Skip To Main Content

University of San Francisco Athletics

Events

usf-dons-add-womens-triathlon

General

USF Adds Women's Triathlon as 17th Sport

SAN FRANCISCO – University of San Francisco Athletic Director Scott Sidwell is pleased to announce the addition of women's triathlon as the 17th sport at USF. The sport will begin in the fall of the 2018-19 academic year. The Dons will become the fifth Division I institution to offer triathlon, joining Arizona State, East Tennessee State, South Dakota and Wagner. 
 
USF athletics recently received the Women's Emerging Sport Grant from the USA Triathlon Foundation. The three-year grant provides funding for NCAA Division I, II and III institutions to develop, implement, grow and sustain women's triathlon programs.
 
"We are proud to announce the addition of a women's triathlon team here at USF. Triathlon is a rapidly growing sport in the United States, as well as internationally, and we are in a perfect location in San Francisco to take advantage of the natural resources available to us to train and compete," said Sidwell. "Our continued commitment to gender equality, as outlined in our equity operating plan, is aligned with our mission of being a leading Jesuit Catholic institution with global reach and impact. The addition of this sport is another great way of honoring the trailblazers in our institution's history in this the 45th anniversary year of Title IX legislation."

The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics is charged with identifying and managing progress of Emerging Sports for Women. The program was created in 1994 to grow meaningful intercollegiate participation opportunities for female student-athletes in sports that have the most potential to reach NCAA championship status. Women's triathlon was approved by the NCAA as an Emerging Sport in January of 2014.
 
"We are pleased to accept the USA Triathlon grant to develop an NCAA Women's Triathlon Program. The addition of Women's Triathlon complements our highly successful women's cross country and track programs," said Joan McDermott, Deputy Athletic Director and Senior Women Administrator. It demonstrates our continued commitment to enhancing and expanding our women's athletic program. We are excited to serve as a pioneer and look forward to leading the way at the Division I level in establishing women's triathlon as an NCAA Emerging Sport."
 
The women's triathlon will hold its inaugural season as a club sport beginning in the 2018-19 academic year, then moving to an intercollegiate program during the fall of 2019.
 
"USA Triathlon is proud to welcome the University of San Francisco as the fifth NCAA Division I women's triathlon team in the nation," said Rocky Harris, CEO at USA Triathlon and a USF alumnus. "We are pleased to see increased competitive opportunities becoming available to student-athletes at the DI level — and having earned my master's degree at USF, I can attest to the school's tremendous academic value in addition to its culture of excellence in athletics."

Women's triathlon competes in the fall season with four to six competitions per year. Women's triathlon is a draft-legal sprint race consisting of a 750-meter swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run. USF will provide three scholarships for the 2018 season with a plan to increase scholarships as participation in women's triathlon at USF increases.
 
USF is the 23rd school in the nation to offer women's triathlon at the varsity level, marking the halfway point in triathlon's journey to becoming a full-fledged NCAA Championship sport.
 
"We thank the USA Triathlon organization for making a tremendous commitment in partnering with us to launch our 17th sport for competition in the NCAA," added Sidwell.
 
For the most up-to-date information regarding triathlon at the University of San Francisco, please visit usfdons.com.  
 
 
Print Friendly Version