For access to all of our training, gear, and race coverage, plus exclusive training plans, FinisherPix photos, and event discounts, sign up for Outside+.
Sarah True lost count of how many TVs there were during her tour of the Zwift Tri Academy house. There were one in every bedroom, the living room, the sitting room, and next to the kitchen. Is the in-house movie theater included?
She says it is like an idealized version of a pro experience.
It’s like no actual pro triathlons live. Pro triathlons don’t have a movie theater, a ping-pong table, pool, basketball court, or backyard mini golf. It’s more like Motel 6, a couch or a van.
The Zwift Tri Academy has an appeal. The program gives six amateur triathlons the full luxury treatment, including a training camp with wind tunnel and metabolic testing, free gear (yes, a bike) from sponsors, and a decked-out house with full support for the world championship race week.
Eric Engel, who was part of the team that was selected for the 2021. team, jokes that they are treated better than the pros.
Is it a good thing? What is the aim?
There was a rise in the professional age-grouper.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by GoZwiftTri (@gozwifttriathlon)
How the Zwift Academy Works
A team of six athletes are usually announced in the spring after the selection process is over. The squad gathers for a camp. The team advisors are Tim Don and Sarah True and they oversee the workouts. In October, six peak performances will be produced in Kona.
COVID hit just as the 2020 team was about to be announced because of the Pandemic. The people who were finalist were put on hold.
“We had to just kind of hang out and wait, because we had to get ready for the time-trial tests in 2020 and then put together a video after she was one of about 40 athletes,” says Yax, who was picked for the 2021 team after going through the workouts late
The whole experience has given Yax a different perspective. She became a part of the team and had her best performances.
After the delay, the Zwift Academy is back on schedule. The 2022 team met up at Specialized headquarters in California for a weeklong camp just days after the 2021. It was exhausting for the staff involved in organizing the events. Camp involved so many people, consultants, and moving pieces that Craig Taylor had to maintain an updated color-coded daily schedule for every athlete.
Six new athletes from Australia, the U.K., Norway, Germany, and Seattle arrived. They received custom-painted bikes, matching kits and helmets, recovery boots, and new wetsuits. They went through bike fits and wind tunnel testing to perfect their position, as well as basic sweat and metabolism testing to fine- tune their nutrition plans. This is the first part of the experience.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by GoZwiftTri (@gozwifttriathlon)
The team can share tips, advice, and workouts in the group. They are also given insight by Don and True. Some years, the two pro athletes who serve as advisors have changed. Little tips to take off the pressure are provided by being able to ask what a world champion thinks about a certain gear or when to stay.
Yax says that they are like a little family.
The fancy race week house is part of the third part of the Zwift Tri Academy. The true key is the personal chef and mechanic. All athletes have to worry about their performance because everything is taken care of by the athletes.
What the goal? The flagship triathlon of the year is still the Ironman World Championship, with podiums, age-group wins and inspiring content aimed at and coming out of it.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by GoZwiftTri (@gozwifttriathlon)
Meet the 2022 Zwift Academy Athletes
The original Academy team faced criticism for hand-picking athletes who were already at the top of the amateur field and simply making them more elite. Ruth Astle turned pro after taking fifth at the world championship in St. George in May, after taking the overall age-group win at Kona while part of the Zwift Academy.
Since that original team, Taylor said they have made an effort to select more of a range of athletes, and some athletes with goals to take overall titles, like rowing world champion Lars Wichert, who is on this year’s Zwift. Karrie Stewart, a Boeing engineer who opened a bar with her husband and did her first triathlon in 2019, is one of the athletes.
The cam wurf plan for triathlon dominance has a person on it.
The athletes are going to compete in Kona in a few weeks.
- Lars Wichert: a former Olympic and world champion rower and current Ironman age-group world record holder (8:12:42)
- Gro Henge Jermstad: a Norwegian who’s first triathlon in 2013 was Norseman and who won the 45-49 age-group at Ironman Copenhagen last year to qualify for Kona
- Emily Freeman: an elite swimmer who took 5th in the 25-29 age group at Kona in 2019
- James Martin: an Australian hoping to break into the pro ranks, who won his age group at Ironman Australia earlier this season
- Neil Eddy: a PE teacher in Cornwall who is also the ITU Long Course age-group champion and took second in his age-group at Kona
- Karrie Stewart: a former aerospace engineer turned bar owner who did her first triathlon in 2019
How to apply for the Zwift Academy
The Zwift Academies cover running, cycling, and triathlon but each version is tailored to that audience. A pro contract is delivered by the academy. A group of athletes with different marathon goals are picked by the running academy. The academy is in the middle.
It is not just for the elite. Yax, who has a kid and a full-time job as a college psychology instructor, says you never know if you’ll be picked.
The information is here.
- The Zwift Academy Tri workouts for next year’s team run Oct. 24 to Nov. 20. There are six structured workouts created by coach Dan Plews.
- All athletes who want to be considered must also do the final bike and run tests.
- There is typically an additional application process at that point, and then the finalists are contacted and have to submit a video.
- Get more info at zwift.com/academy
How does a triathlete go pro?