France's Comeback to Triathlon at the Canadian Triathlon

Race Report:

Somersault Canadian Sprint Triathlon

September 2026

By: France Saint-Denis

This was my first triathlon since the 5150 Mont-Tremblant in 2022, so it was especially exciting to be back racing again after a four-year break!

The swim was around 21°C, so the water temperature was very comfortable. On the way out, there was quite a bit of that long, “hairy” weed, which made the first half of the swim a little challenging. On the way back, the vegetation was different—more of the “Ruban-style” weed!  Fortunately, there was more open space in the second half of the course. The water was calm, murky with the occasional fuel smell…

The transition from the swim to the bike was really long—at least 400m—so there was quite a bit of running before getting onto the bike.

The 20 km bike course was surprisingly good. The asphalt had been redone about two years ago and was in excellent condition. Wherever there were cracks or rough spots, had been clearly marked with orange paint, which made the course feel very safe.

One of the nice touches was that Team Triumph Triathlon Club had its own bike rack, very conveniently located in the first row. It made finding our bikes and getting through transition much easier.

T2 was also quite long. We went from gravel to wet grass before reaching the stadium, so again, there was a fair amount of running in transition.

The 5 km run was straightforward and went well. There were lots of people cheering along the run course, which created a great atmosphere. And it was especially nice to see Coach Julia out there cheering us on!

Overall, I really enjoyed the course.

I also compared the results from my Apple Watch with the official results provided by Somersault. To find the Apple Watch data on my iPhone, I went to Fitness → Summary → Sessions → Multisport for the race day.

I felt that the swim was shorter than 750 m. The Apple Watch data was also amusing because it reported 51 m of butterfly and 641 m of breaststroke! In reality, I swam the entire race in freestyle, with perhaps a couple of breaststroke strokes around the buoys. The differences between the Apple Watch and Somersault results were relatively small overall, with only five seconds separating the total times.

And the post-race food is definitely worth mentioning! We had plenty of pizza, Mr. Freeze, Rice Krispie squares, butter tarts, chips, Cheetos, water and Gatorade. I had two pieces of pizza, three Mr. Freezes, and some chips. Definitely a well-stocked finish line! 😂

I would definitely recommend this race to other Team Triumph members. It’s really close by, very well organized, has a great atmosphere, and the dedicated Team Triumph bike rack is an added bonus. It’s a great local event that more of our team members should consider doing next year!

A great and fun race—and a very enjoyable way to get back into triathlon!