Paderborn's Matthias Gravendyk triumphs at university championships!

Paderborn's Matthias Gravendyk triumphs at university championships!

On May 18, 2025, the German University Championships (DHM) in triathlon took place in Griesheim, southern Hesse. Matthias Gravendyk, student at the University of Paderborn, won the title of German university champion in this sprint distance competition. The course lengths included 500 meters of swimming, 19.5 kilometers of cycling and 5 kilometers of running. A total of 44 men and 30 women took part in the race, which underlines the attractiveness and level of this discipline among students.

Despite a rather weak swimming performance, Gravendyk was able to take first place with a total time of 50:15 minutes. His strong performances on the bike and in the run allowed him to catch up during the competition. Matthias Betz from the TH Würzburg-Schweinfurt came second, just 10 seconds behind, while Maximilian Krüger from the University of Duisburg-Essen, last year's winner, took third place in 50:40 minutes. Although he had the best swimming time, he was unable to make up the deficit he suffered in the following disciplines.

Successes for the team from the University of Paderborn

In addition to Gravendyk's victory, the University of Paderborn was also able to shine in the mixed team competition. The team, which consisted of Matthias Gravendyk, Jens Balzer and Iris Güldenpenning, took third place in the mixed team relay. A distance of 225 meters swimming, 5 kilometers cycling and 1.5 kilometers running was completed. A total of 14 teams took part, with WG Darmstadt I taking first place in 47:52 minutes.

In the women's individual race, Iris Güldenpenning showed a strong performance and took seventh place. Jens Balzer achieved a midfield placement. Nils Arnecke, the discipline director of the General German University Sports Association (adh), noticed the diversity of performances and recognized the sporting value of the event. Ulrich Kussin, head of university sports at the University of Paderborn, congratulated the team and highlighted the success of the competition day. Dennis Kehne from university sports also highlighted the presence of the University of Paderborn among the top performers.

The development of triathlon in Germany

Triathlon is a sport that has been practiced in Germany for around 40 years. The first competitions took place in 1982, and the German Triathlon Union (DTU) was founded in 1985 to promote this sport and the associated regulations. Triathlon was further upgraded in 2000 when it was introduced as an Olympic discipline. Every year around 600 triathlon events with over 1,500 competitions take place in Germany.

Particularly noteworthy is the ITU World Triathlon Series in Hamburg, which is the largest triathlon event in Germany. Around 10,000 participants compete there and there are over 250,000 spectators. The increasing number of participants in the competitions is also impressive: While 90,000 athletes took part in competitions in 2003, this number rose to 270,000 by 2016. The sport of triathlon in Germany shows a steady and healthy development.