The Intercollegiate Athletics Committee of TCU's Board of Trustees voted unanimously
to add women's triathlon as the Horned Frogs' 22nd varsity sport. The university will
be the first school in Texas and the Big 12 with the sport. TCU will begin competition
in women's triathlon in Fall 2021. A national search will begin this spring for the
program's first head coach.
The addition of women's triathlon allows TCU to continue to meet Title IX gender
equity compliance requirements. TCU's other recent women's sports additions were equestrian
in 2006 and beach volleyball in 2015.
"We are very excited to add women's triathlon to our intercollegiate athletics program,"
TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said. "Triathlon will provide additional opportunities
for our female student-athletes to participate in collegiate-level competition while
enjoying an outstanding academic experience."
Triathlon was approved in January 2014 as the next Emerging Sport for Women for NCAA
Division I, II and III institutions. Women's triathlon is a fall sport, and the varsity
season includes three regional qualifiers followed by the Women's Collegiate Triathlon
National Championships. Races are sprint distance, featuring an open water 750-meter
swim, draft legal 20-kilometer cycling and a 5K run. TCU will utilize a combination
of campus and city facilities for training.
"A myriad of factors go into not only adding a sport, but finding the right one for
your university and athletics profile," TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
Jeremiah Donati said. "Triathlon checks all the boxes for us. We believe we also have
an opportunity to immediately compete at the highest collegiate level. Additionally,
we will attract new students from across the country and support our goal of providing
women with more opportunities to participate in sports.
Thirty-four institutions currently sponsor triathlon as a varsity program, with Arizona
State winning the last four Division I team national titles at the Women's Collegiate
Triathlon National Championships.
TCU was awarded the USA Triathlon Foundation Women's Emerging Sport Grant, distributed to select NCAA membership institutions to develop, implement and sustain women's triathlon programs at the varsity level.