Triathlon Canada – Para-triathletes Jessica Tuomela, Kamylle Frenette and Jon Dunkerley shine at World Cup in Quebec

HAMBURG, Ger.—A great swim, smart ride on the bike and a steady run led Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk to a solid eighth-place finish at the prestigious World Triathlon Series sprint race in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who posted a career-best fourth-place finish earlier this summer, was back mixing it up with the sport’s elite when he clocked an eighth-place time of 53:52.

“I am happy with the effort today. Anytime you can score a top-10 finish with the best guys in the world is a good day and you can’t take that for granted,” said the Oak Bluff, Man. resident, who is part of Triathlon Canada’s National Performance Centre. “It’s now all about the recovery and refocus for tomorrow’s (Mixed Team World Championship) relay.”

The 2006 Olympian took advantage of one of his best 750-metre swims in World Triathlon Series racing where he came out of the water with the leaders in the top-five. After some early bike issues, he was able to tactically work his way into a large chase pack with Canadian teammate, Matt Sharpe (Victoria). Following the technical and narrow 20-kilometre bike ride, Mislawchuk charged into second transition 20 seconds behind three of the sport’s biggest names. Mislawchuk held his own on a two-lap, five-kilometre run that turned into an all-out sprint to secure his second top-10 WTS finish this year.

“We are always looking for more, but this was another piece in the puzzle of consistency for Tyler after a difficult 2017 season. He was just outrun by some older superstars of our sport,” said Jono Hall, head coach, National Performance Centre.

Spain’s Mario Mola closed a 20 second gap on a trio of leaders after the first lap of the run and never looked back, bolting to a golden time of 53:24. Vincent Luis, of France, was with a trio of leaders in the swim, bike and run – holding on for a silver-medal time of 53:29. Richard Murray, of South Africa, also charged from the chase pack out of second transition to clock a bronze-medal time of 53:32.

Canada’s Sharpe was steady through all three disciplines en route to a 25th place finish at 54:28.

Two Canadians also suited up for the women’s race. Joanna Brown, of Carp, Ont., placed 34th (1:00:56), while Amelie Kretz, of Blainville, Que., finished 38th (1:01:18).

Cassandre Beaugrand, of France, shocked the world to capture not only her first career podium, but first win. Beaugrand finished with a time of 58:06.

Germany’s Laura Lindemann was second at 58:36. Katie Zaferes, of the United States, rounded out the podium in third place with a time of 58:37.

Complete men’s and women’s results:

Canada’s Para-triathletes Shine at Home in Quebec

Canada’s top para-triathletes turned up the heat on a rainy day at a home Para-triathlon World Cup race in Magog, Que. on Saturday.

Jessica Tuomela (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and her guide Lauren Babineau (Victoria), Kamylle Frenette (Moncton, N.B.), along with Jon Dunkerley (Ottawa) and his guide James Cook (Victoria) all won their individual race categories.

Tuomela and Babineau, who joined forces this year, posted a golden time of 1:12:51.5 in the women’s visually impaired category.

“We worked really well together today. We knew we had a good ride when the other men’s teams were patting us on the back saying how impressed they were,” said Tuomela. “This race was our race, and we fought hard together. We pushed each other the all day, but never forgot to have fun along the way.”

Frenette, who won a silver in her first career elite para-triathlon race last month, posted the fastest women’s time of the day, winning the PTS5 category with a time of 1:10:21.6.

“The swim was tough. It felt like a wave pool out there, but the bike went well and the run was awesome,” said Frenette. “It was nice to have a flat course on the run. It was great day all around.”

Jon Dunkerley and his guide, James Cook also won the men’s visually impaired classification, finishing the sprint distance race with a time of 1:06:19.2.

Rookie para-triathlete, Lyne-Marie Bilodeau, was the top time in the women’s PTS2 division at 1:42:46.1.

Complete Para-triathlon results:

Canada’s National Team athletes will now travel to Edmonton for a series of races July 27-29.

ABOUT TRIATHLON CANADA

Triathlon Canada is the governing body of the sport in the country. Triathlon Canada’s more than 22,000 members include athletes, coaches and officials from the grassroots to elite levels. With the support of its valued corporate partners – 94 FORWARD, 2XU Canada, Training Peaks, Garneau, Zizu Optics and Zone3– along with the City of Victoria, Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, and Own the Podium, Triathlon Canada develops Olympic, Paralympic and World Champions in all race disciplines. For more information on Triathlon Canada, please visit us at www.triathloncanada.com.

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For More Information on Triathlon Canada:

Chris Dornan                                                                        

Triathlon Canada                

T: 403-620-8731                                                 

E-mail: chris.dornan@triathloncanada.com