Stephen Kilshaw’s Kit

Stephen Kilshaw has an old-school approach to triathlon. In a world of training technology, Kilshaw likes to rely on feel and opts not to use a power meter, heart-rate monitor or watch in racing or training on the bike, though he does run with a stopwatch while training.

For the swim, Kilshaw wears an Aquasphere Phantom wetsuit along with Aquasphere Kaiman EXO googles.

Onto the bike, he rides a Squad Hornett. “Squad was my first major sponsor and that really started things in a good direction for me. I started riding Squad in January, 2015 and immediately felt great on the bike, and feeling great is the key to riding well.”

Over the past decade, Kilshaw has been supported by Oak Bay Bikes and 2:18 Run, stores in Victoria. in Victoria. It was a special time for Kilshaw – training with, and being mentored by, one of the country’s finest long-course triathletes. As Kilshaw explains, “Jasper Blake changed my life. He was, and still is to this day, a massive inspiration and motivation.”

Currently, Kilshaw is trained by San Jose, Calif.-based coach Muddy Waters. Says Kilshaw: “Words don’t do justice…it’s just all heart with Muddy.”

Reciprocating the deep respect, Waters says, “The sky is the limit for Stephen. His work ethic and patience with the training process is unbelievable and his love for the sport is incredible. He’s got a great sense of humour too. That said, he’s very quiet and introspective. When he trains with some of my other athletes he’s generous and helps them out, but he’s laser focused on his training at the same time. Most importantly, he’s a great human being.”

In some ways, Kilshaw is not your average triathlete. He enjoys writing poetry, practicing meditation, is quite philosophical about life and quirky in his ways. He has been known to use hockey tape on his handlebars for the dual purposes of added comfort combined with a touch of patriotic fervour.

His recent success has him setting his sights on the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-kona, Hawaii in 2017.

“Next year,” he explains, “we’ll focus on that island in the Pacific. Often people ask why I answer with ‘we.’ Because ‘we’ refers to the team. I’m on the starting line, but there’s really a team racing together on race day.”

Kerry Hale is a regular contributor to Triathlon Magazine Canada from Comox Valley, B.C.