The University of Arizona triathlon team just became back-to-back National Champions after placing first on Saturday, Nov. 8, in Tempe. Leading the Wildcat team is humble competitor Kelly Wetteland. While a kind and compassionate person, Wetteland is as competitive as can be when she gets on the race course. She capped off her undefeated season this year with a win at the NCAA Triathlon National Championships.
Some triathletes on the Arizona team have been competing in triathlons their whole life. However, that is not the case for Wetteland. Growing up an avid athlete, she ran and swam in middle school but decided to focus solely on swimming upon entering high school.
Wetteland swam the first three years of high school until her family moved from Tennessee to Los Alamos, New Mexico. In fact, she was such an extraordinary swimmer that she committed to swim at the United States Naval Academy in the summer prior to entering her senior year of high school.
Wetteland joined the cross country team her senior year of high school merely to make friends in New Mexico and found she was a natural. As a result of her running success, she also committed to run at USNA. However, Wetteland wasn’t accustomed to all the new and intense running, causing her to get a stress fracture.
This injury threw off Wetteland’s entire world. Prior to a midshipman’s freshman year at USNA, they go through an intense boot camp. Due to her stress fracture, USNA told her she could either defer her spot a year, or go to prep school. However, instead of doing either option, Wetteland decided to come to the only other place she applied: the University of Arizona.
“It was scary when I got my stress fracture. All my plans were to attend the Naval Academy, and I didn’t know what the future held,” Wetteland said.
The only reason Wetteland applied to Arizona was because she and her father toured on an unofficial visit. Her application was merely a backup plan, fully believing she would be heading to USNA. After deciding to attend Arizona, Wetteland reached out to the swim team to see if she could compete for the Wildcats. Due to her remarkable high school swimming career, she earned a spot.
During her freshman year, Arizona started their triathlon team. Even though Wetteland was on the swim team she felt like something was missing.
“I felt like I wanted more. I had a vision for where I could be and I wasn’t there,” Wetteland said.
Thus, an amazing triathlon career was born.
Wetteland began training as part of Arizona’s first ever recruiting class. Despite having teammates who had more experience in triathlons, Wetteland never got discouraged. She put her head down and trained hard.
Recognizably so, Wetteland is no stranger to hard work. In fact, she exemplifies it every single day. As a double major in law and political science, Wetteland balances her studies with two to three workouts every single day.
Depending on the day and what type of workout needs to be done, the team will meet one to two times. For example, Wetteland may have a hard swim and bike workout in the morning with the team, then go for an easy run in the evening on her own, outside of the team practice. This grueling schedule may take its toll on an ordinary individual, but Wetteland truly has the heart and mind of a champion.
One of the ways Wetteland is able to balance all of her commitments is by having an amazing community around her.
“It’s tough to pick [a favorite memory],” Wetteland said. “An easy memory to point to would be our breakthrough win at nationals last year [2024], but also just meeting and becoming friends with everyone.”
The true memories and value of a team don’t come from one singular event. The value comes from the endless amount of days working out and struggling through pain side-by-side with one another.
With all the success Wetteland has already had in her relatively short triathlon career, some wonder about her future plans and whether she would be interested in continuing to compete and make a career out of being a triathlete.
However, this raises a broader point. In triathlon, all the major money from sponsorships lies in long-course racing. Wetteland and her fellow teammates race a short-course triathlon, which consists of a 750-meter swim, a 12.4 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. The long-course triathlon event is a bit different, with the shortest long-course race being a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. Based on her short course performances, Wetteland would most likely have success in long-course. However, she doesn’t seem to be focused on the future of her triathlete career yet.
“I am not necessarily chomping at the bit to jump into long-course,” Wetteland said. “I am just happy, honestly living the dream here at Arizona as long as they will have me.”
Wetteland has one more year of eligibility left before her time as a Wildcat ends. This leaves the chance at becoming a single back-to-back national champion.
“The main thing was the team becoming back-to-back champions,” Wetteland said.
This attitude exemplifies how humble Wetteland is. Despite all her success, she still puts the team above herself. Wetteland is an extraordinary example of what it means to be a student-athlete at the highest level. A double major, an all-American, a national champion and a teammate to the highest regard.
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