Simon Whitfield - One of a Kind

WOW!  

In case you missed it Simon Whitfield took home the gold in a 5-way sprint at the Hy-Vee ITU Elite Cup today. The Hy-Vee is the biggest payday in triathlon at $200,000 to the winner and it attracts all of the best athletes.

Simon had to outsprint the 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist (Jan Frodeno), the 2008 World Champion (Javier Gomez) and two of triathlon's top sprinters - Bran Kahlefeldt and Kris Gemmell.

As Canadian triathletes we need to really pay attention right now because Simon is our Wayne Gretzky.  We won't always have a threat to win the big races, we won't always have someone in the hunt with 1km to go...  Enjoy these times.  I know one day I'll be sitting in a rocking chair telling my grandkids about Simon Whitfield.

I'm not saying our up and coming Canadian athletes don't look good...  quite the opposite - they look great - even out there today!  

Simon, however, is one-of-a-kind.

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Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron Triathlon Photos

[Photo link at bottom of post.... if you find one of yourself please take it - just leave me a note in the comments... Thanks!]

Sunday was the Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron.

If you are going to slap a grand title like that on a race it better be good - and this one is awesome!

Although the race was by no means large (around 300 competitors in the 1/2, Oly, and Sprint) it is star-studded (simon whitfield, brent mcmahon, jasper blake, katya meyers, lisa mensink), well organized, and in one of the most beautiful venues you can imagine.  I had to hand it to Lifesport - they have a great event - and kudos to my friend John Botelho who is the race director.

This event is pencilled into my race calendar for next year.

This year I was supporting my good buddy Kevin who was racing on his 307th birthday....  just kidding Kev....

Also, Vincent, who I met right here in the blogosphere...

And, Mark Shorter, who I know a little from the North Shore racing community...

Before I get ahead of myself.....  the trip started with a 10 minute ride to the ferry in Horseshoe Bay - rather uneventful except for the flat I got.  Of course I had NOTHING - no tube, no tire levers, no pump, no co2, zip, zilch.... all on my other bike.  Luckily I ran into a super nice couple that had everything - they patched my tire and I was good to go on the other side.  [Note:  Karma...  I always help people with flats - it's my policy.  When my turn came the first person I asked basically had every single thing I needed....  it was awesome.]

Upon exiting the ferry I promptly took a wrong turn and rode north for 5 minutes...  (no map either.)  Normally I am like a sea turtle (as my good friend Llorn always says) when it comes to direction - not this time.  After that issue was sorted, I settled in for a quick and highly enjoyable 55km on loooooong rollers south to Duncan where Kevin and I met for dinner.

Kevin had lined up a B&B called Shirley's Cozy Nest.  Fortunately the nest featured a cot for yours truly...  placed conveniently at the foot of Kevin's 200 sq.ft king size bed.  I fell asleep watching sweet triathlon movies from the 90's - that decade was tragic for triathlon style.

You really MUST click on this one to see it full size...

Anyway, I shouldn't turn this into a full report since I wasn't even racing...  my boys all did really well - Kevin PR'd, Vince rocked it and took 5th among the men, and Mark Shorter took 2nd in his age group.

I had a blast taking photos (and I am getting better!) but left VERY hungry for Escape from Alcatraz in a few weeks.  One can only do so much watching.

Here are a few more from Sunday:

Simon Whitfield did the 1/2 swim and the Olympic Swim/Bike...

Katya Meyers about 1km into the run...

Race Leader...  not sure who it was at this point...

A few minutes before the cannon....

Damn it LeBron... 

Here is a link to all my photos from Sunday:

Shawnigan Lake 1/2 Iron Triathlon

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Trip Highlights

Apart from being re-elected to the board there weren't too many highlights from this trip.  It was mostly meetings.

This was the view from my hotel room:

And this is the CN Tower on a cold, wet night:

On Saturday I had the pleasure of meeting Simon Whitfield - Triathlon Canada had flown him out to give a presentation and slideshow to the board.  He is such an engaging guy - lots of great stories and lots of passion for the sport and for life.  

We chatted for a minute or two... I wasn't too proud to ask for a photo, "Sure!  Let me grab my medals..."  He reached into a little bag and out popped a pretty beaten up gold from Sydney and a significantly fresher silver from Beijing.  I looked at them for quite a while....  kind of speechless.  It's not that the medals themselves are that amazing - it's what they represent.  For me it's those moments in time that I, and millions of Canadians, remember: exactly where they were when Simon won gold, and when he won silver.  Jumping up and down, heart pounding,  then replaying it again and again for Mattias (and for myself.)

I didn't really know what to say so I probably said something like "Wow, cool!" or some other nerdy thing...  

Simon's the man in my books.

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