EDITORIAL
ONTARIO’S TAMARA JEWETT was in the shape of her life mid-March. She’d just returned from a train- ing camp and was chomping at the bit to see how she’d fare at Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside. Instead of heading to California, though, Jewett would end up decamping from her home in Toronto to her parents’ house in Uxbridge, Ont., as a state of emergency was declared.
The last thing she’d ask for, though, is sympathy. She’s all too aware that millions of people around the world are dealing with much more serious issues than not being able to race.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Jewett appears to have put her head down and figured out how to get the most out of this crazy situation we find ourselves in these days. Determined not to lose the swim gains she’d worked so hard to attain in December and January, she was doing tethered swims in a 53-metre-long pond at her parents’ house just days after the ice melted in April, somehow surviving the 15-minute freeze-fests.
Formerly a member of the University of Toronto crosscountry and track teams, Jewett represented Canada at numerous international events, finishing eighth in the 3,000m at the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships and ninth in the cross-country race at the FISU World University Games. Like so many triathletes before her, numerous injuries led to cross training which led to triathlon – she completed her first full season in the sport in 2018, winning Ironman 70.3 Muskoka, the K-Town long course event in Kingston, Ont., and the Barrelman Triathlon in Niagara Falls.
The 30-year-old would be excused for a “come on, seriously?” yell with all that’s going on right now. After she finished articling at a Toronto law firm last summer, her move to full-time training and racing got waylaid by a bike crash in which she broke her collarbone. She recuperated through the summer, then took fourth at Ironman 70.3 Augusta and third at Ironman 70.3 Buenos Aires, where she qualified for the 70.3 worlds in Taupo, New Zealand.
From what I can see, though, she’s put her energy into a more positive approach. In addition to the cold-water swim efforts, she’s focussed on improving her bike splits. There’s been group spins over Zoom, and recently she’s paired up with fellow Canadian pro Angela Naeth for team time trial races on Zwift.
Throughout this issue we address the challenges our sport is facing here in Canada right now thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully we can all take a page from the Tamara Jewett playbook right now and use this time in a positive way.
When B.C.’s top doctor, Dr. Bonnie Henry, declared the health emergency in March, she ended her message to the province with the words, “This is our time to be kind, to be calm and to be safe.” Our sport isn’t going to disappear if we can’t race in 2020. We’re way too close-knit a community many type-A (and there personalities) are way too for that too happen. So let’s enjoy the great example set by Tamara Jewett and the prescient words from Dr. Henry to help us stay positive.