BU Triathlon Looks Towards Nationals, But Funding Remains a Hurdle

BU Triathlon Team. From left to right, Rhea Thakur, Emma Auth, Audrey Mcelhatton, Amanda Pactwa, Ava Fagan, Fredrik Peterson, Maddy Fronzeo, Lucas Mezzina, Hannah Hallick, Isaac Kusmin, Ryan Chan, Chloe Kern, Luke Gao,Taizo Azuchi, William Bowers, Walter McClanahan, Sophie Read, Skyla Shea, Evangelina Maria Passero, Catherine Zee. Courtesy of Mia Dimina.

During the Fall 2026 semester BU’s triathlon team placed third in the Northeast Collegiate Conference, and are now headed to nationals in the Spring. 

The team follows a rigorous weekly training schedule—mornings and nights are filled with swim, spin, track, and long run practices. As students, it’s easy to experience academic or physical burnout while balancing a college course load and conditioning for races. This is where the triathlon team steps up. 

“You support your teammates like they’re your friends, because they are your friends,” said Emma Auth, Co-Vice President and in her third year on the team. The triathlon E-Board, larger this year than before, prioritizes the well-being of the team above all else. They reach out to members experiencing sickness, burnout, injury, or any other challenges and make sure they know what resources are available to them. They also noted that being an athlete has allowed them to naturally build knowledge in exercise science and inspired curiosity about exercise and the body.

“I’m not a [human physiology] major, but I know just as much about certain aspects of exercise and recovery as some of my friends in PT programs do,” said Sandro D’Aveta, a Co-Vice President in his second year on the team.  

Interest in the triathlon team has skyrocketed in the past few years from engagement with their social media posts, Splash, and overall interest in club sports alternatives from incoming students. However, for the first time, the club had to institute try-outs this year and cap the team at seventy people. A lack of institutional support has been one of the biggest barriers to expanding the team. BU club funding is limited, so the triathlon team covers all travel expenses themselves, incurring fundraising efforts to afford plane tickets, equipment, and more. 

They shared feeling disheartened having to cut people from try-outs simply because they lacked the funds to take on more team members. “I really wish that our school was able to see that the team has grown, and there’s immense interest, and that that interest is not being reciprocated,” explained Emma. With all of the equipment, travel, and costs of race registration and membership required to participate in triathlon, it’s not accessible to many students.  

There’s no doubt that being a part of the triathlon team pushes students to achieve mentally, physically, and academically. Emma explained how the team shares “highs and lows” of the week, a small tradition that brings the team together in ways outside of just training, and no matter where on campus they are, they’re sure to find a teammate nearby. In terms of resilience and grit, she also shared, “Watching people around me do these incredible things and training with them, and seeing them struggle but also pick themselves back up and keep going…it’s showed me that I can do that too.” 

Looking forward to the next season and nationals, Triathlon has ambitious goals. Ryan Chan, a Co-Event Coordinator who joined triathlon three years ago when the team was much smaller, shared, “There is possibility to achieve even more than we thought previously,” believing that this sentiment is something that will stick with triathlon members past graduation and into future careers and lives apart from the team.