By Josh Bell
Joanna Brown is on a mission. A year ago, injuries held back the Carp triathlete, but in 2016, she’s making a lot of noise.
Most recently, Brown finished as the top Canadian in the women’s elite race that was part of the Canadian Triathlon Championships, held July 23-24 in Ottawa.
The race featured a number of international competitors as well, taking part in the CAMTRI American Cup. U.S. athlete Abigail Levene used an impressive final 10 km run to catch up from being a minute deficit to Brown and fellow Canadian Dominika Jamnicky after the bike portion.
Levene won gold in 1:45:31.3, while Brown was also awarded a gold medal as the top Canadian, 2nd overall, in 1:46:08.1.
“I feel sore. And hot,” Brown laughed at the finish line. “But actually, I’m really, really happy with my race.”
The women’s elite race was switched to a duathlon format last-minute (forcing the awarding of the official Canadian women’s title to a to-be-determined future event), though once results of a water test came later, they confirmed that Dow’s Lake was good to go for the remaining races on the programme.
“I can’t complain, either way I was happy,” said Brown, an All Saints Catholic High School grad. “I was ready for a swim (on race day) and that’s what I trained for, but when there’s a flip, we have to be ready for anything. So I was like ‘OK, let’s go.”
Brown had the same attitude when she was unexpectedly named to Canada’s Pan Am Games team last year. The Bytown Storm Triathlon Club product was still early in her recovery from a heel fracture/other injuries and illnesses and far from ideal fitness, but she jumped at the chance to compete on home soil and helped drive the lead bike pack’s pace to get her Canadian teammates in good position before fading in the run and finishing 13th.
The former World Junior and Under-23 World Championships bronze medallist has put in a number of impressive performances this season, in particular while competing in the inaugural Major League Triathlon pro series in the U.S. this year. Brown has helped her Florida-based team to the top of the overall standings through 2 of 4 events in the mixed relay format competition.
Though her regained form didn’t come quite quickly/far enough to be selected for one of Canada’s three women’s Olympic entries, the win at the nationals provided a particularly special memory coming in the Guelph-based athlete’s hometown.
“My parents are here, my aunt is here, my sister and brother are here, along with a lot of my friends. It’s absolutely amazing,” smiled the 23-year-old who races next in the Montreal Triathlon ITU World Cup on Aug. 7. “It was just an awesome experience. There were so many cheers out there on the course. I love racing in Ottawa.”
The Ottawa Triathlon featured eight events in total, ranging from age-group national championships to Kids of Steel races.
In 19th, Meagan Adams earned the top finish for the host Bytown Storm in the Canadian Junior Championships, while a number of younger Storm club members used the race as a final tune-up for their big event of the season, the Ontario Summer Games.
Seven Storm girls have earned places on the triathlon start line for the Aug. 11-14 Games in Mississauga.
“Qualifying for Ontario Summer Games, that was probably my favourite memory in triathlon,” highlighted Rachel Cameron, noting it’s special to have six other friends at her side.
“With all of us qualified, then we can push each other hard to get better at our technique and efficiency,” added the Bell High School student.
The stakes are elevated since it’s not an open competition that anyone can enter like many of the events they’re accustomed to.
“I’m a little nervous because it’s big,” Cameron underlined. “All my work and training is going into that.”
Local athletes winning their divisions at the Ottawa Triathlon included David Blair (Canadian Paratriathlon Championships), Kids of Steel competitors Calum MacDonald (U9 boys), Wyatt Lummack (U7 boys), Kira Charapova (U7 girls) and Katherine Quinlan (U5 girls), while Teagan Shapansky was 2nd in the draft-legal youth triathlon for 13- to 15-year-olds.