Only 16 days from today the 2025 Summer World University Games get underway in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. The Games will take place from Wednesday, July 16 through Sunday, July 27, 2025. The Games will kick off with Opening Ceremonies at the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, located in Duisburg, Germany. Though referred to as an “arena”, the venue is actually a large stadium that serves as the home of the MSV Duisburg football (soccer) club, which has a long history in the region, having been founded 123 years ago in 1902. Marching into that stadium on opening night will be the national university teams from as many as 150 countries, and among them, will be the more than 330 athletes of the USA Delegation. We will have more news about our USA Team during and after the Games, but we wanted to start with recognizing our athletes competing in the Games who are enrolled in North Carolina Universities.
Athletes at NC Schools to Compete at Rhine-Ruhr 2025
Thus far we have been able to identify 18 athletes from North Carolina colleges and universities who will be competing in next month’s World University Games in Germany. UNC Chapel Hill leads the way with 9 athletes, NC State and Duke have 3 each, High Point University has 2, and UNC Charlotte 1. The Games in Germany will feature action in 18 Olympic sports, ranging from Archery and Athletics (Track & Field) to Volleyball and Water Polo, with 3 sports specific to the Rhine-Ruhr Games: Beach Volleyball, Rowing, and 3×3 Basketball. And, for the first time ever in a Summer World University Games, a para event, 3v3 Wheelchair Basketball will be staged as part of the 3×3 Basketball competition.
The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, with nine, has the largest number of athletes among our North Carolina universities competing in the Games. Of those nine, five are competing for the USA Team, while four are representing their home countries, including Australia, South Africa, Canada and the Czech Republic. UNC will send 3 Divers, 4 Swimmers, and 2 Rowers to the 2025 Games.
Of the three athletes in Women’s Diving, two of those athletes, Ellie Joyce and Lanie Gutch, will compete for USA, while one, Sophia Knight, will be representing Australia. Ellie is a Sophomore from Arlington, VA, majoring in Biology. Lanie is a Freshman from Orlando, FL, who is planning an Education major, while teammate Sophia Knight, also a Freshman, is from Sydney, Australia and will represent the Aussies in Germany.
UNC will also have four Men’s Swimming athletes at Rhine-Ruhr 2025. Ben Delmar, a Sophomore from Charlotte, NC, pursuing a degree in Medicine and Health, will compete in all three Breaststroke events: the 50, 100, and 200 meters. Two of Ben’s teammates, Patrick Hussey, a graduate student from Montreal, Canada, in the Masters Accounting program at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Sebastin Lunak, a Sophomore from Prague, Czech Republic, primarily compete in Butterfly events and will represent Canada and Czech Republic respectively in this summer’s World University Games. Georgia Nel, a Senior at UNC from Constantia, South Africa, majoring in Business, competes in Freestyle and Individual Medley, and will represent South Africa in the Games in July.
Rounding out the UNC participants in Rhine-Ruhr for the USA Team are two Rowing athletes, Sarah Harper of Raleigh, and Lindsey Triftgruben of Aurora, Colorado. Sarah, who got her start in Rowing with the local Triangle Rowing Club, is a graduate student pursuing her Masters in Teaching. Lindsey Troftgruben is a Sophomore double-majoring in Exercise & Sport Science and Phsychology. Both athletes will compete in the Women’s Rowing events in next month’s FISU World University Games 2025.
North Carolina State University has three athletes and one coach representing our USA Team in the 2025 WUG. All four are with the Men’s and Women’s Swimming program at NCSU. The three athletes are a trio of accomplished backstrokers. Daniel Diehl, a Sophomore from Cumberland, MD, majoring in the Humanities, will compete in the Men’s Swimming 50, 100, and 200-meter Backstroke events. Kennedy Noble, an NC State Junior also majoring in Humanities will compete in all three Women’s Swimming backstroke events at the Rhine-Ruhr Games. Her teammate, Leah Shackley, from Bedford, PA, just finished her Freshman year at NC State where she was named Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. She will compete in Germany in the Women’s Swimming 100-meter Butterfly in addition to all three backstroke events. Joining the NC State athletes at the Games as one of the USA Men’s & Women’s Swim Team Coaches will be Wolfpack Swimming Assistant Coach, Dan Kalupski. Dan has been with Wolfpack Swimming since the 2017-2018 season and currently focuses on the middle-distance swimmers group
Three athletes from Duke University will participate in next month’s FISU World University Games representing the USA Team. Bomin Kim, from Suwanee, GA, is a Freshman at Duke where he studies Social Sciences. A Junior World Champion in Taekwondo, Bomin will compete in the Poomsae (Forms) Men’s Taekwondo competition in Rhine-Ruhr. Ethan Huang of Totawa, NJ, will be a rising Freshman at Duke this fall and will compete in Germany in Men’s Fencing in the Saber event. Birgen Nelson is a graduate student at Duke pursuing a Public Policy Masters degree. She will compete in the Women’s Track & Field events at the FISU Games in the hurdles.
High Point University boasts two athletes in the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr World University Games and both are Rowers. Mallory Sullivan, from Hurley, NY, is a Freshman at HPU where she is pursuing a degree in Applied Sciences. Anna Venditti, also a Freshman, hails from Galway, NY, and is majoring in Natural Sciences. Both Mallory and Anna will be competing for the USA Team in Women’s Rowing next month in Germany.
The University of North Carolina Charlotte has a Taekwondo athlete in the 2025 FISU Games. Isaiah Young from Fallsburg, NY, is a Freshman at UNCC where he studies Humanities. He will compete in Sparring in Men’s Taekwondo in the upcoming World University Games.
Host Communities Rank High Nationally in Growth and Soccer
The June 13 edition of USA Today featured the Top 10 largest cities in the United States that are growing the fastest. The Raleigh-Durham market came in at #4, trailing only Austin, TX (#1), San Francisco Bay Area (#2), and Seattle, WA (#3).
Meanwhile, in a recent edition of Sports Business Journal, author David Broughton did a ranking of the top 25 Soccer Cities in the United States. Los Angeles placed Number 1, but Raleigh-Durham, NC, ranked #21. The SBJ commented that investment in Soccer infrastructure such as stadiums and training centers drove much of the rankings, and our market can thank the leadership of the Triangle Sports Commission, the organization which landed the bid for the World University Games, for the vision and follow-through to create what is now WakeMed Soccer Park, Raleigh-Durham’s premier soccer venue, a 2029 World University Games Host Venue for Rugby 7s and Soccer. The 2029 World University Games will present an amazing opportunity to showcase the breadth and depth of soccer facilities in central North Carolina as the competition will take place at multiple top venues across our region
Recent and Upcoming News
This month, Melissa Hartzell, joined our North Carolina USA 2029 World University Games Organizing Committee staff as Development Director. Melissa has an extensive background in fundraising and development at non-profit organizations including most recently at the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and previously at the American Red Cross and American Heart Association. Our North Carolina Organizing Committee (NCOC) for the 2029 FISU World University Games is a 501(c)(3) charitable, non-profit corporation, and Melissa will be responsible for raising substantial grant funds, business contributions, and individual and family donations in support of the 2029 FISU World University Games.
Next month, actually next week to be exact, on Wednesday, July 9, we will be hosting our big 4-Yrs-2-Go Luncheon Celebration at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel off I-40 at Page Road in Durham. The Featured Speaker will be Cullen Jones, World University Games and Olympic Gold Medalist, NCAA Champion, World Record Holder, and former NC State Wolfpack Men’s Swimming star. Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Gerald Owens, noted television news host on WRAL-TV and Fox50 at Capitol Broadcasting Company, a 2029 World University Games Partner.
Sports Briefs
NCAA Division I Baseball: Earlier this month, over the weekend of June 6th through 9th, two Triangle universities, Duke and UNC Chapel Hill, both hosted Super Regional Tournaments as part of the NCAA Baseball Championships. Duke hosted Murray State on campus at Jack Coombs Field, while the UNC Tar Heels played Arizona that same weekend in Super Regional action at Boshamer Stadium, a 2029 World University Games venue. Unfortunately, neither team advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
NCAA Division II Baseball: Meanwhile, during that same timeframe (May 30 through June 7), Cary was hosting the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships for the 15th time in the last 17 years at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. This 10-day event with 8 top D-II teams competing for the Championship is a fan favorite. This year, Tampa University took home the Championship Trophy.
Soccer: Relatively nearby, at WakeMed Soccer Park, a 2029 World University Games Host Venue for Rugby 7s and Soccer, hosted The Soccer Tournament (TST). Referred to as the “world championship” of 7-v-7 Soccer, the TST field was comprised of 48 Men’s and 16 Women’s teams, all competing for a $1 million, winner-take-all, cash prize. This 6-day event, featuring teams from all over the world, had attendance of more than 51,700! Bumpy Pitch FC won the Men’s purse while the US Women’s National Team took home the women’s crown (and $1 million check) for the second year in a row. Simultaneously, the Town of Cary staged a 132-team youth soccer tournament called the Cary Cup that enabled the participating youth teams to secure tickets to the TST.
Track & Field: A number of athletes from universities in our North Carolina University Hub region, qualified for, and excelled at, the NCAA Track & Field Championships held at historic Heyward Field, at the University of Oregon, in Eugune, OR, from June 11-14. UNC Chapel Hill had four top finishers in Eugene. Ethan Strand received All American honors as he finished 2nd in the 1,500 meter run. Tommy Kitchell of UNC also made All American as he finished second in the Men’s Shot Put. Makayla Paige of UNC finished 2nd in the 800-Meter Run and received All American status as well. Tyson Adams, also of UNC, finished in 6th place in the Long Jump. NC State had two All-American performers in Eugene when Grace Hartman place 2nd in the 10,000 meters and 5th in the 5,000 meters while teammate Angelina Napoleon captured 3rd place in the Steeplechase. Not to be outdone Duke University had 4 First Team All-American honorees with Joseph Taylor 5th in the 400 meters, Simen Guttormsen 5th in Pole Vault, Christian Toro 8th in Hammer Throw, and Lauren Tolbert 5th in the 800 meters. Rounding out the top scorers at the NCAA Championships was Spirit Morgan of NC A&T State University who placed 9th in the High Jump.
Support the Games
Be a vital part of championing the world’s premier event for student-athletes! Bringing the 2029 World University Games to our state promises unparalleled economic advantages for our communities. Seize the chance to spotlight North Carolina on the global stage! Click below to explore the myriad of ways you can contribute and support the Games.
Don’t Forget to Shop Local and Support the WUG
Our online store features 2029 FISU World University Games t’s, polos, hoodies, tanks, caps, and more. Items come in a wide variety of colors, and the store has proven to be quite a popular online shopping destination. Don’t miss your opportunity to show your support of the 2029 FISU World University Games by snagging some excellent quality, name-brand clothing and caps!
Sponsor Thank You’s
We cannot thank our sponsors enough for their strong belief in, and generous support of, the 2029 World University Games. We encourage you to patronize their businesses and give them your own personal thanks when you do.
