Triathlon Ontario gives high marks to WIFC
Welland: where trails and water meet.
That has yet to join the list of slogans promoting the Rose City, but it definitely should be in the running now that Welland International Flatwater Centre is gaining a reputation as the place to hold triathlons.
First to take advantage of the former canal for swimming;, the trails lining the shore for running and nearby Canal Bank Drive for bicycling was the Welland Triathlon.
It moved the start-finish line and the transition areas from behind the main arena a few years ago.
On Saturday, Triathlon Ontario became the latest organization to use the facility off Townline Road, just north of the plug, as the staging area for the three-leg sport.
A total of 135 athletes, aged up to 55, came to Welland from as far away as Ottawa to swim, cycle and run in the provincial under-15, junior, under-23 and age-group championships.
For the athletes who compete on the circuit, the move to Niagara represented a change of venue to a more central location. For the past five years the championships were held at Mooney’s Bay in Ottawa, but Triathlon Ontario’s executive director Phil Dale said Welland has been “under consideration” since it was decided a move was needed.
“In Ottawa, we were piggy-backing on another event that was taking place later in the day. We just sort of snuck in there in the morning,” he said. “We didn’t even have our own sound system.
“I need a situation where it’s just our event.”
We see it as an investment. We’re putting on a race that is for the benefit of the sport.”
Triathlon Ontario executive director Phil Dale
Triathlon Ontario had the flatwater centre on its radar for the past two years. Dale said the only reason the move wasn’t made earlier was that the centre was busy hosting the sprint canoe events at the Pan Am Games in 2015.
He can see Welland becoming a regular stop of the Triathlon Ontario circuit.
“The feedback is good, and the course is fast and flat,” he said. “It’s very spectator-friendly.”
Getting an event up and running at the flatwater centre wasn’t without its hiccups, though. In addition to laying out a 20-kilometre bike course for Triathlon Ontario’s first event in Welland, the organization had to deal with the logistics of having a bicycling portion that permitted drafting.
Dale called settling on a “draft-legal” course as one of the biggest logistical hurdles triathlon organizers must overcome.
“In terms of logistics, it costs a lot more,” he said, pointing out that, unlike requiring participants to ride in single file in non-draft triathlons, cyclists in draft-legal events move in packs.
Canal Bank Street was closed from Ontario to Townline roads and traffic along Kingsway in Dain City was reduced to one lane to ensure the safety of the cyclists. That required Triathlon Ontario to pay Niagara Regional Police $1,600 for the use of four officers for four hours each.
As well, some of the 25 to 30 volunteers were stationed along the bike route to give homeowners the all clear to back out their driveways.
Dale estimated the bill to rent the flatwater centre for the day would come in at about $5,000.
He figured that once other costs, such as staffing and truck rentals, were included, it would cost about $15,000 to hold the event.
Registration fees would offset $12,000 to $13,000 of that, but Dale didn’t consider the loss significant for an event that didn’t have any sponsors.
“We see it as an investment,” he said. “We’re putting on a race that is for the benefit of the sport. We are helping elite athletes get to the next level.”
Teagan Sharpansky, who recorded the fastest time in girls under-15 category, was glad she made the six-hour trip from Ottawa to take part in the event. Actually, the 15-year-old can’t name one thing she doesn’t like about triathlons.
“There are three sports, so you always have something to train for. You never get bored,” said Sharpansky, who caught the triathlete bug from her father Brad when she was seven.
Athletes in the 15 and under categories started with a 500-metre swim, followed by a 10-km bike ride and a 4-km sprint to the finish line.
Juniors swam 750 metres, cycled 20 km and ran 5 km.
Saturday’s triathlon was a family affair for Gerald De Jong, 52, of Waterdown. He was in the 50 to 55 age group, while sons Aaron, 19, and Justin, 15, competed in the junior and 15 and under categories.
“The boys were doing it and I was always the one driving them so I said ‘Why not?” De Jong said in recalling how he became involved in the sport six years ago.
“I thought this would be a great connecting point for the family.”
The De Jongs plan to return to Welland next month to compete in a half-ironman triathlon as a team. After dad swims 2 km, Justin will cycle 90 km with Aaron, the fastest runner, going the final 21 km on foot to the finish line.
“This water is just amazing, it’s almost like a pool,” Gerald De Jong said in praising the Welland course.