Posted: June 27, 2006

Triathlon: Canada’s best are coming to Brampton

The HSBC Triathlon National Championships are coming faster than you can say swim-bike-run! And that means most of the countries top Olympic Distance racers will be on hand trying to win the coveted National Championships on July 2nd in Brampton.

This race will be loaded with drama and should provide a terrific environment for the spectators says long time coach Barrie Shepley. “I expect the race to be wide open with so many possibilities. I think we can safely say this race will come down to the wire in both Elite categories.” Asked who he thought the favourites were and Shepley responded, “A number of people can win this race, Sam McGlone and Simon Whitfield – the defending champions - will have their work cut out for them.”

The start of the 2006 race season has been nothing short of sensational for many of Canada’s top triathletes. Never before has Canada had so many different athletes excel in world-wide competition. Shepley says more elite women and men have shown that they’re in World Cup shape then ever before. “At no time in Triathlon Canada’s 20+ years have we had both super stars (Whitfield and McGlone) as well as many truly international elite women and now finally men.”

Shepley, who sees every World Cup race as a commentator added, the depth of the Canadian competitors has increased substantially and that should make for a great race on July 2nd. “Besides the usual Whitfield, McMahon, McGlone and Savege, are bright new names like Tichelaar, Tremblay, Groves, Jones and Jenkins. Each of these names has a bona fide chance to be in the top 10 of a World cup and the ability to win a Continental Cup race.”

Lauren Groves, from Victoria, is ranked 5th in the latest World Cup Rankings and is the highest ranked Canadian Olympic Distance racer. Groves has been dominant in the early stretch of the 2006 season, including a victory at the ITU Roatan Bay Islands Pan American Cup. Lauren’s career best ranking is largely due to three top-6 performances at World Cup races (5th in Ishigaki in April, 6th in Mazatlan in May and 4th at Richards Bay in mid June) in the last 2 months.

Not to be outdone, Kathy Tremblay, a 23-year-old from Montreal, won the Pan American Championships in Brasilia on June 4th and earned her first ever podium in a World Cup race in Mazatlan on May 7th when she finished third. Tremblay is now ranked 27th on the ITU World Cup Rankings and 29th on the ITU Points List – both career highs.

Defending National Champion, Samantha McGlone, from Otterburn, Quebec was ranked 12th on the ITU Points list last season. Thanks to victories at the Caledon Continental Cup and the Kelowna Pan American Cup, along with her ninth-place finish at the World Championships in Gamagori, Japan and three top-10 World Cup finishes McGlone was the highest ranked Olympic Distance Elite racer in 2005. So far this season, McGlone has been very busy; however, the HSBC Brampton Nationals will be her first Olympic Distance race of the year.

On the Men’s side Paul Tichelaar, from Edmonton, has been hotter than a firecracker in 2006. An unexpected 8th place finish at the Commonwealth Games in March and an impressive victory on June 4th at the Pan American Championships has Tichelaar’s confidence as high as it’s ever been. “I really want to improve from my third place at last year’s Nationals. It’s tough having to go up against a giant like Simon Whitfield – but I’m going to give him a run for his money. It’s difficult to get over that mental obstacle of beating a legend like Simon. I am trying to convince myself he is not unbeatable.” Tichelaar is currently the highest ranked male athlete on the ITU Points List at #40 – one spot ahead of Simon Whitfield.

Speaking of success at Major Games is there anyone with more charisma and drawing power than Simon Whitfield? Over the last decade we’ve seen Peter Reid, Lori Bowden and Heather Fuhr win Ironman World Championships, but in many ways Triathlon in Canada will be forever linked to the awesome performance of Simon Whitfield when he won the sport’s first ever Olympic gold medal in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Whitfield is an icon in the triathlon community and he’s attempting to win his 6th National Championship next weekend in Brampton. Although he only competed in four races in 2005, he finished the season with a World Cup Ranking of 25th. Highlighting his season was a sixth place finish at the World Championships in Gamagori, and his gold medal at the Pan American Cup in Kelowna. Whitfield, from Victoria has one World Cup start in ’06 – a ninth in Mazatlan; however, in this race Whitfield beat Brad Kahlefeldt – ranked #1 in the most recent World Cup Rankings. Whitfield is the defending Canadian champion and the heavy favourite to win his 6th National Championship.

Last year’s silver medallist at the National Championships, Victoria’s Brent McMahon, is part of a group of 4 or 5 guys who have a chance of upsetting perennial winner Whitfield. McMahon finished 12th at the Commonwealth Games and was 30th in his first World Cup of the season in early May in Mazatlan.

Kyle Jones and Colin Jenkins are two young guns with tons of potential and according to Whitfield; both have the heart of a Lion. “Kyle’s awesome, he’s the reason I am working so hard. He’s the reason I go to bed early at night. Kyle Jones and Colin Jenkins have so much courage; they have no fear of training. There is no complacency in these guys – the sky is the limit for these kids.” Jones, a 21-year-old from Oakville, Ontario, finished 14th in a World Cup race in Mazatlan earlier in May and in the process beat last year’s U-23 World Champion, American, Jarrod Shoemaker. Jenkins, from Hamilton, finished 16th at the Commonwealth Games in March and just recently was 6th at the Pan American Championships in Brasilia.

For more information on the HSBC Brampton Nationals: www.c3online.ca

Triathlon Canada is the National Federation for the Sport of Triathlon and Duathlon in Canada.

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