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.