MALE JORDAN BRYDEN
Triathlon Magazine Canada Ultra-Distance Triathlete of the Year
Abig win at Ultraman Canada, along with a few other impressive results throughout the year, make Calgary native Jordan Bryden a slam dunk pick for our male ultra-distance triathlete of the year. An Ultraman race spans three days, starting with a 10 km swim and 145 km bike on day one, another 276 km ride on day two, and then an 84 km double marathon run on day three.
Bryden, who has raced across all triathlon distances over the course of his career, including some ITU World Cup events, won the Penticton, B.C., race in July by over four hours in a time of 23 hours, 29 minutes and 50 seconds. The next competitor finished in just over 27 and a half hours.
After suffering a concussion early in the year, Bryden posted on social media post-race that he put this event on his calendar to help overcome any lingering issues from the injury. He certainly did that and more, solidifying his spot for the 2019 Ultraman World Championships at the end of November, which he won (see News, p.54).
The 33-year-old also finished third at the Canada Man-Woman Xtreme Triathlon, a full-distance event that adds a bit of climbing into the mix, and placed 23rd at Ironman Barcelona in just over eight and a half hours.—JS
On April 30, 2019, Karsten Madsen was doing what he loves – competing in cross triathlon. But while he tried taking the world championship in Spain that day, his heart gave him trouble and caused him to pass out. The 28-year-old thought his pro career might be over but, actually, everything was about to get better. Near the end of 2019 Madsen observes, “What I did and how I came back, I think this whole year has been the highlight of my career.” It could easily have gone differently, but he chose to leverage the experience. “It’s best to lean into what went wrong and let it be something to learn from, rather than be bitter and hang on to how awful it was,” he says. “That would hold me back.” Nine years earlier, after recovering from an atrial fibrillation incident, Madsen became quite anxious. There wasn’t heart damage and the rhythm had been corrected but knowing it might happen again undermined his confidence.
“I was just scared and it was hard to sleep at night,” he recalls. “I stopped doing anything social and just stayed at home. I never felt I had anxiety until then, it was my first real bout of it. But I was lucky, my mom is a nurse and my dad had a similar heart problem so they understood what I was going through.”
Feeling discouraged, Madsen decided to give up on his professional triathlete dream but then he heard about Xterra cross triathlon. He gave it a try at Whistler in 2010, was quickly hooked, and turned pro in 2014.
In 2016, he was ranked second in the world after taking silver at Xterra Argentina and in 2018, he finished seventh at the Xterra World Championship in Hawaii. Like any athlete, his races weren’t always stellar. In hindsight, Madsen realized that he was “kind of a mental disaster” during the lead ups to his worst races.
“I don’t get super keyed-up about racing,”
Hit Pause, Then Reset
he explains but that wasn’t the case leading up to his collapse in Spain. “I was getting to a great fitness level but feeling unsettled before the race. I lost sight of how I usually approach racing, lost my relaxation and got nervous.
On race day, Madsen came out of the water around fifth place and as the bike got going, he stayed in second or third. But on the first climb, he started to feel a “weird chest compression.” The feeling came and went. The power would be there, and then it would be gone. “I thought, OK, my race is over. I knew it was some kind of cardiac problem but it was all descent to get into T2 so I thought it would be easier to cycle back.”
But shortly after riding into the transition, Madsen was unconscious: “I remember coming to and my heart was beating incredibly fast. Tri Canada staff were leaning over me, medical staff were coming, but I didn’t know why I was on the ground and I was really confused. They got my heart rhythm OK again and then I felt like I could go run again, it was a big difference in feeling.”
But he wouldn’t be running anywhere for quite awhile. When coach Jonathon Hall said, “We have to take action this time,” that was the exact thing Madsen needed to hear.
Medical tests back in Victoria found nothing that could risk his life. New cardiac conditions were discovered, but he wasn’t deemed a high risk. As a bonus, the testing provided a road map of treatment options so, if there is a next time, they already know what to do.
After he was cleared, it dawned on him, “Holy smokes, I’ve got almost a whole season ahead. I thought the season was gone and then it wasn’t,” he explains. “I had a huge mental re-set during those weeks and the interruption in mindset was the best thing for me.”
The Xterra Pan Am Tour was already in progress and he raced three times in three weeks to catch up. “The first race back, I was quite emotionally driven to succeed,” he says. He took third in Victoria, second in Quebec, another third in Beaver Creek and placed second overall in the tour.
Madsen thinks his success in 2019 might have been tied to the break he was forced to take. “You know, I took the pressure off myself when I thought the season was gone. It was a time when I gained a lot of mental strength.”
Back home in Whistler, B.C., he’s fully immersed again in the triathlon community and his coaching business, Mad Endurance. His sister, mom and dad live nearby, and he credits his great parents, both past Ironman competitors, for his success: “I can do this because I had excellent role models to learn from.”