JUNIOR NATS

A very quick update before we leave for the Team Relay event today, here in Lausanne.

Congrats to all athletes and coaches on their performances at Junior Nationals yesterday. From all accounts, it was an exciting race.

Congrats to our 2010 Junior National Champions: Joanna Brown (ON) and Matt Sharpe (BC) - great racing guys!

And a big congrats to the Ontario athletes: 4 podiums, and 5 guys in the top 10. Well done!

WHITFIELD BEMOANS LACK OF COMMITTED TRIATHLETES

Two-time Olympic medalist says there aren’t enough male competitors willing to work hard enough to succeed

MATTHEW SEKERES VANCOUVER
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 01:57PM EDT

Simon Whitfield always makes a point of visiting the discount Kelowna motel where he stayed in 1996 during his first visit to the Canadian triathlon championships, just to remember how far he has come and how humble his beginnings were.

Full article.

SPRINT AND TEAM WORLD CHAMPS

Lausanne to Host Sprint and Team World Champs this Weekend

Lausanne, the home of the Olympic Headquarters, will host both the first-ever ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships, as well as the ITU Team Triathlon World Championships this Saturday and Sunday. Over $100,000 in prize money will be up for grabs throughout the weekend of racing.

“We are very excited to host the ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championship and the ITU Team Triathlon World Championship in Lausanne, a city with a history of great sporting events,” said ITU President Marisol Casado. “The distances are short, exciting and we think the spectators and viewers will enjoy watching our athletes race at such a high intensity. The shorter distances present a great opportunity for our younger athletes to compete in the sport in a sustainable way.”

Full article.

SHE'S FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU.....OLD MAN

RACE WEEKEND

With two races behind us and two more this weekend, we're approaching the end of our trip.

After the Tiszy World Cup, we flew to Geneva and took a shuttle to Aix-Les-Bains, France, where we've settled in nicely. From here, it's a short trip to Geneva, and Lausanne (at least that was the plan). Due to a temporary closure of the rail line on Saturday, coach Greg and the boys had to take a long detour via bus & rail to get back to Aix from the pre-race meetings in Geneva, making for a long day of travel.

The Geneva ETU race was a tough one, with wind & rain throughout, cooler temps (13-15C) and a solid climb on each of the 6 laps of the bike. It was a good hard course, with some challenging conditions. Good stuff!   Some tough racing on the day from the boys; not the results we were looking for, but the guys handled the hurdles well and learned some lessons. The good news is that we have an opportunity to race again this weekend in Lausanne and make some changes. We'll be competing in the ITU Elite Sprint World Championships on Saturday, and the ITU Team Triathlon World Championships on Sunday. Some big names are entered in both events, presenting a great opportunity for the team to mix it up in some fast races.

Back home, there will no doubt be a drastic increase in sightings of compression socks and spandex as Elite, Junior and Age Group athletes descend on Kelowna, BC for the 2010 Canadian National Championships. Looks like big fields for both elite races (Men, Women), which should make for some great racing, too.

Alison & Greg in Geneva, enjoying the weather. 

ONTARIO SUMMER GAMES RESULTS

Mens Podium

1st: Rui Xu, 2nd: Myles Zagar, 3rd: Adrian Gavrilov

Womens' Podium

1st: Sasha Boulton, 2nd: Samantha Klus, 3rd: Heather Summers

Team Relay Podium

Thanks to Lorri Zagar for the podium pics. Congrats to all athletes and coaches on their hard work and success at the 2010 Ontario Summer Games Triathlons.


Mens' results.

Womens' results.

Relay results.

JR COACH MEETING AT KELOWNA

For any/all youth & junior coaches attending the upcoming National Championships in Kelowna, please consider attending the following meeting while you're there.

From National Youth Development Co-ordinator, Kristine Chambers:


Greetings to everyone,

Thank you for the feedback in regards to the meeting in Kelowna on the 21st.
The majority voted to meet following the Junior races.

**If you have not already done so, RSVP so we know who to expect.  Thank
you!


DATE
Saturday, August 21, 2010

TIME
1 hour after the completion of the Junior races

LOCATION
Ponderosa Place (near transition)

**We will make an announcement over the loud speakers if the location
changes

DETAILS
Expect the meeting to last 1 to 1.5 hours.  An agenda is below.  Following
the Junior Series discussions, Kurt Innes will give a special presentation
to review several areas from previous meetings (including the recording of
standards for Junior athletes) and progression to high performance.

REGRETS
Any one who is not attending Kelowna is invited to send in feedback prior to
the meeting so we summarize and present to those in attendance.  Please,
keep it as brief as possible! Thanks.

AGENDA
1)  Review 2010 Junior Series (feedback, suggestions, positives, "to be
improved" areas, etc.)

2)  Suggestions for 2011 Series (races, rules, one race per region,
etc.)

3)  Requisites for races applying to be considered for the Series

4)  14-15 draft legal events (progress, growth for 2011, etc.)

5)  Other KOS / Junior issues (as per requests from coaches)

6)  SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Kurt Innes, High Performance Director


Kristine Chambers
National Youth Development Coordinator, Triathlon Canada
E-mail: kristine chambers

EURO COMP TOUR

A-Mac and JP: "stride wars" in a park beside Lac du Bourget yesterday

A quick update from Aix-Les-Bains, France: Coach Greg Kealey and I have the great pleasure of working with a small group of athletes over three weeks of competition here in Europe. Jeff Phillips, Andrew McCartney and Andrew Yorke are here now, and we're looking forward to Alison Hooper joining us on Saturday. We started in Hungary with the ITU Tiszaujvaros World Cup where the boys raced hard and learned a lot. We're now in Aix-Les-Bains, France, recovering and preparing for the next events, and enjoying seeing the Aussie Team at the pool every morning. This coming weekend we'll be racing the ETU Geneva Continental Cup, and the following weekend we'll have back-to-back days of racing in Lausanne: ITU Elite Sprint World Championships on Saturday, and ITU Team Relay World Championships on Sunday.

A big thanks to coach James Loaring for leading the RTC squad in my absence, as they prep for Nationals.

The photo album of our 2010 European Competition Tour is here, and we'll update with pictures throughout the trip.

Don't forget to check out the ITU's coverage of the Kitzbuhel WCS this weekend. Paula Findlay will be back in action, after her big win in London. We'll be huddled around the laptops cheering.

OSG! OMG!

2010 Ontario Summer Games Triathletes at the opening ceremonies.

The Ontario Summer Games are underway in Sudbury, Ontario this week. Ontario's best 15-16 year old triathletes will race two events tomorrow: an individual triathlon in the morning, and a team relay event in the afternoon. Competition schedule here.

Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you to the coaches, parents, administrators and anyone else who supports these athletes. We wish everyone safe and fast racing, and a great Games experience!

TISZY WORLD CUP

Jeff Phillips leads Canadian Men at Triathlon World Cup in Hungary

August 8, 2010 

TISZAUJVAROS, Hungary—A trio of Canadian men finished in the middle of the pack at a World Cup triathlon race in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary on Sunday.

Jeff Phillips took advantage of a strong run to lead the young Canucks in 33rd spot after clocking a time of one hour, 51 minutes, five seconds (1:51:05). Victoria’s 21-year-old Phillips, who became the first winner in the sport of triathlon when it made its debut at the Canada Summer Games nearly one year ago, continues to take positive strides forward while competing internationally on Canada’s development squad.

Phillips was joined by two training partners, Andrew Yorke and Andrew McCartney. The 21-year-old Yorke of Caledon, Ont., who has battled through a series of injuries over the last year to win the ITU Pan American Cup in Quebec this summer, finished in 38th spot at 1:51:19.

Greg Kealey (Bytown Storm) and I are here in Tiszy with Andrew McCartney, Andrew Yorke and Jeff Phillips, on a 3 week competition tour of Europe (Tiszy, Geneva, Lausanne). We're looking forward to having Alison Hooper join us next week in time for the ITU World Sprint Championships and Team Relay Championships in Lausanne, SUI.

CLUB & CONFERENCE GRANTS

From CAC:

The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is now accepting applications for the next wave of Chevrolet’s Making Dreams Possible Club Coaching Grants. CAC is also accepting applications on an ongoing basis for grants, made available through Investors Group sponsorship, from organizations interested in hosting community coaching conferences.

Chevrolet’s Club Coaching Grant - This fall, another 50+ $2,000 grants will be awarded to community sport clubs across the country for coach training and development. The application deadline is September 27, 2010. Visit coach.ca/makingdreamspossible for more information and to apply online.

Investors Group Community Coaching Conferences Grants - Community Coaching Conferences are intended to both promote and supplement the National Coaching Certification Program. They offer an ideal opportunity for coach education, coach networking, and community involvement. CAC, through the sponsorship of Investors Group Inc., is pleased to provide financial assistance (from $600 to $1,200) to communities and organizations interested in hosting a Community Coaching Conference. For more information and to apply online, visit coach.ca/ig/e/ccc/about.htm.

A "TWO-HINTON RACE"

Most of the squad raced Provincials in Ottawa last weekend to kick off the training block into Kelowna Nationals. But for a few of the athletes, Ottawa wasn't the only race on the calendar. Both Alexander and Ian raced Magog the week before, followed by Ottawa (Saturday) and K-Town (Sunday). Alexander put himself on top of the podium in all three events (1st in Magog, 1st Junior (3rd overall) in Ottawa, 1st overall in K-Town sprint) for 3 wins in 8 days. Ian collected a fair bit of hardware in 8 days, too; 3rd in Magog, 2nd (Junior) in Ottawa, 2nd in K-Town (long course relay, with the fastest 15k run leg). Dorelle also did the Ottawa/K-Town double, winning Elite Provincials on Saturday, and crossing the finish line as the first female in the K-Town sprint the next day. Most impressive, Dorelle was 2nd overall at the K-Town sprint, making it a 1,2 finish for the Hinton siblings.

Domi Jamnicky (ByTown Storm) also raced 3 events in 8 days, adding 3 medals to her collection: 3rd at Magog, 2nd (overall & junior) at Ottawa, 2nd female (1st junior) at K-Town sprint. Finally, Blair Morgan raced the Ottawa/K-Town double, finishing as the top junior male (5th overall) at the K-Town sprint.

Judging by the poor choice of racing attire (ie. free hat acquired in Ixtapa) and lacklustre finish celebration, I think the heat and racing fatigue may have been getting to Alexander by Sunday morning.

Check out the The Kingston Whig Standard for a summary of the K-Town race, including a video interview with the Hintons, and some top notch recovery advice from Alexander. Also great to see Olympian Sharon Donnelly volunteering her time at the K-Town event!

Results here.

Congrats to all athletes and coaches, and a big thanks to the people who work so hard to organize and host these great events.

EDIT: A big congrats to Jamie Stephenson who did the Ottawa/K-Town double....but did the Long Course K-Town race (4th overall). Great job!