Triathletes at flatwater centre

LAURA BARTON

The Triathlon Ontario Draft Legal Provincial Championships are going to make for another busy Saturday this weekend at Welland International Flatwater Centre.

About 150 athletes from across the province are expected at the flatwater centre, where they will swim, ride and run their way around the centre and surrounding areas.

Phil Dale, executive director for Triathlon Ontario, said the event first came to Welland last year; before that it was held in Ottawa. Deemed a success, the event is back in the Rose City for another year.

He said everyone involved in the event, including the athletes, expressed how much they liked Welland’s course and he added that working with the city to ensure things like proper road closures has also been a pleasure.

The one-day event will see Canal Bank Street closed between Ontario Road and St. Claire Drive from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Dale said while Triathlon Ontario sanctions many events, this is one of the few it runs. He said that decision was made on the basis of the logistics of the event, which he said can get tricky because it’s a draft legal style race.

He explained that the draft legal designation applies to the cycling portion of the triathlon. In non-draft legal events, cyclists must ride with a certain distance between each other. In draft legal events, riders can be closer to one another and use that as a strategy to get ahead in the race. He said it’s for high performance athletes and Triathlon Ontario wanted to provide a safe space for the athletes to do this style of race.

He said it’s also an important race for these athletes because it could garner them provincial funding and Triathlon Ontario will be choosing its provincial team from this group.

A new component to this championship event is a category for nonprofessionals to compete. Dale called them “age groupers” and said that group’s time limits will be different, but it’s a chance for non-club athletes to try the draft legal style and improve their skills.

Registration is still open until tomorrow at 6 p.m. There are four age categories: under 15 for 14- and 15-year-olds, junior for ages 16 to 19, elite for age 20 and older and the age groupers must be at least 16 years of age.

More information, including how to register, is available at triathlonontario.com under the News and Events tab. lbarton@postmedia.com Twitter: @LBartonTribune