Sunrise is a non-profit organization comprised of fun, athletic-minded members of all levels and ages who swim, bike, and run in Shreveport-Bossier City and beyond. The club, originally known as the Sunrise Swim and Tri Club, was established over two decades ago by a small group of intrepid athletes who swam regularly at sunrise (hence, the club’s name) and soon began adding running and cycling to their early morning routine. Today, the club has grown to more than 400 members and is a competitive force as one of the largest triathlon clubs in the USAT South Midwest Region, which includes Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

Sunrise offers a variety of workout options led by the club or the club’s affiliated groups. During daylight savings months, ritual brick workouts (i.e. workouts that consist of two or more disciplines…for example, bike-run) are scheduled once a month at the Brookshires Grocery Arena and various other locations. In addition, local groups host rides on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in south Shreveport and north Bossier. Running groups host road technique classes and track workouts. The Shreveport area has a Masters swimming program that offers coached workouts at various times of the day year round.  The club also sponsors several triathlon clinics each year.

The club organizes and directs the Sunrise Triathlon Series, a favorite annual proving grounds among new and seasoned triathletes. These races allow the new multisport athletes learn the sport and challenge the experienced racers to hone their skills and prepare for the River Cities Tri in August.  The events get gradually more difficult (e.g. longer distances, hotter weather, more challenging courses, etc.), allowing participants to build their endurance, skills, and confidence into the triathlon season.

The tri series originated as a single race in 1995 and have varied from two to four races.  We have held races in Town South Swim Club since 1995, a beloved venue due to its shallow pools swim and friendly neighborhood run course. In 2017 the race moved to the newly-constructed YMCA with a state-of-the-art 50-meter pool.  Since 2021 we’ve returned to Town South Swim Club for our pool swim race.  In 2016 we added an open water swim at the El Karubah Shrine on Cross Lake and in 2023 we’ve moved it to the American Legion Post on Cross Lake.

Sunrise is not all sweat and tears. The clubs offers many social events for its members throughout the year (e.g. early RCT sign-up party, post-race gatherings, etc.). In addition, annual awards are presented to members for extraordinary achievement and work.