• 11 DIII teams 

Official results for the 2024 National Championships can be found here.

Our breakdown of results and coverage for the 2024 National Championships can be found here.

Of note, there are a few new teams that were announced in late 2024/early 2025 that are expecting to field teams in upcoming seasons. LaSalle (DI) started competing during the 2025 season. Long Island (DI) was announced prior to the 2025 season but did not field a team.

Global Level

One of the coolest parts about NCAA Triathlon is that it brings talented triathletes from around the world to the U.S.A. to compete, forming a fiercely competitive draft-legal stage for young women. Multiple international athletes have won Individual National Championships and contributed to team titles. According to USA Triathlon, there were 26 countries represented on NCAA rosters in 2023, with a possibility of reaching 130 total countries in the future.

The 2025 World Triathlon Championships Wollongong showcased a great number of athletes with NCAA Triathlon ties, as 18 current and former NCAA Triathletes competed across the U23, Junior, Mixed Relay, and Elite race categories.

Additionally, in 2021, NCAA Triathlon saw the emergence of its first Olympian! Anabel Knoll, 2017 DII Individual Champion, was selected to represent Germany at the delayed 2020 Olympics. She contributed to Germany's 6th place mixed relay team and earned 31st place as an individual finisher at the Games.

What Should I Know About NCAA Triathlon?

Season Format

The NCAA Triathlon season takes place during the Fall, with many athletes moving on to campus earlier than their non-athlete peers to start pre-season training (typically mid-August). Regular season competitions typically start around the first week of September. Programs have the ability to diversify their competition schedule based on the opportunities most accessible to their team. Many teams start the season with a duathlon (run, bike, run) or aquathlon (swim & run), which they are often able to host at their home facilities with 1-3 other geographically close teams. Some teams also compete in a supersprint style race at the beginning of the season. Start of season opportunities for racing are always evolving and no season has looked the same thus far.

Every team competes in 4-6 total races during the course of the season. This total can include a combination of any races that meet CTCA standards -- certified duathlons, aquathlons, and relays included. Most teams utilize a combination of collegiate cups, Regionals, and Nationals for their Fall schedule. 

Collegiate Cups occur during the regular season before regional competitions. Established examples from past seasons include the Beaver County Tri Cup and TCU's Battle in the Fort. Collegiate cups are important because they fully contribute to athlete rankings (non-collegiate cup races are weighted at 92%). Collegiate cup requirements for the 2025 season include: draft-legal race, sprint or super sprint distance, field of at least 35 athletes, lap out rule not enforced, and open to all NCAA teams. They can also be formatted as prelims/finals (ex. UofA's 2025 Duel in the Desert). Newly introduced in 2025, an athlete's score from a sprint distance collegiate cup can be used to qualify them for Nationals based on a 95% weighting.

In 2022, Regionals took on a new format where teams could only compete in 1 regional race - the East or West Regional (in previous seasons, teams could compete in multiple regional races to earn a qualification for Nationals, as they were all held on different weekends). The East and West Regional races are now held on the same weekend each season, with teams being assigned to one site or the other. For the 2024 season, Regional assignments were accomplished by circle-seeding the top 6 overall teams from Nationals 2023 with the rest of the teams being assigned geographically. Teams could apply to change regions based on economic hardship. The Regional races typically occur in mid-October.

Nationals typically occurs the second weekend in November and is the culminating event for the official NCAA season. Prior to 2025, teams qualified for this competition based on their performance at Regional races. For the 2025 season, athletes will qualify for Nationals based on their best ranking from the whole season. Qualification is based on individual ranking, not team ranking. Nationals has primarily been hosted in Tempe, Arizona, but took place in Clermont, Florida in 2024. The race is returning to Tempe in 2025.

Rankings

Athlete & team rankings are utilized to calculate the performances of NCAA Triathletes relative to their competition. Although not a perfect system, it has been a reliable and relatively unbiased tool for the past few seasons. According to the CTCA (2024), the methodology for the ranking system is as follows:

"For Collegiate Cups, and Regional Championships the top 3 finish times are averaged, and that time equals 100%. The entire field is then given a “score” expressed as a percentage of the average time of the top 3 finishers. 

Ex. At Pleasant Prairie 2019 the average finish time of the top 3 athletes was 1:01.03. Kyla Roy finished in 1:00.44 (just under the average time) so she had a score of 100.5%. For regular season races the same formula will be followed, but scores will be adjusted for race weight, and level of competition. Athletes' best ranking score from the year will be taken to create Individual Rankings and the sum score of the top 5 Individuals from each team will create a Team Score and Ranking." 

Competition Format

The standard NCAA Triathlon competition format is a draft-legal sprint distance race (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run). All courses are expected to be this distance, but the CTCA can approve courses that are within a reasonable margin of difference (+/- 10% standard distances). As mentioned, there may be some super sprint/relay/non-draft/untraditional races available to teams during the season, as well. 

In the event of inclement weather, bad water quality, unexpected conflicts with a race course, etc., a race may turn into a duathlon, aquathlon, or some other format of a multisport event. A prime example of this is the 2024 National Championships in Clermont, Florida in which Hurricane Milton wrecked havoc upon Lake Louisa State Park's beach. The swim could no longer take place at the race site, as the water had greatly exceeded the shoreline and the bridges/trails from the beach to the transition zone were destroyed. The CTCA and USAT worked with local organizations and facilities to ensure that a new swim venue could be secured. The race ended up taking place on 2 separate days: swim time trial in a new open water venue on Friday and bike & run at Lake Louisa State Park on Saturday.

Regionals and Nationals have adopted a multiple wave format based on overall rankings the past 2 seasons. Prior to 2023, race waves were broken up by division (aside from the first few years of NCAA Tri). Now, race waves contain athletes of all divisions based on their individual or team ranking. 2024 Nationals had 3 waves capped at 75 athletes each: the A wave contained mainly DI teams & individuals with a few DII teams & individuals, the B wave contained a mix of all divisions, and the C wave contained mainly DII & DIII teams & individuals. Each wave competes independently without overlap; the A wave typically occurs last in the sequence of wave starts. Teams are assigned to waves based on rankings; if an individual athlete exceeds their team's ranking, they may be selected to compete in a higher wave (Ex. At 2023 Nationals, North Central's team qualified for the B wave but 3 individual athletes had rankings that qualified them for the A wave, so these 3 athletes raced in the A wave at Nationals and the rest of their team raced in the B wave). The waves allow for more athletes to race without getting lapped out, which is essential in helping all teams meet the benchmarks NCAA Triathlon needs to achieve championship status. Overall placing is determined by time, not place within a wave, so athletes in the B wave can place ahead of athletes in the A wave if their time is faster.

Other similarities to expect between races are as follows:

• Swim: Open water swim, typically in a lake; different mass start styles but most often an in-water start or beach start; traditional heartbeat start + airhorn at Regionals/Nationals, collegiate cups are dependent on race director; can be 1 loop or 2 loops; many venues have a run to transition between 200m and 400m

• Transitions: Regionals/Nationals typically has a ride-through transition, collegiate cups are dependent on race director and venue capabilities; transition zone is typically in a parking lot or another asphalt surface within the venue; transition spots are assigned based on race number and/or team section; all races are expected to have a rack for bikes; all gear must be kept on bike or in transition basket, aside from shoes (most penalties occur in transition due to gear not being fully returned in one's provided basket)

• Bike: Draft-legal format, meaning fast and technical racing; multiple laps (typically 3-4); lap-out rule depending on race (any racer in last place about to be caught by the leader is pulled off the course and receives a DNF); Regionals/Nationals typically have motorcycles with the lead and rear packs to enforce the lap-out rule; officials are on course to ensure no course-cutting and to watch for penalties

• Run: Typically 2 laps; 1-2 aid stations on course; an official usually rides in front of the race leader on a bike to ensure clearance of the course and to lead the athletes in the correct direction; turn-around is typically around a cone

All courses are expected to be properly marked and staffed with volunteers/officials to ensure that athletes stay on course. Courses are also expected to be closed to traffic to ensure the safety of all racers. Additional rules and regulations are expressed in pre-race briefings for collegiate cups, Regionals, and Nationals.

Scoring/Results

Scoring for NCAA Triathlon has evolved over the years from a model that mirrored cross country scoring (lowest point total wins) to the newer adopted "high score" model. The "high score" model is one in which the team with the highest cumulative point total wins. To calculate scores, each athlete receives a point value based on their overall place in the race (regardless of division). The winning athlete receives the highest point value, which is based on how many athletes are in the race (if there are 150 athletes at Regionals, the winner receives a point value of 150, second place receives 149, third receives 148...). Team scores are added up by combining the point values of the top 5 athletes on each team. Although 5 athletes are scored, 7 total can race per team; the 6th and 7th place finisher on each team still receive point values and can displace athletes on other teams, as well as contribute in the event of a tie breaker.

For example, here is the breakdown from 2024 Nationals:

The University of Arizona won the DI team title with a score of 942. The contributing athletes' point values were 193 (2nd overall/DI), 192 (3rd overall/DI), 189 (6th overall/DI), 186 (9th overall/DI), and 182 (13th overall/DI). 

Wingate won the DII team title with a score of 742. The contributing athletes' point values were 180 (15th overall/1st DII), 152 (43rd overall/5th DII), 149 (46th overall/6th DII), 141 (54th overall/8th DII), and 120 (75th overall/19th DII).

North Central College won the DIII team title with a score of 525. The contributing athletes' point values were 129 (66th overall/1st DIII), 113 (82nd overall/3rd DIII), 112 (83rd overall/4th DIII), 94 (101st overall/6th DIII), and 77 (118th overall/8th DIII).