I know he was swimming with the Dudes of the DTE. Thats their instagram handle...they are hilarious.

At least one of them was an NCAA swimmer...if not more of them.

I started following one of them after the Philadelphia Escape Triathlon event in 2017. The kid was in the pro field there and was, of course, racing in a speedo. He kept proclaiming that he was the "First Place Speedo!!!" as he was doing the course. Pure joy.

Regardless...his swim cannot be that bad if he is winning back to back USAT Nats. It actually speaks to his upside one the swim if he doesn't have a formal background.

Additionally, he's only 22, went 4:03 in his first HIM, and scored over the pro level threshold on the USAT par score system enough that he could have taken his pro card already.

USAT Project Podium is great, however I don't believe there is a single answer to developing top ITU athletes. Just like we are another option, the CRP is a different option as well. We went up against athletes from both the PP and CRP this weekend. The more pathways and opportunities we have for athletes the better. You don't hear elite running, swimming, or cycling squads saying we don't need more athletes competing for spots. Sometimes the athletes that make it are the ones the governing bodies don't choose. With that said, I am also not limiting the squad to USA athletes either.

As far as your children, that is a little much to make a call on at those ages. They might not even like triathlon or any endurance sport for that matter. If they like swimming, let them swim. I wouldn't move children so young for a youth sports team. There are much more important things in life that will play a bigger role in their athletic and non-athletic success.

With kids triathlon, I'm going to echo Brandes comments.....you don't want 8 year "triathletes".....you want 6 and 8 and 11 year old athletes.....you want triathlon to be an addition sport, not "all in on triathlon" (I'll tell that to 8 year old baseball parents or softball parents too), imo would be a great summer only idea for kids that young. Let them play soccer, basketball, swim, etc. Triathlon has great cross over benefits for youth with learning coordination, team skills, and work ethic. Just never put them on a "training plan" at that young of an age. Tri is a great summer event for those age of athletes, it's when you get singular focused on triathlon at that young of age, just likely not going to turn out well. What Steve was saying about burn out is completely true.