UA triathletes push their bodies to limit

Photo Courtesy of Arizona Tricats Tricat Seton Claggett completes the swimming portion of a recent triathlon. Claggett and the rest of the UA triathlon team will compete in California this weekend.

It is the triathalon, and only a select few choose to compete in it.

This weekend, the Tricats, Arizona's club triathalon team, will be heading to a tiny town in California to compete in the collegiate national championships.

Though not as well-known as other UA club teams, the Tricats have been in existence since 1992, club president Chris Battaglia said.

"We're hoping to get top three," senior Seton Claggett said. "We think we'll place good since this is the most we've sent in the past was eight people."

This season, the Tricats have their biggest squad in history, with over 20 athletes heading to Lake San Antonio, a small town 45 minutes northeast of San Luis Obispo.

"It's in the middle of nowhere," Claggett said. "We have to rent a bus to get out there, and then the bus will drive back to this little town 40 miles away while we're competing until we need to be picked up."

Claggett attributes the team's growth to the recently held Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

"Numbers (of athletes) in a lot of Olympic sports usually go up after one takes place," he said.

The triathalon consists of a 2-kilometer swim, a 100-km bike ride and a 20-km run.

"It's always frustrating because you can't be good in all three things," Battaglia said. "We try to recruit people who are good in one thing, like swimming, and then try to help them get better in the other two."

In addition to the triathalon on Sunday, a small number of Tricats will compete in the half-Iron Man version Ä 4-km swim, a 180-km bike ride and a 40-km run Ä on Saturday.

"(The triathilon is) 80-percent physical, though it does not matter what shape you are in when you start," Battaglia said. "Just as long as you have the drive."