Unless this weather-change thing is worse than hyped, there won’t be any snow in Sooke on Aug. 7 for Ashleigh McIvor.
But the 2010 Winter Olympics ski-cross champion will still feel at home in the Sooke Triathlon.
“Winter or summer, I’m always outside playing,” said the native of Whistler, who also knows the Island well from surfing at Sombrio Beach and Tofino.
McIvor, an avid cyclist, will use the Sooke race for cross-training as she continues to recover from an ACL injury sustained in January at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo.
The race is part of the 2011 Subaru Western Triathlon Series, which begins May 29 with the Shawnigan Lake Half Iron followed by the Saunders Subaru Elk Lake Half Iron on June 19, the Vancouver Triathlon July 3, the Sooke race Aug. 7 and Banff International Triathlon on Sept. 10.
Growing from 750 combined competitors in its inaugural year in 2007 to an anticipated 5,000 this year, this has become the largest triathlon series in Canada.
Last year’s 4,000 combined competitors in the series came from eight provinces, 18 American states and 14 countries.
“This series will help me prepare for London qualifying races,” said Brent McMahon of Victoria, referring to the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The 2004 Athens Summer Olympian, and 2007 Rio Pan Am Games silver medallist, has been out 19 months with knee tendonitis and is also on the comeback trail. But unlike McIvor, who has about three years until the next Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, McMahon’s turnaround time is growing short with the Summer Games up next year in London.
“The period to earn points for London qualifying began in June of 2010 and runs through June of 2012,” he said.
“My knee feels strong. I plan to do the Shawnigan Lake and Elk Lake races, as training events, in-between my World Cup race schedule, in which Olympic qualifying points are up for grabs. And if I win gold at the Pan Am Games [in October at Guadalajara, Mexico], that will get Canada another [third] men’s spot in the London Olympics.”
The summer sporting schedule is much less stressful for McIvor.
“But my whole family is super-competitive in whatever we do,” said the firstever female Olympic gold medallist in ski-cross, which made its Winter Games debut in 2010 in her hometown.
“I have swum in open water because of surfing on the Island here and in Mexico and Bali, and I love cycling, but I’m not a runner and maybe that gives me a goal to work toward.”
Winter sports, with athletes hurtling down ski, luge and skeleton runs at high speeds, tend to be more dangerous than summer sports.
“I’m more of an adrenaline junkie than an endurance junkie, but I’m really excited to give this [triathlon] a try,” said McIvor.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
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