A JOURNEY OF RESILIENCE
PAVLOS ANTONIADES IS one of Canada’s most promising young triathletes. Born and raised in Trois-Rivières, Que., Antoniades played hockey until he was 11 and had a passion for many other sports, including soccer, tennis and golf. But at eight years of age, following in the footsteps of his dad and siblings and looking to do some cross training for hockey, he participated in a local triathlon. “At first, it was a family activity and an off-season sport for hockey,” he explains. “But I enjoyed it and became hooked.” His first race was in Trois-Rivières in 2008 and, from there, he pursued a new sport career path and continued competing in the Quebec triathlon circuit. He made steady progress in both domestic and international racing and has represented Canada at the last three junior world championships. He has been part of the Megophias Swim Club and the Trimego Triathlon Club since the age of eight. “My swim club and triathlon club are affiliated, which facilitates the cohesion between my swimming coach and triathlon coach,” Antoniades says. “Nowadays, my triathlon coach, Pascal Dufresne, whom I’ve been working with since I was 13 years old, supervises and plans my triathlon training program. My swim coach for the past five years is Charles Labrie, and I also work with Yannik Morin, who takes care of my strength training program.”
His results at the world champsionships include 15th in 2017, eighth in 2018 and 16th in 2019. A stress injury in 2019 prevented him from preparing adequately for his last junior world championships, where he had hoped to beat his 2018 eighth-place finish.
“The biggest highlight of my career,” says Antoniades, “is my gold medal at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in the individual event. I am very proud of that one.”
During racing season, he typically swims six times per week, averaging 20 to 30 km depending on the specific phase of training. During the off-season he covers about 25 to 30 km per week and competes in swim meets for his swim club.
He rides six to seven times per week during racing season, completing about 400 km each week on the bike. During the off-season he bikes four to five times a week on the rollers, increasing his cycling volume during winter training camps in Florida or Arizona.
His running mileage tends to vary according to close monitoring of training stress.
“I’ve had to deal with stress injuries in the last few years, and monitoring training hours and body response has been crucial to consistent training,” he says. Hence an important part of his program is strength training. “This aspect of training has played a primary role when coming back from injury. During the off-season, I strength train three times a week. During racing season, we reduce strength training sessions to twice a week,” he explains.
As if he’s not already busy enough, Antoniades has just completed a three-year sport-étude program in health sciences at Laflèche College and recently applied to medical school. As a backup, he has also been accepted in the physiotherapy program at Laval University and University of Montreal.
Reflecting on his athletic endeavours so far, Antoniades says “I really enjoy the uniqueness and diversity of triathlon. You’re always adapting to your body’s response to training and searching to attain excellence in three different sports. I appreciate travelling around the world, meeting new people and discovering new training cultures. I find pleasure in working hard in order to reach my objectives, pushing myself to be the best I can be gives me satisfaction.”
“All in all,” he adds, “triathlon is a journey that requires resilience and patience to achieve your optimal performance and I truly enjoy living that journey.”
Kerry Hale is a regular contributor to TMC.