Ellen Pennock is making a name for herself as one to watch on the international triathlon scene.
At just 20-years-old, Pennock won silver at the under-23 World Triathlon Grand Final in London, England on Thursday. It’s part of a massive day for the Canadian women with three in the top-five as Amelie Kretz won bronze and Joanna Brown was fifth.
The trio raced most of the bike and run together, an impressive feat considering Pennock’s effort to recover after she crashed her bike on the first corner.
“I crashed twice at my first junior worlds so I thought, ‘Here we go again,’” Pennock said. “But I got back on and got with the second pack so the ride was good. We worked awesome on the bike and did a lot of work for the pack. (Brown and Kretz) are so strong, they were pulling their fair share.”
The three Canadians ran with a group of six, including gold medal winner Charlotte McShane, who pulled out the win by 1.5 seconds over Pennock and Kretz.
“I felt awesome in the run, on the last corner I tried to pull a ‘Paula Findlay’ and run it in but I didn’t have the finish,” Pennock said.
Last year Pennock finished 13th at the World U23 final. It follows a strong Canadian history as Kirsten Sweetland, a training partner of Pennock’s, won silver at the same race in 2010.
“This is Amelie’s first U23 (world championship) and she came third with (Brown) right there, no other country had three in the top 10,” Pennock said.
The group spent the summer training in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, under the watch of Triathlon Canada, thanks to Own the Podium’s support.
Pennock is now due back for some “mad catching up” in the third year of her Earth and Ocean Sciences major at UVic.
“There’s nothing quite like walking off the plane and smelling (Victoria’s) fresh, clean salty air. That, and the bakery section at Thrifty’s.”
Victoria’s Matt Sharpe finished 24th in the men’s under-23 Grand Final on Thursday.
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