Triathlon: Weckend Finishes Third in ITU Pan American Triathlon Championships

Acapulco. Mexico:

A third place finish in the Pan American Triathlon Championships this weekend has earned Victoria resident Suzanne Weckend the reputation as one of the fastest rising athletes on the Canadian triathlon scene. Wechend, a former National Team swimmer, just began training with the National Training Centre last summer and this weekend was on the podium in Acapulco among prestigious company.

The winner of the event was American Sheila Taormina, currently ranked third in the world. Second place finisher, American Joanna Zeiger, is a top 30 ranked athlete and was the 4th place finisher in the Sydney Olympic Games. Following Wechend across the finish line were Julie Swail (USA) and the dynamic Brazilian athletes Sandra Soldan and Carla Moreno – both ranked in the top 20 in the world.

Although Weckend is new to triathlon, she is not a stranger to athletic success - she was a Commonwealth games finalist in swimming in 1995. A full time teacher in Victoria until January of this year, she has just decided to switch her focus to triathlon. Coach Paul Regensberg from the National Triathlon Centre in Victoria said of the 26 year old athlete; “Suzanne obviously comes from a strong swimming background but she has been working hard training the bike and the run – she stayed at the front throughout the bike with Taormina and Zeiger and we are very proud of her result among such a strong field.”

Canadian Gillian Moody was unable to complete the race. In the men’s event Jocelyn Gascon-Giroux was the top Canadian finisher in 30th position.

Complete results from the event are now available on www.triathloncanada.com.

From Triathlon Canada.