MAKING HIS MARK

IN 2013, TAYLOR Reid took the Canadian U23 championship over the standard distance, signalling his prowess in the draft-legal format. But, since he’s moved to long-distance racing over the last few years, he’s really started to shine on the world scene. Now into his third year working with Paolo Sousa, who also coaches Heather and Trevor Wurtele, Reid has become a regular feature at the front of half-distance races around the world. In March, he took Ironman 70.3 Puerto Rico over a stacked field that included former 70.3 world champion Andy Potts.

“Paulo is a very good coach and I enjoy working with him,” Reid says of the U.s.-based Sousa. “We have a professional relationship and that is the way I like it. He tells me how to become faster and I do what I am told. We do have some good laughs as well. The group in Poway is very important to me and they help push me to the next level. It is nice to have a group of committed athletes to train with.”

After spending the first four months of the year with Sousa and his squad in Poway, Ca. (just outside of San Diego), Reid has moved his base to Guelph, Ont., but he’ll make another move down south later in the year as he starts to focus on the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. in September.

Originally from Caledon, Ont., Reid turned to triathlon at 16 after spending time mountain bike racing and running. He went to Mcmaster University, where he ran for the cross-country and track teams and graduated with a history degree – an impressive feat for someone who was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of eight.

While the world championship race in September will be a major focus for Reid in 2017, he takes a lot of intensity into every race on his schedule: “I will be focusing on racing every race this year like it is my last,” he says.—km