Team BC First Medals

Amidst the heat not only from “King Sol” as temperatures soar to 40 degrees while the water temperature reached 27 degrees but somehow Team BC triathletes controlled both the Men’s and Women’s events.

In doing so they were fortunate enough to finish with three medals as well as placing three in the top ten.

This all taking place at the 2017 Canada Games individual triathlon races held at Birds Hill Provincial Park and in doing so they were the first medals for Team BC at the Games.

The women’s event was first and BC athletes were leading pack for the most of the race and it was Cowichan Bay’s Desirae Ridenour that grabbed the Gold medal in a time of 1:04:39.40, which ironically is her third win in three weeks.

Teammate Hannah Henry of Victoria finished a close 30 seconds behind grabbing Silver while Holly (Hanna’s sister) finished in just under one hour and nine minutes placing eighth.

All three have previously competed in the BC Summer Games competition and it clearly says a lot about BC Athletes and their talent.

The men’s race saw Team BC athletes get off to a quick start with Delta’s Michael Milic managed to grab Silver finishing a close 21 seconds behind Quebec’s winner.

Milic managed to complete the race in 58:34.10, while his teammates were less than a minute behind as West Kelowna’s Brock Hoel finished fourth and Victoria’s Aiden Longcroft-Harris finished in fifth spot.

Both Hoel and Milic have also competed at past events for the BC Summer Games.

The water temperature was 27 degrees and the air temperature approached 40 with the humidex.

Notes from Athletes

Cowichan Bay’s Desirae Ridenour finished with a Gold and mentioned “She was naturally pleased on her performance winning Gold and mentioned “I am just happy to come home with the gold and represent Team BC and hopefully, this will carry other teams to win more medals for us.”

She has had an extremely busy season and she went on to mention “I did feel pretty tired. This is my third race in three weeks. And the heat really takes a toll on you. But you keep hydrating.”

Victoria’s Hannah HENRY grabbed Silver and when asked what it was like to win a Silver Medal he stated “It feels great. We are really happy to have the first two medals for Team BC.”

She mentioned “I was kind of nervous going into the swim, but I was super happy to come third out of the water.  There was a crash behind us but team BC managed to stay out of it. I liked the course. It was fast. “

Delta’s Michael Milic Michael grabbed Silver and mentioned “I thought it was a really solid race for me. Obviously, you always want to win. But, I did the best I could and it was good to have my other teammates close behind me on the run. And I could tell they were having a pretty good day too.”

The hot humid weather during the race took it’s toll on the athletes and they mentioned “On the run and on the bike, it was really hot and humid but I just tried to stay hydrated, splashed myself with some water and just kept going.”

Great performance by BC Athletes.