Interested in joining MSU’s Triathlon Club? Here’s some information about us:

What is a triathlon?

A Triathlon is an event in which you consecutively swim, bike, and run. These are referred to as the three disciplines. There are several different distances in which are available to race. The sprint is around a 500m (meter) swim, 20 k (kilometer) bike, and 5k run. The Olympic or Intermediate distance is around a 1500m swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. From the Olympic you can go on to do various iron-man distances including the half (1 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and a 13 mile run) and a full ironman (2 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26 mile run).

Join the club

Show up to our practices and get to know us, there are no tryouts or requirements to join the team. We encourage athletes of all abilities to join. No dues are required to practice with us!

No experience with one of the disciplines?

No worries, we will teach basic technique. The disciplines are not hard to learn. The hard part is learning how to go fast which requires time, hard + consistent training, and sometimes just natural talent. The team’s collective information is huge and if there is something that you don’t understand or want more information about, you can just ask one of us.

Practice

Practices are never mandatory. Practices are designed by other experienced members on the team. Our practice schedule is posted at the bottom of the homepage. The only time your attendance at practices will be monitored is if you intend to race for the team at the Collegiate Nationals Championship.

Dues

Paying dues gives you access to our many awesome sponsors. The sport of triathlon is expensive – we try to alleviate that expense by giving you discounted gear and nutrition through our sponsors. Dues are $100 and are usually collected in October. Dues give you access to our sponsorships, as well as travel and/or lodging for our big races.

Racing

The club primarily focuses on sprint and Olympic distance races, especially the Olympic because that is the Collegiate National Championship is Olympic distance as well as most of the conference races. MSU Triathlon competes in the Mideast Collegiate Triathlon Conference (MECTC) which consists of several races which conclude with the Collegiate National Championship in which we send our best athletes to compete. The MECTC’s races are concentrated in summer and fall but there are indoor triathlons that you can participate in in the winter. Many of our athletes also travel south during Spring Break to warmer weather to race. More information about the MECTC can be found at www.mectc.org.

Social

The club hosts many official social gatherings such as the Viking Feast, in which we make a gross amount of food, throw it on a table, and eat it with our hands (don’t worry we wash our hands). Being on the team also connects you to a network of around 50 other people, so if the team isn’t officially doing anything, there will almost always be something to do with other team members. MSU Triathlon has many volunteering activities in which you will be able to participate in and are a great way to hang out with the team outside of racing and social events.

Other

More questions? Email triclub@msu.edu.