Triathlon Canada brings national super sprint championships to Victoria<\/p>\n
Published 6:30 pm Sunday, August 23, 2026<\/p>\n
In terms of race-day location, you can\u2019t really get much better than that: massive mountains in the background, the Salish Sea and scenic Dallas Road along the coast.<\/p>\n
Victoria welcomed 92 elite athletes from across Canada this weekend as Triathlon Canada held its inaugural Super Sprint and Mixed Relay National Championships at Clover Point and along Dallas Road.<\/p>\n
The two-day event, held Aug. 22 and 23, marked the first time Triathlon Canada has hosted its national championships in its home city.<\/p>\n
Rachel Macatee, interim CEO of Triathlon Canada, said the event gave young athletes a chance to compete against some of the country\u2019s best while gaining experience in a fast-paced format.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new venue for us, so some interesting challenges to overcome in year one, but it was a really good weekend of racing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The super sprint format featured a 300-metre ocean swim, followed by a 9.5-kilometre bike course and 3.5-kilometre run along the waterfront.<\/p>\n
Unlike the traditional Olympic-distance triathlon, which features a 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike and 10-kilometre run, the shorter format allowed elite athletes to race multiple times throughout the weekend, Macatee said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really wanted to provide an opportunity for our elite athletes to get on course multiple times in a weekend and get lots of experience racing head to head,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd a lot of these guys are development athletes and really just learning what it means to jump to the international racing scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Individual races took place Saturday, followed by mixed relays Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
The event drew athletes between 16 and 23 years old from across the country, with Team Quebec alone sending more than 30 athletes. Several Olympic hopefuls also competed, giving development athletes an opportunity to race alongside some of Canada\u2019s top triathletes.<\/p>\n
Macatee said bringing the championships to Victoria has long been a goal for Triathlon Canada, whose headquarters are in the capital city. However, she said Victoria\u2019s cold ocean water presented one challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really tough because the water\u2019s so cold,\u201d she said. \u201cBut one of the advantages of short course racing is that the rules around water temperature allow us to go a little bit colder, and it opens up an opportunity to bring everybody here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite some challenges with the new venue, Macatee said the organization hopes to return.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a couple of things we need to tweak, lots of learning the first time you run an event, but we\u2019re very keen to stay in Victoria and have this be a staple in our calendar year round or year after year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Macatee, who has lived in Victoria for much of her life, the community turnout was another highlight of the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lived in Victoria most of my life and there\u2019s a lot of past Olympians and Paralympians that call Victoria home and (to see) the community that came out the last couple of days was really, really cool. It\u2019s just always awesome to get everyone together and celebrate our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n