A lack of funding for a triathlon in Honolulu has forced USA Triathlon to change the venue of the next chance for an American man and woman to qualify for the Olympics to Tuscaloosa, Ala. on April 19.

The athletes won’t be swimming 1,500 meters in the Pacific, nor biking for 40 kilometers with a tropical breeze at their backs, nor running for 10K along a palm-tree lined beach. The race will have a collegiate feel, being run on a course near the University of Alabama. But their destination is the same for the top U.S. man and woman: Beijing.

The Olympic qualifier will be part of a weekend of multisport April 19-20 in Tuscaloosa. Collegiate Nationals, which was already slated to return to the city in 2008, will take place on Saturday morning, with the Trials race to follow in the afternoon.

St. Louisan Sarah Haskins will be there, hoping to qualify. She finished 11th at the first qualifer, in Beijing in September, the second American behind Laura Bennett, so Haskins will be one of the favorites in April.

Haskins finished the World Cup triathlon season eighth overall, just behind Bennett.