One picks the topic - and his side - the other vehemently defends the opposite camp. Should USAT encompass duathlon, aquathon, winter, etc. or should it end the Kumbaya and start focusing on the swim-bike-run the organization is named for? Let the battle begin!

Jeff Henderson says ... Three Your Way: Better than Burger King

Every so often someone grumbles that USA Triathlon is not living up to its name-or, rather, that it is living beyond its name. "T" stands for "Triathlon," they say, and anything not composed of swim, bike and run is watering down the product to the point of ruining the soup.

Bah humbug! I say. Each of these variations lends something new and different to the "multisport lifestyle," the phrase that USA (and sometimes) T has coined to describe its organization. Maybe we should come up with a better acronym, but we certainly don't need to throw out the baby with the bathwater. (A better acronym would serve another useful purpose, too-it would spare confused newbies from inquiring as to the nuances of the US Tennis Association's one-day license. But I digress.)

This past weekend I had the distinct privilege of watching the USAT national championship for the curious sport of winter triathlon. Held in Bend, Oregon, the event represented the eighth edition of a national championship in the winter flavor of triathlon but, remarkably, the first time it had ventured outside the state of Colorado. But where did they swim, you might ask, reasonably. Was there a hotel pool and an amenable doorman allowing the frosty athletes to zip outside and hop onto their bikes?

Alas, there was not. Winter triathlon consists of running in the snow, biking in the snow and cross-country skiing (yes, in the snow). Aside from there being a run, three segments and a lot of heavy breathing, there's not much else to hint familial ties with the swim-bike-run version of which we're more familiar.

The event itself was a bit of an experiment, though after eight years you'd think we'd be beyond that. There were 50 entrants all told, including amateurs and pros and a couple disoriented recreational skiers, and the timing was old-school: stopwatches and clipboards. A beautiful day on Mount Bachelor (sunny and 40 degrees) meant miserable conditions for a bike portion, and most competitors were forced to push their bikes through the 10 miles of deep slush.

Why go through with it? Why would USAT insist on hauling out the good silver for a handful of curiosity seekers needing even more specialized equipment than traditional triathlon? Because, my friend, the multisport lifestyle still needs growth, still needs exposure and still needs to push the envelope.

Remember, we're only 30-some years old. USAT may trumpet the recent 100,000-member milestone with considerable aplomb, but all of them could still fit inside Michigan Stadium with room left over. Every time I approach a sponsor as a race director, the first question I am asked is how many people compete in my race. Not how scenic is the bike ride, not how many aid stations do you stock, not even what distances do you offer. Nope. How many people last year and how many this year.

The same holds true for USAT. Like all non-profits, our governing body needs funding, and corporate sponsorships are easier to sell if the product gets seen by more eyeballs. By offering aquabike, duathlon, relays, aquathlon and anything-else-thlon, race directors can rally more participants and USAT can sell a bigger pie. And by finding a way to bridge the un-swimmable months-November through April, mainly-winter triathlon can provide the year-round multisport experience our donors so crave.

Aquabike offers non-runners the chance to participate. Aquathlon gives a little love to the more aquatic-minded. Relays bring new folks to triathlon from one-sport backgrounds, and duathlon, well let's be honest, no one likes the swim anyway. So why winter triathlon?

Because it twinkles with the glittery potential of sport's biggest prize: the Olympic Games. Traditional triathlon has already made it, landing in Sydney in 2000 on the opening day of the XXVII Olympiad. The International Triathlon Union, the world governing body for triathlon, has seen the spoils of the Summer Olympics and figures hey, why not go for winter, too? The sport is popular in Europe, it includes three sports already in the Olympics and it makes a whole lot more sense than biathlon or curling. And with Vancouver both the home of the ITU and hosting the Winter Olympics in 2010, the time for sharing internationally the joy of pushing your bike through slush is clearly now.

TC counters ...

[nid:70153]If you, dear reader, hadn't guessed, our two debaters politely take turns suggesting a topic and their favorite position. The man in the off weeks has to argue for or defend a proposition he may be entirely indifferent to or utterly opposes. If The TC or Jeff has been hammered in a previous turn by a topic that sets up the author's pet passion, the carnage can be hideous. He may feel like the school of fish that has been shot in a barrel. He may be bitter. As a man who prefers the unusual and the offbeat and startlingly new takes on old sports equations, this is my toughest assignment yet.

Nonetheless ...

There is a lot to be said for specializing in what you do best. Caught up in the go-go dot-com boom where profits seemed to be on an unending rocket ride upward, many companies diversified to the point of ridiculousness. Detroit car manufacturers took on finance companies, electronics, oil drilling, artificial heart manufacturing, space exploration, cancer drug innovations, cell phone empires and boutique money-losing sports cars like Jaguar and Aston-Martin. Half a decade later, after an expensive divestment, they were back to basics, poorer but wiser. Companies that did one thing well, such as Apple and Google, thrived. Once-focused companies like Microsoft, wondering what to do with their once happy monopolies, scrambled to find the next big thing like citizens of a dying planet looking for a new heavenly sphere to migrate to.

Today, USA Triathlon has enjoyed a rocket-like growth spurt from 21,000 to 100,000 in under a decade. A lot of it has to do with the expertise of a hard-working, smart crew of people headed by Skip Gilbert and Tim Yount. In matters of race direction, safety, establishing uniform race standards, reaching out to mainstream sponsors and maintaining high standards of race insurance and race quality, USA Triathlon should stand proud. In adapting new media to its task of communicating and listening to the membership, USA Triathlon is on the cutting edge. In nurturing the next generation with junior programs, in being a flexible, adaptable support system for its talented and independent elites, USA Triathlon does very well.

Yet there may be trouble with plunking too many ingredients into the pot. First, let me stipulate that duathlon belongs in the triathlon family and I am not opposed to aquathlon-because there are few of these events and they are easy to put on in conjunction with and as a preview warm-up event at world championship venues. But as for efforts to get winter tri, adventure racing, biathlon (you mean ski and shoot?), these sports are better left to their own specialists. For one, putting risky events like adventure racing under the same insurance umbrella that USA Triathlon is so kind to offer is risky business indeed. Second, putting three marginal events on the USA Triathlon board's agenda wastes the time needed to deal with and maintain the remarkable growth spurt in the sport.

Finally, do you want to be known as a triathlete-or as the dippy, meaningless moniker "multisporter?" USA Triathlon, keep your eye on the prize.

As always, love to hear your thoughts. Hit us up at mjuntti@insideinc.com.