Canada's Paula Findlay headlines Vancouver T100 triathlon world tour stop

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

When the commencement weapon goes disconnected Saturday for the Vancouver halt of the T100 Triathlon satellite tour, Canada's Paula Findlay volition beryllium focused connected being successful the moment.

That's due to the fact that the seasoned racer has learned, implicit a agelong career, that a take-it-as-it comes mentality is champion successful a grueling three-sport contention that lasts astir 4 hours. 

"There is simply a batch of pressure, particularly arsenic a Canadian racing successful Canada — you tin get truly overwhelmed by that," Findlay said. "And of people there's going to beryllium adversity and obstacles that travel up. But dealing with those and not getting stressed, that's the champion mode to get done these things." 

The 36-year-old, who represented Canada successful the 2012 and 2015 Olympics, is the headliner of a three-day multi-sport spectacular. Alongside the featured women's and men's pro races, different 3,000 amateurs volition enactment up for a slate of races running Friday done Sunday.

For the 100-kilometre distance, competitors aquatics 2 kilometres successful English Bay starting and ending astatine Locarno Beach, rhythm 80 kilometres implicit six loops connected Marine Drive astir the University of British Columbia campus, and past decorativeness with an 18-kilometre tally implicit 4 loops connected the gravel ft way on the formation retired to Spanish Banks and back.

The extremity for Findlay is to determination into the medals aft a 4th spot decorativeness successful San Francisco 2 weeks ago. 

"I deliberation I person a changeable astatine being connected the podium and that would evidently beryllium a dream. But I could besides person a large contention and travel 5th oregon sixth," she said. "It is truly crazy, these races are truthful competitive...so you truly can't foretell the outcome."

With 2 decades of planetary racing nether her belt, Findlay astir apt would person called it quits by present had the T100 satellite circuit not launched past year. 

The erstwhile Olympian is 1 of 32 planetary triathletes — 16 women and 16 men — who are nether declaration to the Professional Triathlon Organization (PTO), the institution that runs the tour. This twelvemonth alone, PTO volition payout salaries, prize wealth and ranking bonuses of implicit $7 cardinal dollars crossed 9 planetary T100 events. 

"The biggest quality is that they were offering a batch much wealth to professionals, a batch much races with elephantine prize purses wherever you truly could consciousness similar you could marque a surviving astatine this sport," she said. "Prior to the PTO coming along, it was truly conscionable the pointy end —  the apical 4 oregon 5 successful the satellite — that could marque a living." 

Boosting pistillate participation

There's besides information to get much females into the sport, which has historically seen a higher complaint of antheral participation.

At 34 per cent female, the Vancouver races boast the highest complaint ever of girls' and women's information successful a T100 event. 

"That's the extremity not conscionable for T100, but for maine personally, conscionable encouraging women to get into the sport, to beryllium active," Findlay said. "There's a batch that the athletics offers [and] it's truly chill Vancouver is doing that."

Helping the origin is Vancouver amateur Bronwyn Davies, who's racing this play successful the 30 to 34 property group. Davies utilized to ticker her fellow vie successful triathlons until 3 years agone erstwhile she decided to get disconnected the sidelines. 

The triathlon bug has bitten truthful hard Davies is present an age-group ambassador for the tour, helping signifier the Women successful Triathlon forum held Wednesday nighttime successful Vancouver, spreading the gospel that triathlon is for everyone.

"Community is the backbone of triathlon. It's what makes it amusive — everyone's truthful supportive and truly encouraging to each other," she said. "And having radical that I tin swim, motorcycle and tally with, and halt astatine cafes halfway done [our training], that truly is what makes each the difference," she laughed.

The pro men's contention is Saturday astatine 8:30 a.m., and the pro women's starts astatine noon. 

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