This past August, LYNX club member, Peter, participated in the London T100 event. If unfamiliar, the T100 Triathlon World Tour is a series of professional and amateur triathlon races with 100km distance events (2k swim, 80k bike, 18k run). Races take place in iconic locations around the world including Qatar, Dubai, Singapore, and the French Riviera. These events are a long course option similar to Ironman 70.3 (1.9k swim, 90k bike, 21.1k run). Here’s what Peter had to say about his experience at the event:
“The race went well, and I genuinely enjoyed the whole experience. The swim took place in a surprisingly pleasant dock area with relatively clean salt water. Sighting was easy for the most part, except for one stretch facing directly into the bright sun. I could have pushed a bit harder in the water, but I chose to take it easy and conserve energy for later.
The bike course was incredible – three loops right through the heart of London on fully closed roads. Conditions varied from smooth stretches to a few rougher sections, but overall, it was an amazing ride. I think I under-fuelled slightly, which made the early part of the run tougher as I worked to recover, but otherwise the bike went smoothly.
The run was hot, crowded, and quite exposed—not exactly ideal conditions—but the atmosphere more than made up for it. The course was lined with enthusiastic spectators, giving it an electric energy. The finish line was also a highlight, set inside a convention centre with loud music and tons of cheering fans.
One of the best parts of the T100 events is getting to watch the pro races. Both times I’ve raced, (in London and T100 Lake Las Vegas in Oct 2024) I was a bit busy and only managed to catch parts of the pro races, but it’s still really inspiring to see those athletes in action up close.”
Then, about 2 months later, Peter headed to Wollongong Australia for the World Championship finals where he competed in the Sprint and Mixed Relay events.
“I qualified at the Do North Sprint Triathlon in Edmonton last August 2024. I didn’t expect to qualify but had a surprisingly good race for me.
Wollongong was my first World Triathlon Championship experience. The logistics were kind of complicated because in addition to accepting my spot and paying my race fees, I had to make travel arrangements to Australia, order a Team Canada kit and parade uniform, and watch out for other emails from Triathlon Canada with important information. It was an amazing and rewarding experience representing Canada and racing and hanging out with other Team Canada teammates.
The coolest thing about the experience was probably the excitement of race morning, and especially the countdown to the race while lining up with the other competitors in my age group. We were all excited, hyping each other up as they counted us down with music and a loud and deep-pitched base drum sound.
When the gun went off it was chaos to the first buoy, and from there a hectic but fun swim. The energy coming out of the water was epic, with throngs of people lining the exit shoot and cheering us on. Even though I didn’t place very high in my age group, it was very rewarding crossing the finishing line.
The race venue and sprint course were cool. It was held in a medium-sized city on the beach with a laid-back atmosphere. There were some nice mountains nearby, which I explored on my bike leading up to the race. The racecourse itself was really cool, too, with a sea swim in the harbour, flat and smooth bike course close to the ocean, and a surprisingly hilly run close to the lighthouse.
The mixed team relay was tons of fun and felt really relaxed after the sprint race. We had the option of choosing a team on our own if we knew people competing or just telling the Team Canada team organizer that we wanted to participate and she paired us up from there. I ended up getting paired with some really fun people of different ages. We each did a short triathlon (300m swim, 6k ish bike, and a 2k ish run) and then tagged our teammate for the next leg. I had a nice dinner with my teammates after the race too, which was a great way to end the week!
I really enjoyed representing Team Canada in my age group and would love to do it again in the future. I’m considering trying to qualify for the long distance triathlon Multisport World Championship in Edmonton in 2027. I might as well try to put my Team Canada suit to good use again!”