'We needed to find a way to come back'; USA Triathlon returns to Milwaukee this weekend
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The USA Triathlon will return to Milwaukee on Saturday, August 6 and Sunday, August, 7.
It was last hosted by the city from 2013 to 2015, and now it's coming back.
"The feedback we received from athletes was absolutely through the roof so we needed to find a way to come back," said Brian D'Amico, the director of events for the USA Triathlon.
Registration tents are already set up outside of Discovery World, and organizers are ready for 16,000 people to come to Milwaukee's lakefront for the weekend.
"I've said many times before how perfectly USA Triathlon fits right in on Milwaukee's lakefront and in Milwaukee County Parks," said Marissa Werner, the director of Sports Milwaukee, an organization that works to bring big sporting events to the city. "Swimming, biking and running are some of the things our parks and our people do best."
Six thousand athletes will participate in the sport -- from 15-year-olds to people in their 80s.
VISIT Milwaukee president, Peggy Williams-Smith says on average each person participating brings one-and-a-half people to watch. That means 16,000 sets of eyes on the city. VISIT Milwaukee also estimates $6 million in revenue will be created from the event.
"Through hotel room night stays. The spending that people have in while they're here eating out, you know, going to shops, visiting our attractions, doing all of those things," said Williams-Smith.