EDMONTON— Four Canadian triathletes from coast-to-coast put a silver lining around their home World Triathlon Cup weekend in Edmonton on Sunday.
Sidney Clement (Victoria) Tyler Mislawchuk (Oak Bluff, Man.), Isla Britton (Montreal), and Martin Sobey (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) swam, pedaled, and ran their hearts out to the podium, completing their four combined legs in the mixed relay in a time of 1:22:24.
“Pretty darn good. It was a fight all the way to the end. We thought we had a shot at a medal coming into today and we got a silver so it is wonderful,” said Mislawchuk – a three-time Olympian and the leader of the Canadian squad. “It’s nerve-wracking watching these races when you are a part of it. You can feel the stress and anxiety of each of the members on the team, but Marty did a great job in the last leg finishing it off and the girls did amazing, so it was a fun day for all of us.”
With Sophia Howell not cleared to race by Triathlon Canada’s medical staff, 21-year-old Sidney Clement was given the nod to suit up in the opening leg.
“I was super excited for the opportunity to be in the relay. I knew we had a really strong last three (on the team) and that I had to set us up well,” said Clement. I just really wanted to hand it off in a strong position.”
And that she did.
The youngster from Vancouver Island completed a strong opener for the Canucks that consisted of a 300-metre swim, 6.8-kilometre bike along Edmonton’s River Valley and 1.9-kilometre run in Hawrelak Park to set the early pace for the Canadian foursome
Clement handed things off to Tyler Mislawchuk in sixth place. The wily veteran took charge of his leg with a strong swim and bike with a pack of four athletes where he took his turn pulling and dragging through the high prairie winds. When foot hit pavement, Mislawchuk charged into the front, leading the world into the tagging zone.
“We won the mixed relay bronze in Chengdu earlier this year and now silver, so it’s been a great start to the season,” said Mislawchuk. “This weekend we’ve had a bunch of changes to our roster, but everyone has adapted well and come in and performed under pressure. That’s hard to do at any age but especially when you are young. I’m super proud of them all.”
Britton, a 22-year-old National Development Team member, took the penultimate leg for the Canucks. The scrappy Quebecer battled her way through the opening two disciplines before making her final mark on the run to set up Sobey for a medal-winning fight with a group of four, racing shoulder-to-shoulder.
“I knew we had the best anchor after Chengdu, so my job was probably the easiest today and that was to just keep us in the race. That is what I did,” said Britton. “I hung onto the girls. They were super speedy today. The run was super fun, so it was awesome.”
Sobey, known in Canadian triathlon circles as the man with the sprint finish, was set up perfectly for the closing leg, charging into the waters with France, Italy and the United States. He played his tactics perfectly working within the foursome that headed onto the two-lap run course together.
With the United States dropping off after the first loop when they were forced to serve a 10 second penalty, Sobey and the Italian athlete broke away.
“It was an awesome day. You sit in the tent for about an hour watching your teammates kill it and that pressure just builds and builds and builds,” said Sobey, who was drained from his sixth-place finish in Saturday’s individual race. “I was pretty tired and beat up from yesterday. You just hope the adrenalin takes over. On the run, I couldn’t quite match the Italians but racing at home you find another gear to hold off the other guys. I may not be our strongest athlete, but I am a gamer and I think this final leg suits me.”
The Italians broke the tape in a golden time of 1:22:17. France was third at 1:22:35.
