ASU Triathlon: From Germany to NCAA Woman of the Year – Charlotte Ahrens’s Sun Devil story

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

Being nominated for a NCAA Woman of the Year award is no simple feat. Former Arizona State triathlete Charlotte Ahrens is currently in the top 30 for the award.

“It’s a huge honor,” Ahrens said. “Being rewarded for everything and seeing that people see it is definitely a big honor, but for me, it’s not an individual thing.”

Ahrens credits both the rest of her triathlon team, head coach Cliff English and the Sun Devil athletics program for helping her get to where she is today. She mentioned everyone is always there to help, whether with meal prep, equipment or language barriers.

But getting to the NCAA Woman of the Year award started for Ahrens back in Nuremberg, Germany in 2016. Along with a German company called Scholarbook, Ahrens was able to contact U.S. university coaches, where she soon found English.

“Cliff and I had a couple of FaceTime calls, and we really just clicked from the beginning,” Ahrens said. “I thought he seemed like a really trustworthy coach and is someone I saw as a role model.”

English also liked what he saw, and she was on the next flight to Arizona.

“When she got here, it was a testimony to who she is,” English said.

Then came getting used to America as a student and triathlete. In her first year at ASU, Ahrens took the time to learn English while also starting her kinesiology degree and earning a 4.0 GPA.

“At the time, I basically dedicated all my time to learning the language,” Ahrens said. “Being around English all the time and my teammates explaining things really helped me at the beginning, and that helped me be really successful in school.”

Ahrens was also thrown straight into triathlon with her first official collegiate race coming two to three weeks after the program started.

“Thankfully, I wasn’t jet-lagged anymore,” Ahrens said, smiling. “The race started at 6:30 a.m., which is different from Germany. In Germany, you race in the evening, and in my first race, it was still dark outside, and I was like ‘wow, this is interesting.’ Then I realized that there were runners and bikers and just people who put their chairs out and cheered us on from the sidewalk, and all the neighbors were cheering too. I was amazed that something happened, and I thought, did someone really show up and want to cheer me on because I had never experienced that before.”

Eventually, Ahrens got used to America, spent a Christmas in Chicago and Alaska, took a trip to Washington D.C., switched to majoring in supply chain management, became a two-time All-American scholar, maintained a 4.0 GPA and won a national championship.

“She took on a leadership role and led by example,” English said. “She always put her best effort forward. Her energy was very infectious, and it’s great to have a leader like that. She was always laughing and always had a great attitude.”

However, Ahrens doesn’t like the word leader.

“I want to be a team member, but also someone who gives guidance to my teammates,” Ahrens said. “For me, being a team leader was more like being a connection between the team and the coach.”

As Ahrens came into her role as a leader, she also learned how to be a coach. In her senior year, she did not compete because of recurring injuries. Instead, she helped coach the team from the sidelines.

“It was hard,” Ahrens said. “I’ve been injured over my entire career, but it was never as intense as it was then. I took over a little bit in the coaching role, so I supported the girls during practice and gave them advice.”

English looks back on Ahrens senior season with mixed feelings. He shared happy memories of her running stopwatches for the team while injured and doing whatever she could to help out at Nationals.

Since graduating, Ahrens is preparing for her new job in the Netherlands with Mercedes-Benz. She is grateful for the opportunity and believes the job will allow her to see whether or not she wants to do chain supply management in real life. Still, triathlon will always be in the back of her head.

“Triathlon is still my love,” Ahrens said. “I am looking to maybe in one or two years do the half Ironman. I want to try new things, but I’m definitely going to be loyal to triathlon.”