HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2005-08-24, Page 13Sports
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, August 24, 21305 - 13
Dublin -area triathlete, Tim McClure, competing for
Canadian team in Hawaii in first international race
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Editor
While he's only been
competing for six months, a
Seaforth-area triathlete
recently qualified for his first
international competition in
Hawaii this October.
Tim McClure, of Dublin, a
former Seaforth Centenaire,
had never completed a
gruelling swim, bike and run
triathlon before last February
but the challenge was
something he'd imagined
taking ever since watching
Canadian triathlete Simon
Whitfield earn a gold medal
in the 2000 Olympics in
Syndney, Australia.
"I was in high school then.
For years, I've wanted to do
this," says the third year
recreation and leisure
student at Brock University
in St. Catherines, Ont.
McClure, a graduate of St.
Michael Secondary School
in Stratford, ran cross-
country and joined a
mountain bike team in high
school. He was also the
Brock Badgers' 2004 cross-
country rookie of the year.
But, apart from taking
swimming lessons as a kid in
a neighbour's backyard, he
had never swum
competitively before. •
"I knew how to swim, but
not very well. At first, I
needed a lot of stroke
correction and work on body
position. The coaching
helped a lot," he says.
Competing in Olympic
distance triathlons means
completing a 1,500 -metre
swim, a 40 -kilometre bike
and a 10 -kilometre run.
During McClure's first
practice, he blanched when
told he had to swim five 200 -
metre distances - that day he
couldn't swim more than
one.
"But, I progressed quickly
because I was already fit - I
just had to get swimming
fit," he says.
And, during McClure's
first competition, he wasn't
certain he could complete
the swim.
"Halfway through, I was,
'Oh no,' but I knew if I could
just get out of the water I'd
be okay. And, as soon as I
got ,on my bike, I started
passing people," he says.
He trains with four
members of the Brock swim
team and was heartened
when he was able to pass
three of them on his bike.
"I still need to work on the
swimming a lot but I know I
can complete the distance,"
he says.
While he's swum in Lake
Ontario and many inland
lakes during the six
triathlons he's experienced
so far, competing in Hawaii
will put him in the ocean for
the first time ever. He's
anticipating some challenges
from the huge ocean swells
he'll be swimming through.
Still, McClure is excited
and a little bitshocked that
he even qualified for his first
international competition.
"I didn't really have any
goals when I started this.
Tim McClure
Scoreboard
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The world championship just
happened," he says.
Training with Emily Allan,
a fellow cross-country
runner who was last year's
runner of the year, McClure
was convinced to try a
qualifying race in New
Brunswick on July 10. While
he didn't qualify in that race,
his training partner did.
Trying again in a
qualifying race in Caledon,
Ont. on July 30, McClure
came third and qualified to
join the national team.
Neither of the two has
competed at an international
level before.
"We both just jumping in
the deep end," he laughs.
While the Ont. 9
international triathlon
competition in Honolulu will
not be broadcast on
television, McClure says it
will be on the internet.
In the meantime, he is
running every morning and
swimming and biking
sometime throughout the day
as he works at Brock
University for the summer.
"It's convenient to train
there. There are tons of trails
to run and bike on the
escarpment and we swim in
the Olympic -size pool or in
the Welland canal," he says.
And, someday, he'd like to
try an Ironman competition,
once he's up to the 2.4 -mile
swim, 112 -metre bike and
24.6 -metre run.
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