On Sunday, March 1st 2020, our ASRAB Calgary members took part in their very first triathlon at Repsol Sports Centre with Kronos Triathlon Club!
Triathlon is an athletic contest consisting of swimming, cycling and running. It became an Olympic sport in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, where Simon Whitfield of Canada won gold!
Simon has also received a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has participated in 4 Olympics in triathlon! We were honored to have Simon Whitfield make an appearance on Sunday at Repsol Sport Centre to cheer on our members and share some inspirational words to encourage our athletes to continue in triathlon.
The Kronos Triathlon event included 15 minutes of swimming in the pool, 15 minutes on a stationary bike and 15 minutes running on a track! Our members did very well and had a fantastic experience. Leading up to the event, ASRAB members were very fortunate to have another Olympic triathlete, Lisa Mensink, coaching our members to ensure success at the event. Lisa competed in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing and is a Kronos Performance Coach. ASRAB members also spoke with Jessica Tuomela, who is a triathlete that is aiming for the Paralympics in Tokyo 2020. Jessica was blinded from retinoblastoma since the age of 3 and started swimming at the age of 12. Jessica was introduced to triathlon while training alongside triathletes in the pool. Jessica’s Paralympic coach, Carolyn Murray, also helped prepare our members in the pool before the big day. Carolyn also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Lisa and finished in the top 30.
ASRAB is so proud of all of the people who came together in the sport of triathlon to support our members and is thrilled to have been included over the weekend in such a great event. We look forward to participating in the Kronos Triathlon event again in the future and we thank everyone who helped make this possible.
For more information on the Paralympic sport of triathlon, please watch this inspirational video featuring Jessica Tuomela below:
