Canadian Triathlon Women Celebrate Golden Weekend at Pan American Cup Races
—Chantell Widney and Kathy Tremblay strike gold, four other Canadians reach podium—
MONROE, Wash.—Canada’s triathlon women enjoyed a golden weekend at Pan American Cup races across the continent.
Edmonton’s Chantell Widney ran away with her first-ever ITU Pan American Cup triathlon victory on Saturday in Monroe, Washington, while Montreal’s Kathy Tremblay claimed her first victory of the season by winning the ITU Pan American Cup race in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec onSunday.
Following the Canadian path to the international podium set this year by her fellow Edmontonian, Paula Findlay, the 30-year-old Widney took down some of the world’s best athletes at the Monroe event just east of Seattle after clocking a winning time of two hours, one minute, 35 seconds (2:01:35).
“I’ve never won an international race so this feels so great,” said the mother of a three-year-old and part-time professional who works with amputees at the University of Alberta while training full time.
Widney got off to a strong start in the 1.5-kilometre swim with only a small gap separating her from the frontrunners. After wasting little time to bridge the gap on a fast 40-kilometre bike, Widney took full advantage of her running strength where she opened up a 45 second gap on the field heading into the bell lap of the 10-kilometre course to win her first race.
Widney’s previous best results were second-place finishes in Pan American Cup races in San Francisco and Coteau-du-Lac, Que.last year, along with a 10th place finish at a World Cup in Huatuloco, Mexico.
Kaitlin Shiver, of the United States was second at 2:01:49, while fellow-American Annie Warner rounded out the women’s podium in third place with a time of 2:02:00.
The Canadian charge to the podium didn’t end in the women’s race on Saturday.
Victoria’s Andrew Russell also captured his first podium finish when he darted to the bronze-medal position on the podium in the men’s race. The 31-year-old Russell clocked a third-place time of 1:52:21.
The Americans grabbed the top-two spots on the men’s podium with Hunter Kemper clocking-in at 1:49:51 for the gold medal, while Ben Collins locked up second place with a time of 1:52:06.
While they didn’t finish on the podium, two other Canadians also had a solid outing in Washington. Victoria’s Andrew McCartney posted a ninth-place time of 1:54:05, while Vancouver’s Martina Wan was also ninth at 2:10:49 in the women’s race.
The golden streak did continue into Sunday as the Canadian women swept the podium at the Pan American Cup race in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec. The 2008 Olympian and member of Canada’s Team Teck World Cup squad posted a winning time of 2:07:20.
“It was a good opportunity to do a race 20 minutes from home and those girls were really aggressive today,” said Tremblay, who had been relaxing at home over the last week since returning from the World Championship Series in Europe. “You need to take breaks during the season, but that was a kick in the butt today telling me the holidays are over and it is time to get going. I have no regrets. That was a good challenge today and I’m happy I got the win in front of my family.”
Calgary’s Alexandra Coates enjoyed her first Pan American podium finish after crossing the line in second spot with a time of 2:07:44, while Manon Letourneau, of Quebec City, thrilled the hometown crowd with a bronze-medal finish after stopping the clock at 2:08:57
Alexander Yorke, of Caledon, Ont., won his first medal in a year when he finished second in the men’s race.
The 22-year-old Yorke took advantage of a strong swim where he was able to put together a fast bike with the leaders who opened up a gap of 90 seconds as the athletes headed out of the second transition.
“It was a good swim, but my focus was on having a solid bike,” said Yorke, who won the Coteau-du-Lac stop one year ago. “I just kept it together as long as possible, and tried to race the three-to-four guys who were with me.
My coach Barrie Shepley and I set out two key workouts to prepare for the Edmonton World Cup, and I think this is the perfect preparation as it was good, hard effort.”
Ethan Brown, of the United States, won the men’s race with a time of 1:54:45. Germany’s Paul Schuster, took home the bronze at 1:55:18.
Meanwhile, Chantell Widney will now head to herhometown with many of Canada’s top triathletes and medal winners over the weekend to compete in her first World Cup of the 2011 season, July 10, in front of her friends and family in Edmonton.
“It is a little nerve racking that my first World Cup is going to be in my hometown in front of my family, but I am definitely excited,” said Widney. “I don’t have lots of international experience so the race for me is all about the swim. I know I will have to have a strong swim if I want to do well.”
For a complete list of results, including all of the 13 Canadian men and women’s athletes, that hit the start line in Monroe, Washington, please visit www.triathlon.org/events/event/2011_monroe_itu_triathlon_pan_american_cup/
Complete results from Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec can be found at www.sportstats.ca.
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