Canada doubles at Pan Am Champs

The day was beautiful, warm and bright, with a light breeze fanning the waters as athletes from North, Central, and South American gathered in Brasilia to race the Pan American ITU Triathlon Championships on June 4.  Canada swept the gold medals as Paul Tichelaar and Kathy Tremblay claimed victory in times of 1:54:35 and 2:11:01 respectively.

Tichelaar led from start to finish as he pulled the group through the swim and bike, breaking away early in the run to hold onto a substantial lead.  Doug Friman from the United States took the silver, while Antonio Marcos da Silva from Brazil ran through the field with the fastest run split of the day to take bronze. 

Canada made it a double gold medal day and Kathy Tremblay was able to break away early in the run from a large group of women and claim victory.  Silver went to Carmenza Morales from Colombia, and bronze to Rebeccah Wassner from the United States.  Tremblay and Wassner rode in tandem on the bike, before Kathy broke away, holding onto the lead for the gold.  A stellar performance on the bike and run from Morales moved her into the silver position, while Wassner ran strong into bronze. 

An impressive performance by some of the Pan Americas top juniors began the day.  Mexico swept the gold medals with Cristanto Granjales and Claudia Rivas finishing top overall in the Junior category. Andres Figuiroa and Elizabeth Bravo, both from Equador, swept the silver positions.  Gabriela Bolanos from Guatemala completed the female medal count in bronze position, while Wesley Matos sprinted to third in the men’s division. 

Results

Elite Men
1. TICHELAAR, Paul (CAN) 1:54:35
2. FRIMAN, Doug (USA) 1:55:00
3. MARCOS DE SILVA, Antonio (BRA) 1:56:27
4. ASCENGO, Santiago (BRA) 1:56:28
5. SERVANTES, Eligio (MEX) 1:57:05

EliteWomen
1. TREMBLAY, Kathy (CAN) 2:11:01
2. MORALES, Carmenza (COL) 2:11:41
3. WASSNER, Rebeccah (USA) 2:12:27
4. MENEZES, Aglae (BRA) 2:17:13
5. CORONA, Fabiola (MEX) 2:17:33