The Wasa Triathlon has come and gone, but it was no less than a fantastic weekend for all of the athletes.
On June 8-9 hundreds of triathlon athletes converged at Wasa Park to take part int he annual event that included the standard, sprint and Trikids triathlon.
“It was a beautiful weekend luckily it turned out fine. Both days we had flat water for the swim portion, which people enjoyed. The sun came out both days and it was really nice on Sunday for the adults,” said Charlie Cooper, organizer.
On Saturday, Cooper notes there were around 160 kids for the Trikids event and on Sunday there were between 425-450 adults take part in the solo and relay triathlons.
This year Olympic athlete Catriona Le May Doan participated in her first ever triathlon. Le May Doan has won two gold medals and a bronze in the Olympic games as a speed skating athlete.
“She was awesome,” said Cooper. “She was great to have around all weekend, she was around Saturday for the kid’s event, and I got to meet her on Friday night … it was wonderful to have her around, and hopefully, a lot of athletes got to meet her, and some volunteers too.”
This was the first triathlon that Le May Doan has participated, as she competed with friends and family.
“She did the sprint, and I saw her afterward. She had a big smile on her face,” said Cooper.
With a successful weekend fully wrapped up, Cooper said the highlight for him was that everyone was safe and sound.
“Triathlon is a bit of a tricky sport because people are in the lake, and they all battle and the conditions. They also go on the highway and do some cycling, so for me to get through an event and everyone safe. The second part is everyone is happy with the event, with their efforts, with the whole Wass experience. It seems like this year just like every year that people are really happy coming out and enjoying this area,” he said.
However, the Trikids Triathlon also proves to be a highlight race to watch.
“They are so into it and they can also be distracted, it brings a lot of laughs to people. It’s really neat to watch,” said Cooper.
With the many people who took part in the weekend events, Cooper said he hoped everyone had a good time.
“And that they walked away feeling proud of their accomplishment,” added Cooper.
With all of the work that went on the make a successful event, Cooper says it couldn’t have been done without the many volunteers.
“We have a committee of about 20 people that do a little bit of meeting ahead of time and over the weekend, put in a lot of hard work. But, we also have up to 250 volunteers for the weekend … it takes a massive team effort to put on this event. I want to thank everybody from the committee members to all the volunteers that all chipped in to make it super successful,” he said.
A full list of results can be found online at www.rmevents.com.