Triathlon in Western Canada has become a lot more interesting thanks to my next guest! Jamie Parker is the owner of the Hummingbird Collective, a triathlon group out of the Lower Mainland.
In addition to supporting a roster of elite triathletes (such as Luke Tasker, Maia Watson, and Oliver Half winner Ryan Seaman) Hummingbird helps out age-groupers with advice on equipment, training, and race execution on their website. Hummingbird also is working hard to build bridges within the multisport community in Vancouver and across the province.
Hear more on what this new flock is doing on the provincial tri scene and what’s it in for you, by pressing play below.
This week’s SWAGMAN deals.
The SATURDAY website. For fueling and pacing advice.
FITSPEEK: we coach athletes, announce races, talk to cool people. fitspeek@gmail.com
It’s that time of year when the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Toronto Maple Leafs are all polishing their short game, while the Montreal Canadiens are still smarting from a beatdown courtesy of the Carolina Hurricanes.
While most of us are still wondering if Sylvan Lake is finally warm enough for a wetsuit dip, our top racers are already firing on all cylinders around the world.
And it’s not just the usual suspects you’ll notice here. Our Top 5 list pulls from all distances of triathlon, and for good reason: our short-course racers are killing it on the world stage. These folks aren’t easing into spring; they’re already rolling hard and putting their stamp on the season before the ice even comes off Waskesiu.
Canada’s Top 5 Triathletes for May
It’s that time of year when the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, and Toronto Maple Leafs are all polishing their short game, while the Montreal Canadiens are still smarting from a beatdown courtesy of the Carolina Hurricanes.
While most of us are still wondering if Sylvan Lake is finally warm enough for a wetsuit dip, our top racers are already firing on all cylinders around the world.
And it’s not just the usual suspects you’ll notice here. Our Top 5 list pulls from all distances of triathlon, and for good reason: our short-course racers are killing it on the world stage. These folks aren’t easing into spring; they’re already rolling hard and putting their stamp on the season before the ice even comes off Waskesiu.
1. Charles Paquet
Charles Paquet has emerged as one of Canada’s biggest triathlon success stories of 2026. The 29-year-old from Sept-Îles, Quebec delivered the breakthrough performance of his career this spring with a bronze medal at WTCS Samarkand, becoming just the second Canadian man ever to reach a World Triathlon Championship Series podium.
Paquet has continued to build momentum with a recent fifth-place finish at the WTCS event in Alghero. Known for his gritty run finishes and aggressive racing style, he has quickly become one of the key faces of Canadian short-course triathlon in 2026.
2. Sophia Howell
Sophia Howell has continued her steady rise through 2026, building on a breakthrough 2025 season that included her first World Triathlon Cup podium with bronze in San Pedro de la Paz.
The 23-year-old from Airdrie, Alberta has shown consistent form on the international circuit this year, highlighted by a strong contribution to Canada’s bronze-medal performance in the mixed relay in Chengdu, China, alongside Tyler Mislawchuk, Charles Paquet, and Martin Sobey.
Known for her steady, composed racing across draft-legal formats, she continues to establish herself as a key part of Canada’s developing elite women’s program.
3. Brock Hoel
If you have never heard of Brock Hoel before don’t feel bad because you certainly will in 2026. The hottest long-course triathlon to come out of the Okanagan since Jeff Symonds Hoel has already put his name in the record books by posting the fastest Ironman time ever by a Canadian. He did that at Ironman Texas, where he finished fifth in 7:29:56 against a deep international field.
The Prince George-born athlete has transitioned steadily from a successful short-course and World Triathlon background into Ironman racing, carrying the speed and race craft developed through Canada’s national pathway into the full-distance ranks.
A former Canadian junior standout and Olympic pathway athlete, Hoel was long considered part of the country’s elite development system before shifting his focus toward long-course racing. His Texas result, including a 2:39 marathon off the bike, marked a significant step forward and signalled his potential as a future contender.
4. Tamara Jewett
Tamara Jewett was on our Top 5 list of Canadian triathletes in 2025, and it looks like she is well on her way to returning.
The Toronto-born, Victoria-based athlete opened her year with a victory at Challenge Wanaka Half in New Zealand before following it up with a fourth-place finish at Ironman New Zealand and a podium performance at Ironman 70.3 Geelong against a stacked professional field.
Known as one of the fastest female runners ever (up there with Erin Baker!) Jewett has also maintained a strong presence within the endurance sports community through her thoughtful training insights and growing social media profile. Her combination of elite performances, consistency, and relatability has made her one of the most influential Canadian triathletes of 2026 so far.
5. Tyler Mislawchuk
Tyler Mislawchuk reminded Canadian triathlon fans this spring that he remains one of the country’s most accomplished and relevant athletes.
The Manitoba native opened his 2026 campaign with a bronze medal at the World Triathlon Cup in Chengdu before helping Canada capture bronze in the mixed relay the following day. He followed that up with a solid showing at WTCS Alghero this past weekend.
A three-time Olympian, one of the most recognizable personalities in Canadian triathlon, and a guy who is not afraid to dabble in long-course racing, Mislawchuk combines elite-level results with a strong social media presence and remains a key figure on Canada’s international triathlon scene.
Bike racks and more. All Canadian.
Racing and training fueling made easy.
Fitspeek. We coach, announce, and talk to cool people.
Saskatchewan’s sporting universe is known for winter sports like curling + hockey but it also has a vibrant triathlon scene. This week on the show we travel east to find out about some of the province’s up + coming athletes.
From Lloydminster we have grade 8 student Kale Grasby. Even though he’s our youngest Fitspeek guest ever, he’s got a solid background as both a triathlete and a hockey referee.
From Shellbrook, we have Marcail Philip. With an amazing cardio engine developed from years of cross-country skiing, Marcail is excelling on the bike and winning races.
The elder spokesperson of the trio has an interesting story. Sam Wauer participated as a youth in the Kids of Steel program. 2 decades later he is back in the sport and headed to Europe to represent Canada at 2 world championship events.
Hear how these athletes got into the sport, what they are racing in 2026, and what their special powers are by clicking below.
Everyone loves a deal! Check out the specials on bike accessories
Sports nutrition isn’t rocket science; it’s chemistry. The Saturday Ap does the heavy lifting so you can FLY through your next race
Fitspeek. We announce races, coach athletes, talk to cool people. Contact me for more.
What could be more fun than having one of Canada’s top long-course triathletes on a podcast? Well, how about 3 of them?
Danielle Fauteux had an ambitious end to her season last year with some stellar performances at the Ironman distance, not only qualifying for the world championships but also going under 9 hours in Arizona.
In what could be labelled as a rebuilding year, Deb Eckhouse overcame (mostly) a mystery illness and a serious bike crash. She’s recovered and racing again!
And although it’s only April, Tamara Jewett has kicked off her season with a 3rd at Ironman New Zealand and a 4th at 70.3 Geelong, Australia. Both results come from world-class run performances.
On the show, we start with reviews of their 2025 seasons + previews of the upcoming year. After that, we geek out on race day nutrition. In her half-iron event in Australia Tamara consumed an average of 86g of carbs / hour. I wanted to know how her stomach responded to that load. She told us! We also get the inside scoop on what + how much Deb and Danielle take in. Most of us could learn from that!
And speaking of learning, back in the days of Lisa Bentley and Lori Bowden, social media wasn’t part of the job description. Now it very much is. While it helps athletes tell their story and build their brand, it also takes time — something today’s pros know all too well. In this episode, we chat about the role social media plays in their careers, the sponsors helping them get to the start line, and plenty more. Just over 30 minutes with 3 of Canada’s fastest long-course women is only a click away.
Bike racks and storage systems. Penticton-based.
Make your own training hydration and fueling products. Save hundreds/year.
Looking to finish your first – or fastest endurance event. I’m here to help. fitspeek@gmail.com
You know that recent trend of Ironman’s to make courses easier and getting that M-Dot tattoo as easy as ordering a McHappy Meal? Well, Penticton’s Richie Sheldon will have none of that!
Richie is originally from the UK and came to Canada to make his fortune in finance in Vancouver. After some time in the corporate world, he ditched the suit, stress and rain and traded it in for Okanagan sunshine and a coach’s hat – all while living the life of tri!
On the podcast this week, we chat with Richie about his adventures at sea as a sailor, his hilarious debut as a half-iron guy, and of course details on the 2027 debut of the Ogopogo Extreme.
Hear it now by pressing play.
Your locally-sourced bike and ski rack connection. It’s Swagman.
It’s aero. It’s adjustable. It’s affordable. It’s the SP
I’ve been using the Saturday ap for years + have saved hundreds on my training nutrition. You can too.
This picture tells you almost all you need to know about Dave Matheson from Penticton.
Sure he is one of Canada’s top age-group triathletes, Ironman age-group dominator, Ultra-triathlon champion, CRA employee… but at the end of the day he’s the kind of guy you’d want to go to Cannery Brewing with and share a pint.
In Fitspeek 229, we do a catch-up episode with Dave after his recent trip to Hawaii, where he participated in the Ultraman World Championships.
You don’t survive three days of racing — 10 km of swimming, a double marathon, and brutal amounts of cycling — without an amazing crew – but even then, things can go sideways. From mechanical failures before the race even started to ill-timed red lights and competitors who forgot the meaning of Ohana, Dave lays out a journey that was at times as dark as it was determined, grinding all the way to the finish line. Hear it now by pressing play.
All road, all the time, it’s the Rogue by A2.
Getting your gear up the ski hill with the Squall 4 by Swagman.
There’s going be be even more features in the Saturday Ap. Details comimg soon.
As we put the wraps on 2025, it’s time to take a look at the biggest stories of Canadian Triathlon for the year. It was a year of movement and a hint at who and what’s to come in Canada’s triathlon future.
Desirae Ridenour is Golden Again
In an era when long-course triathlon often steals the headlines, it was a short-course specialist who delivered one of Canada’s standout international seasons. Desirae Ridenour opened her year with a breakthrough victory at the World Triathlon Cup in Napier, New Zealand, becoming the first Canadian woman in 12 years to win a World Cup race. “It’s been a long road to get here, but to finally stand on top of a World Cup podium is an incredible feeling. I just focused on staying patient and running my race,” Ridenour said after the win.
She carried that momentum back to Canada, claiming back-to-back gold medals at the Americas Triathlon Cups in Montreal and Kelowna. Reflecting on the double victory, Ridenour noted, “Back-to-back golds are a testament to consistency and focus. I wanted to finish the season strong and keep building momentum.”
Ridenour capped the year with a career-best eighth-place finish at WTCS Weihai, underscoring her progress at the highest level of the sport. If she eventually turns her attention to longer formats such as the T100 or 70.3 racing, Canada may one day see a speedy successor to Paula Findlay when she decides to step away from competition.
Penticton Moves to Ottawa
In 2025, the Ironman circus packed up and left Penticton once again, this time heading east to Ottawa and a larger pool of participants. Ironman’s return to Penticton after its stint in Whistler from 2013 to 2019 never really stood a chance. The relaunch was delayed by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and disrupted by forest fires in 2023.
Even in its final year, Mother Nature dealt Penticton and the athletes a harsh blow, as a rare water inversion in Okanagan Lake dropped temperatures enough to force the cancellation of the swim. If declining participation numbers — fewer than 1,000 finishers — didn’t seal the event’s fate, the rising cost of traffic control, estimated at roughly a quarter of a million dollars, likely did.
Ottawa’s inaugural Ironman, by comparison, drew just under 2,000 finishers. With straightforward logistics and a notably flatter bike course — featuring roughly six times less climbing than Penticton — its outlook appears far more secure. Back in the Okanagan, however, the loss still stings: decades of history, community energy, and tourism dollars are gone. The move underscores a hard truth in modern triathlon — even the most storied races must ultimately follow the money.
PTO T-100 debuts in Vancouver.
Ottawa wasn’t the only Canadian city handed a shiny new triathlon in 2025. On the West Coast, Vancouver rolled out the inaugural T100. Unlike some “new” races, this one arrived fully formed. The event featured two age-group distances alongside the headline T100 race for elites.
The women’s start list justified the hype, with Paula Findlay, Taylor Spivey, Lucy Charles-Barclay, and Julie Derron lining up in Vancouver. The men’s field was just as stacked, showcasing the sharp end of middle-distance racing with Jackson Laundry, Sam Long, Jason West, and Jelle Geens. For a first-year event, age-group participation was more than respectable — roughly 600 athletes in each distance.
Overall, the first-year Vancouver T-100 delivered. The event received good reviews from the local tri-community. It is returning on the 2026 calendar but unfortunately will only feature a women-only pro race. With the long-established Victoria 70.3 in May and now the T-100 in August, Western Canadian triathletes will have quite the challenge in choosing an A race for next year.
Luke Tasker World Champion
In a year when Canada’s professionals failed to reach the podium at the 2025 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Spain, it was an amateur who carried the Maple Leaf. Vancouver’s Luke Tasker won his age group at the championships, posting a time of 4:08:18 that placed him second overall among amateurs. Tasker also claimed the overall amateur title at his home race, the T-100 in Vancouver. Originally from the UK, the former rower and pentathlete also tested himself at the Ironman distance, recording an 8:35 debut.
In 2026, Tasker will face a different challenge as he transitions to the professional ranks; while wins may be harder to come by, his presence on the Canadian triathlon scene is likely to be felt more widely.
Sophia Howell Puts Airdrie Back on the Canadian Triathlon Map
About a decade ago, the bedroom community of Airdrie, just north of Calgary, produced one of Canada’s most versatile triathletes in Jordan Bryden. An Olympic Team hopeful in his early career, Bryden eventually shifted his focus to long-course racing, where he built a reputation by excelling in some of the sport’s most demanding and unconventional events.
Today, Airdrie is producing another Olympic hopeful in Sophia Howell, and 2025 marked a meaningful step forward in her development at the elite level. Still early in her international career, Howell showed growing consistency throughout the season, highlighted by a second-place finish behind Desirae Ridenour at the women’s elite race in Kelowna in August. She saved her best performance for last, earning her first World Triathlon Cup podium with a third-place finish at the season-ending race in San Pedro de la Paz, Chile — a result that firmly established her as one of Canada’s emerging talents on the world stage. Her season starts in March and Sophia says she’s ready to graduate from the U-23 division and take on the world’s best.
An interesting thing happened 20 minutes before the Fitspeek microphone was turned on. I just heard that the Ironman race in Arizona was being discontinued after this year – bummer. Not just for me, as I had planned on doing it in 2026 but for my guest Danielle.
From Kamloops Danielle Fauteux has been ripping it on the North American long course triathlon scene for about 5 years now and has an ambitious fall lined up. She is doing Ironman Chattanooga later this month and then 6 weeks later is lining up for (sadly) the last Ironman Arizona race. 2 Ironmans in 6 weeks? How wise is that? I had to ask!
Also in our conversation, we chat about the injury that took her out of Challenge Roth, her search for a compatible coach, our affinity for Precision Nutrition Gels, her battles with guys on the run course in Oliver, her role as a prof at Three Rivers University. We end the podcast on an awkward moment, when I asked her “what is a question you have always wanted someone to ask you, but nobody ever has?” – she/me/we couldn’t think of one. Fitspeek listeners, help us out! E-mail me your Danielle question at kknnheinze@yahoo.com
The Fold It Deluxe by Swagman turns choas into order.
Most gels and powdered sports drinks are great, but they are expensive. The Saturday Ap can help you save $ by making it yourself.
Here’s my A2 that I call Borris. He is as fast as he is good looking!
One of Canada’s longest-running triathlons is Penticton’s Peach Classic. The race has had its share of setbacks (Covid) but 2025 promises to be one of the biggest years in its five-decade long history.
Over the years, both Steve Brown (organizer) and Steve King (announcer) have been a big part of the event. In this week’s podcast we get a historical perspective on the race from Steve and Steve.
We also have current race director Dave Michael on the show. He gives us an update on this year’s registrations and reveals plans for 2026 and beyond.
The Peachsicle Winter Triathlon? A kids’ race?
Hear it now by pressing play.
Speed personified. It’s the SP. Your next tri missile has arrived. Click on the bike for build options.
Sports nutrition ain’t rocket science – it’s chemistry. The Saturday Ap does the grunt work. You do the mixing. Your wallet gets a break. Download here.
