Posted: July 9, 2006

Triathlon: Sweetland Wins Again

2-time Junior National Triathlon Champion Kirsten Sweetland crossing the finish line - Photo: Triathlon Canada

Kirsten Sweetland continued her dominance in North America winning her second straight Junior National Triathlon Championships today in Edmonton. Sweetland led the race from wire-to-wire and was never threatened en route to her second National Championship this year. Sweetland has not lost a race in over 10 months dating back to last year’s World Championships. Sweetland, a 17-year-old from Victoria, has two more chances at the Canadian championships before her junior career is finished, Sweetland could walk away with an unprecedented 4-in-a-row.

Sweetland beat Sarah-Anne Brault of Winnipeg in convincing fashion and has been perfect so far this year. Kirsten also won the National Duathlon Championships in Hamilton in late May with the same 1-2 finish – crossing the finish line a few seconds ahead of Brault. Today’s race was not as close – Sweetland defeated Brault by 87 seconds and finished the race in 1:01:48. Brault, known for her world class running as she won a silver medal at the Canada Games in the 5,000 metre run with a time of 17:23, lost the race on the swim when she came out of the water 66 seconds behind Sweetland. Brault fought hard on the run but wasn’t able to make up any ground and finished with a time of 1:03:15.

Paula Findlay, of Edmonton, finished third in a time of 1:03:45. Findlay, a newcomer to the sport, has had some great results in 2006. Paula won the Alberta Junior Championships in May and followed that up with a victory in the first Development Series event in St. Malo.

Sweetland had great success last year winning both the Canadian Junior championships in Caledon, Ontario and the U.S. Junior National Championships in Bellingham, Washington - the first Canadian to ever accomplish this double. Kirsten continued her winning streak two weeks ago in St. Malo when she won the Under 23 event. With this dominating win today, Kirsten is firing on all cylinders at the right time of the season and looks to be unstoppable heading into the busiest stretch of the season,

Triathlon Canada’s High Performance Director, Tom Patrick, who watched the race live was really impressed with the top-3 finishers. “I think we have a great shot at a podium at the World Championships. These were great performances today from an international racing perspective and a medal at the World Championships is very much in the cards.”

On the Men’s side, Steven Duplinsky, from Kensington, Maryland, the reigning World Champion easily won the overall junior men’s race conquering the 750m swim, 20km bike and the 5km run in 55:41.

Blair Peters, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg, second overall, won the National Championship on the strength of his run – Peters had the second best time of the day and crossed the finish line in 56:40 – 59 seconds behind Duplinsky. Today’s win is Blair’s second National Championship – as a 16-year-old Peters won the 2005 Junior National Duathlon Championship and just 2 weeks ago, Blair won the first Development Series Event in St. Malo.

American Willy Pickhardt from Fayetville, Arkansas, was third overall in a time of 57:16.

Andrew McCartney, from Victoria, the 2004 National Junior Champion finished second in today’s National Championships. McCartney came out of the water first with a blistering swim time of 8:53 but could not hang on and finished 40 seconds behind Peters with a time of 57:20. McCartney, who finished third at last year’s Junior National Championships, came in second two weeks ago in St. Malo. McCartney, a 19-year-old, finished 17th at last year’s World Championships and was second overall in the Development Series.

The bronze medal went to 19-year-old Willie Bell from Winnipeg; Bell was just 6 seconds behind McCartney and finished in a time of 57:26. Bell placed 6th at last year’s Junior National Championships and was 7th overall in the Development Series. 14 days ago in St. Malo, Bell finished 4th in an extremely tight race.

Patrick, now living in Victoria, said the Canadian junior men are looking great at the right time of the year. “It’s phenomenal to see such great results from our guys – we have 3 world class junior athletes who are all improving from event to event.”

An additional feature to the Edmonton event is the Canada/USA Junior Challenge where the top finishers from each country determine the winner of the male and the female challenge. Unlike last year, Canada won the junior women’s event convincingly and squeaked out a victory on the junior men’s side to win the overall challenge.

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

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