When Arizona won the championship in womenβs triathlon last week, it called for some research to figure out what exactly is required to put together a national championship triathlon program. Where do you find 19- to 22-year-old female athletes who are skilled in long-distance swimming, running and cycling?
Coach Wes Johnson, a former swimming standout for the Utah Utes, recruited his 10-woman roster globally. Those on the team include athletes from Italy, Argentina, Hungary, Canada, Brazil, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Slovakia. But his top performer, Kelly Wetteland, is from New Mexico.
In the finals, Wetteland ran the 5K in 17.54 minutes. She swam 750 meters (about a half mile) in 9:31 minutes. And she cycled 20km (about 12 Β½ miles) in 30:47 minutes. In all, it took Wetteland 59Β½ minutes to pace her team to the national title.
The opposition wasnβt strong in numbers; just 41 teams field womenβs triathlon teams, including 13 Division II and 12 Division II. All compete in the same group. But Arizona knocked off ASUβs reigning national champs, which few saw coming.
Arizona Coach Wes Johnson, a former swimming standout for the Utah Utes, recruited his 10-woman triathlon roster globally.
Johnson, who is married and has four children under age 10, is a former U.S. National Triathlon team coach, who also worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and for the USA Paralympic team. He was one of former UA athletic director Dave Heekeβs top hires.
