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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Louisville Landsharks Triathlon Club, a Division II club (130-249 members) from Louisville, Ky., won the swim session of USA Triathlon’s 2012 National Challenge Competition (NCC) by logging more than 1,175 miles in the pool in the month of December.

Designed to get triathletes excited about offseason training at the club level, the NCC is comprised of official USA Triathlon clubs across the country going head-to-head to see who can log the most training miles during a three-month competition.

The NCC features three sessions, each one month in duration, from December to February. Clubs will record their training miles and submit them on the NCC website for automatic calculation and ranking. The cycling session is underway in January, while the running session is set for February.

In order to equalize each discipline, NCC miles are weighted in swimming and running. One swim mile is equal to 10 weighted miles in NCC scoring.

The Louisville Landsharks swam 1,176.65 actual miles, or 11,766.5 weighted miles, on their way to claiming the overall and Division II swim session titles. The club also was the first to reach the 500-mile benchmark goal on Dec. 13. Five division champions were crowned in the swim session based on club size.  

Team USAT member Brenda Parnell from Juneau, Alaska, led all the individual athletes with a whopping 114.29 miles (1142.85 weighted miles) in the pool for the month. Chris Robinson of the Kansas River Valley Triathlon Club swam 107.79 miles (1077.9 weighted miles) to lead the men.

All sessions include swimming, biking and running, but one sport will be highlighted for each session. The winning club for each session is determined by the greatest number of miles logged during that session for that month’s discipline. Recognition will also be given to the first club to reach the benchmark mileage for each session and Overall Combined Mileage for a club at the end of the three months.

Visit usatriathlon.org for more on this year’s NCC.  (http://www.usatriathlon.org/audience/clubs/national-challenge-competition.aspx)

2012 National Challenge Competition Swim Session Results:
2012 Swim Session Award Winners
Club, Location, Swim Mileage (weighted miles)
Overall Club: Louisville Landsharks, Louisville Ky., 11,766.5 miles
Division I (250-plus members): DC Tri Club Team 1, Washington D.C., 10,601.5 miles
Division II (130-249 members): Louisville Landsharks, Louisville Ky., 11,766.5 miles
Division III (80-129 members): Fredericksburg Tri Club, Fredericksburg, Va., 2,587.1 miles
Division IV (30-79 members): Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Irmo, S.C., 7,034.5 miles
Division V (29 members or less): Women of Steel, Auburn, Ind., 2,056.8 miles
First to Swim Benchmark: Louisville Landsharks
Individual Female: Brenda Parnell (Team USAT), 1,142.85 miles
Individual Male: Chris Robinson (Kansas River Valley Triathlon Club), 1,077.9 miles

Club Standings by Swim Mileage
Club, Location, Swim Mileage (weighted miles)
1.  Louisville Landsharks, Louisville, Ky., 11,766.5 miles
2.  Kansas River Valley Tri Club, Wichita Kan., 11,327 miles
3.  DC Tri Club Team 1, Washington, D.C., 10,601.5 miles
4.  Pittsburgh Tri Club, Pittsburgh Pa., 7,988.3 miles
5.  Alaska Tri Club White Wabid Wabbits, Anchorage Alaska, 7,879.4 miles
6.  Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Irmo, S.C., 7,034.5 miles
7.  Cyclonaut Multisport, Agawam, Mass., 6,190 miles
8.  Boulder Tri Club, Boulder, Colo., 5,773.8 miles
9.  Get Fit Families, Cranberry Twp, Pa., 5,650 miles
10.  Hammerhead Tri Club Team 1, Jacksonville, Fla., 4,971.3 miles

Club Benchmark by Swim Session – 500-mile Mark (actual miles)
Club, Date
1.  Louisville Landsharks, Dec. 13
2.  DC Tri Club Team 1, Dec. 15
3.  Kansas River Valley Tri Club, Dec. 15
4.  Alaska Tri Club White Wabid Wabbits, Dec. 16
5.  Pittsburgh Tri Club, Dec. 17
6.  Northwest YMCA Tri Club, Dec. 24
7.  Cyclonaut Multisport, Dec. 27
8.  Boulder Tri Club, Dec. 27
9.  Get Fit Families, Dec. 29