Athletes from the DMV compete in Australia at World Triathlon Championships

Oct 21, 2025Oct 21, 2025 RFTW editor 0 Comment @worldtriathlon @worldtriathlon_agegroup #WollongongFinals#RaceInTheGong #feelNSW

October 15-18 Wollongong, Australia

Pictures by Marcus Chen; Video Courtesy World Champion Triathlon Media Team

Nearly 400 U.S. athletes travelled across the globe to compete in the 2025 World Triathlon Championship Finals in Wollongong, Australia, as part of Age Group Team USA. This group represented the country across multiple multisport formats including:

Standard Distance Triathlon
Standard Aquabike
Sprint Distance Triathlon
Mixed Relay

Ultimately there were 6 races with the Elite’s competing in the final event on the 19th. It marks the first time since 2018 that Australia hosts the World Championships, giving Australia’s top triathletes and para triathletes the chance to compete for world titles in front of a partisan home crowd. Leading the way for the Elite’s was Australia’s Matt Hauser, he’s the current World No. 1 in the Elite Men WTCS rankings, and had his sights set firmly on the World Series Title.

Here’s a clip of the Men’s Elite Race as provided by the World Champion Triathlon Media Team:

As expected, Hauser came away with the victory, and the World Series Title. The closest competitors from the US Team were Morgan Pearson who placed 11th overall, and Chase McQueen, who was within the top three for most for the race, but ultimately placed 28th at the end of the run.

The Elite Women’s race had a bit more drama than the Men’s where Germany’s Luisa Tertsch out-paced the field in the run to capture the title and the World No. 1 title! The top finisher for the USA was Taylor Spivey who dropped the 2nd fastest run time in the field and crossed the line in 7th position. She was followed by Gina Serreno and Danielle Orie who placed 15th and 19th respectively. Here’s the recap as provided by the World Champion Triathlon Media Team:

The day prior to the Elite’s (Friday, October 18th), the Age Group Sprint event took the course. The sprint distance at the World Triathlon Championships involves a 750m swim, a 20km bike ride, and a 5km run. It is a shorter, more intense version of the standard or Olympic distance triathlon. In all, there were 1,260 finishers ranging in age from 16- 84! In the 16-19 Age group Team USA had two competitors from the DMV- Kyle Chen, a senior at Whitman High School and Wilson Faucette, a senior at Walter Johnson, who both qualified for this event at last year’s National Championship. Kyle, a strong swimmer, (finished 16th in the 100 Free and 20th in the 100 Breaststroke at the 2025 Metro Championship), had the 10th fastest time in the age group for the swim. Wilson put together a strong bike leg and entered the transition even with Kyle. They ran the 5k together, with Kyle crossing the line one second ahead of Wilson, where they placed 45th and 46th in the age Group (out of 77 total competitors). Congratulations Kyle & Wilson!!

Photos:

Swim

Bike:

Run:

Kyle then went on to participate in the Mixed Age Group 200-239 Category, which placed 13th overall out of 39 teams (2nd for Team USA):

How the Mixed 200-239 AG Relay works

Athlete order: The order of athletes is determined by the specific rules of the event. For World Triathlon events, the order is currently male-female-male-female.

Team composition: The relay team consists of four athletes—two men and two women. The “200-239” indicates that the combined age of the four athletes falls within that range.

Relay format: Each of the four athletes completes a full super-sprint triathlon (swim, bike, and run) before tagging their next teammate.

For a Mixed 200-239 Age Group Relay, each of the four team members completes a super-sprint triathlon with the following approximate distances: