A smoke-filled sky for the 33rd edition wasn’t enough to prevent Carlos Lesser from winning his first Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon title.
The 24-year Mexican-born athlete, who lives in Victoria, completed the Olympic (standard) distance event Sunday morning in Kelowna in at time of one hour 58 minutes nine seconds—the only clocking under two hours.
A student at Camosun College in Victoria, Lesser’s first triathlon in Canada was the Apple back in 2010 when he finished second in the junior elite division.
“The community is great, I love this race,” said Lesser. “It was actually my first race in Canada when I was a junior, so it’s always nice to come back.
“This was definitely one of my best races.”
Lesser said he felt no adverse effects from the smoky conditions which blanketed the city due to a massive forest fire burning in Washington.
“It was a bit smoky, but it was cooler and no sun, so that actually allowed me to go a little faster,” he said.
Vancouver’s Carsten Lapointe was second in 2:01:01, while Calgary’s Douglas Wickware was third in 2:01:18.
For the third year in a row, Sarah McArthur showed the way in the women’s race.
The 24-year-old from Calgary completed the 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike ride and 10 km run in 2:07:01.
Kelowna’s own Carmelle Guidi-Swan was second among women competitors and first in the 40 to 44 age bracket in 2:19:02.
“Overall it was a good day, I was cramping a bit on the run but I was holding a pretty good pace for me,” said Guidi-Swan, 44. “I’m happy…it’s always good to be done.”
Vancouver’s Rebecca Sherlock was third in 2:20:17.
In the sprint, Kelowna’s Jake Van Allen set the pace in the 750 km swim, 20 km bike and five km run in 1:01:56. Edmonton’s Dylan Zrobek was second while Kelowna’s Chad Reid placed third.
Tamasin Reno of Vancouver took the women’s sprint in 1:09:01, Adeline Maunder of St. Alberta, Alta was second, and Amanda Kosmerly of Sudbury was third.
The smoke was prevalent from the beginning of Sunday’s events but according to organizers, it caused minimal problems for the more than 650 racers.
Two athletes visited the medical tent with respiratory issues but both were said to be fine following basic treatment.
Across all events over three days, nearly 1,200 athletes were entered in this year’s Apple Triathlon.
The 2015 races also marked the final time Richard Montogomery will serve as president of the Apple Triathlon Society.
After 15 years on the job, Montgomery is stepping aside to devote more time to his business and personal life.
“I had so many positive experiences, saw so many happy faces, just all the people have come to the race and gone away with smiles on their faces,” Montgomery said. “I’m sure I’ll get more time to reflect over the next few weeks, but it was time to step down and let new people with new ideas take it and run with it. It’ll all be good.”
Montgomery’s position will be filled by a management group including local triathlete James Young, and former Olympians and spouses, Graham Hood and Malindi Elmore.
See Wednesday’s Capital News for more on the Apple’s new directors.
For more results on the Apple Triathlon, visit startlinetiming.com.
