Triathlon
Collegiate Club

A Dream Come True: Colorado's Kasey Madsen Wins Collegiate Club National Title

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by Stephen Meyers | USA Triathlon

On a windy, muggy morning in Coastal Mississippi in late March, University of Colorado senior Kasey Madsen crossed the finish line of the 2026 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championships. She couldn't believe what she had just done.

Madsen broke the tape, winning the women's Olympic Distance National Championship by nearly 4 minutes over her nearest competitor. 

The win was 364 days in the making.

Madsen had finished 12th at the previous year's Collegiate Club National Championships in a race she wasn't satisfied with. The first time she ever raced at Nationals, in 2024, she finished sixth, quietly wondering in the back of her mind whether she could ever win the whole thing. From the moment last year's disappointing result ended, she pointed at this race in Gulfport, Mississippi.

"I wanted it so badly. I hoped it would happen. I envisioned it. I visualized it for myself, but I never fully trusted that it would happen,” Madsen said. “Coming to that finish line, with the tape in front of me, mine for the taking — it was a dream come true."

She completed the 1500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10k run in a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 45 seconds and then waited at the finish to cheer in the women behind her, making a point, she said, to congratulate every competitor who came through. Then she found her coaches and teammates for a long, tearful celebration and long-held hugs. 

For someone who earned her first black belt in Taekwondo at 9 years old and has spent her life chasing the hardest version of every challenge she's encountered, the national title feels like a natural culmination of everything Madsen is made of.

Madsen (left, age 16) and her sister (right, age 17) after earning their third degree black belts.

“I’ve always loved doing really hard things.”

Growing up in the Bay Area of California, Madsen swam on a local summer swim team. One July, her team participated in a kids' triathlon. Most of her fellow swimmers weren't particularly enthusiastic about the detour from the pool. Madsen thought it was kind of fun. She didn't think much more of it at the time. It was just something her swim team did. But the seed was planted. Years later, when she arrived in Boulder at the University of Colorado and started browsing the university's club sports offerings, one listing stopped her cold.

“I saw triathlon and thought, ‘Oh, this is a real sport. That is cool,” Madsen said. 

She's been hooked ever since. 

But triathlon isn't the first time Madsen has thrown herself headfirst into something demanding. She grew up training in Taekwondo and earned her first black belt at just 9 years old. The black belt test is a formal ceremony, but the real crucible comes in the months before: roughly 24 hours of sustained physical and mental exertion set in the hilly Tassajara area of the Bay Area.

She describes it vividly. Athletes run to a big hill, do 100 burpees, then keep going. They stop at a playground for pull-ups, return to the studio to sleep, and then head out again before dawn for a 5-to-7-mile run. The reward at the end? A pancake breakfast. 

“It was a test to show your physical abilities and mental fortitude,” said Madsen, who earned her third-degree black belt as a teenager. “I've always loved doing really difficult things.” 

"This is something I'll never forget." 

That disposition has served her well in triathlon, a sport that rewards exactly that kind of mentality. As a student, she's on a pre-med track with a focus in exercise physiology. The small, measurable gains keep her motivated: a slightly faster swim split, a few extra watts on the bike. She describes the process of incremental improvement as addictive. Her coaches and teammates, she says, make it worthwhile even on the hard days.

That foundation was tested on race morning at the Collegiate Club National Championships in Coastal Mississippi. The swim, held in a saltwater course in the Gulf of America, was choppy from the start. Madsen — racing in the open ocean for the first time — came out of the water around 10th place, knowing it hadn't gone the way she'd hoped. Getting out of the water brought its own surprise; the tide was low, and as she was still swimming, she felt something beneath her.

She hopped through the shallows to shore and got on her bike.

What followed was one of the most dominant bike legs of the day. Averaging 25.16 miles per hour over the 40-kilometer course, Madsen methodically picked off competitors one by one. By mile 2, she was in third. By miles 9 and 10, she was in first. She stayed locked in on her own effort, focused on her watts, trusting her preparation. She came into the final transition with a quiet suspicion she might be leading, though she admits she spent much of the bike leg talking herself out of it.

“I had an inkling I was in first when I was in transition," she said. "But I told myself that can't be right. I was kind of gaslighting myself.”

The run erased any doubt, for everyone watching, at least. Madsen clocked a 38:35 10k, and with each loop of the course, her coaches and friends spectating grew visibly more excited. Every time she passed them, they were a little louder, a little more animated. By the final stretch, her head coach was grinning ear to ear.

"These people I look up to so much, they were cheering for me and they gave me so much energy,” she said. “Crossing the finish line was unreal. I couldn’t believe it. This is something I’ll never forget.”