ONTARIO TRIATHLETES RACING WELL AROUND THE WORLD

ONTARIO TRIATHLETES RACING WELL AROUND THE WORLD

While Ontario age group athletes are getting outside for some of their
first rides in the cool winds of spring, the province's top elite athletes
are racing well around the world. Former OAT athlete of the year Sean
Bechtel equaled his best ever ITU race finish with a 5th place in Lima Peru
over the weekend. "My coach Barrie Shepley has me focused on bigger volumes
of training this winter and the race in Peru this weekend was a good
indication that my fitness is approaching an all-time high" said the Caledon
based C3 elite team-member. Bechtel spent January and February in Tucson
Arizona before moving with his C3 team-mates to Clermont Florida for March
and April. Bechtel opened the season two weeks ago with a podium finish at
the Clermont International Triathlon. While Bechtel raced in Peru, his
Ontario team-mates Kyle Jones and Colin Jenkins were racing in Mooloolaba
Australia at the World Cup Season-opener.
Jones and Jenkins have been training in Flagstaff Arizona with former
Kingston native Simon Whitfield. Jenkins used his powerful swim and bike
skills to make the first pack of thirteen athletes on the bike. Joining
Jenkins in the lead pack were 2007 World # 1 Javier Gomes from Spain,
Olympic Games silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, along with
Australian Olympian Craig Walton and American Andy Potts. Jenkins finished
a very respectable 19th place for his first Olympic points. The men's race
in Mooloolaba turned into a battle of the world's top runners as Brad
Kahfeldt and Javier Gomes battle each other right to the finishing line. In
the end, Kahfeldt the Commonwealth Games Gold-medalist out sprinted Gomes to
claim his fifth victory of his career. Oakville's Kyle Jones, a former Kids
of Steel champion had the day's third fastest run and finished in 22nd spot.
Edmonton's Paul Tichelaar equaled his life-time best World-Cup finish with a
7th place finally tally.
Vancouver's Lauren Groves, the winner of the 2006 Canadian National
Championships held in Brampton Ontario, raced to Canada's top finish in 13th
place. The women's race was a battle between 3x World Champion Emma
Snowsill and the Portuguese super-star Vanessa Fernades. In the end,
Snowsill's world-class running was able to stop Fernades's 12 consecutive
world-cup wins in a row (tying the all time record she equaled with the
great Emma Carney). Canadian junior super-star Kirsten Sweetland of
Victoria British Columbia, proved her 2006 World Junior Title was no fluke
by finishing 15th and collecting Olympic Points for the second time in he
young pro career.
Lauren Groves who went to school at Queens University in Kingston
Ontario said "That was a tough start to the season, the first race of the
year always feels so fast and with so many great athletes racing and the
difficult conditions, it gives you a good indication of where your fitness
is at. I am satisfied with that start to the season, as I look to be firing
for the Olympic selection races and World championships later on in the
summer."
Former Olympian Samantha McGlone was well behind out of the water and
was never able to make up the distance on the fast bike and run course.
McGlone focused predominantly on the 70.3 distance in 2006 winning the World
Championship at that distance. The woman who was second to McGlone at the
70.3 World Championships last year was Caledon's Lisa Bentley. Bentley is
currently in Australia in her final preparations for this weekend's Ironman
Australia event. Bentley has won the race five times in the past and is
trying to go after her record sixth Ironman Australia victory.
Sydney Olympic Gold-medalist Simon Whitfield will be making his season
debut in Ishagki Japan on April 15th, where Jones and Jenkins will be racing
once again. Many of Ontario's top elite men and women will next be racing
at the Tampa Bay St Anthony's Triathlon at the end of April. "With many
World Championship qualifiers for juniors, age groupers and elite athletes
occurring in June this year, it is important for the province's most
motivated athletes to be prepared much earlier then normal" said former
Olympic coach Barrie Shepley. You can see all the results from Peru and
Mooloolaba at the ITU website at www.triathlon.org