Funny thing was… after our dip in 46F water at LOST Swimming the day before this race, I grimly predicted that they would be changing the Toronto Triathlon Festival to a duathlon! But I was wrong! (yes, now you’ve seen it in writing!)
But that’s Lake O for you! They claimed that it was 65F at the race! I never did the race, but judging from the description of how cold it was, I’m guessing it was probably in the mid 50’s or so. But again, typical of Lake O, it was very patchy… with warm and cold pockets! The nice thing they had going for them was that the race was actually conducted right in among the boats in the marina, (cool venue in Ontario Place, by the way!) where they are totally protected and the water would have a very hard time “rolling over”.
Keep in mind that the “roll over” is a double edge sword! Yes, the water obviously gets really cold, really quickly… but remember a week ago when everyone was quite concerned about the bacteria levels in the Lake because it was too warm… well… that’s not an issue now!
Take a look at the pics from our swim on Saturday… the water is crystal clear and spotless clean! Nothing grows in water that cold! This goes back to the comments I put up a couple of posts below about why we have such a great place to swim in Oakville… I wasn’t joking! We now have some fresh, clear water as crystal clean as glacier water! It’s aleady warmed back up to the mid 60’s but it’s clean! (which isn’t true everywhere in the Lake!).
But back to the tri. I saw tons of LOST swimmers, Tri Club of Burlington and assorted other friends at the race… local races are always great. But the weird thing for me was that I was there as a spectator and sherpa! Joanne always gives me a hard time, that it kills me not to participate (which there is some truth to that) but I have to say it was fun cheering on Joanne… and Maisey in her first adult trialthon!
And the cool thing is… Joanne qualified for the Olympic Distance World Championships for 2014… and Maisey qualified for the Sprint Distance World Championship! Not bad for her first one!
Joanne (and Sherpa Rob) is already going to London, England for the 2013 Olympic Distance World Championship in September… but now both Jo and Maisey will be going to World Championships next year too!… in Edmonton! (?). Okay not quite the cache as London, or the place where they were going to be held (San Diego), but still… it’s World Championships! (Let’s just say, I wouldn’t have qualified in my age group!)
Anyway… Congrats to Joanne, Maisey, Helene, Gail, Claudia and Paul… and a few others that I probably missed! You’re going to Edmonchuk!
Cheers,
Rob