Atascadero High School senior wins Nation Title in triathlon championships
Dolan was the overall winner of the event, posting both the fastest swim and the fastest run of the day.
–Atascadero High School Senior, Johnathan Dolan just returned from Miami where he competed at the 2019 USA Triathlon Aquathlon National Championships, winning the overall National Title, out of 407 competitors, in a time of 31 minutes and 55 seconds. The competition took place on Saturday November 9, 2019.
The event was part of the USA Triathlon Multisport National Championships Festival, which began with more than 400 of the nation’s best swim-run athletes competing for aquathlon national titles. Dolan was the overall winner of the event, posting both the fastest swim and the fastest run of the day. He had finished as the overall runner-up in 2018. He successfully defended his Male 15-19 Age-Group National title from 2018. Dolan has been the top-ranked athlete in the Aquathlon for his age group for the past 4 years (2016-2019). He became the Male 16-19 World Champion in 2018 in Denmark and followed up with a Silver Medal at the 2019 World Aquathlon Championships in Spain.
The event was hosted at Larry and Penny Thomson Memorial Park, adjacent to the world-famous Zoo Miami. The 2019 Aquathlon consisted of a 1000 meter open water swim followed by a 5km run. The open water swim was in Larry and Penny’s Lake where alligators have been spotted and the run passed by various animal exhibits at the zoo, finishing at Larry and Penny Park.
Dolan has competed on the Atascadero High School varsity cross country, varsity swimming, and varsity track teams since he was a freshman. This year after a change in the cross country schedule he ended up running in league finals on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 3:20 p.m. and had to leave immediately to be at the airport for 6 p.m. Arriving in Miami at 6 a.m. on Friday he only had a day to acclimatize and get some rest before the National Championship race. He has been competing in aquathlon and triathlon for 6 years, with his first Aquathlon requiring a swim from Alcatraz island. During that time, he has completed nearly 40 Triathlon and Aquathlon races.
