An extra lap in the pool didn't slow down Kris Loshack from winning the 23rd annual St. Albert Triathlon.
The Edmonton Triathlon Academy competitor finished the 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-km run in 56 minutes and 13 seconds.
"It went really good, even though I didn't realize I swam an extra lap. I just didn't see the boards," said Loshack of spending between 30 to 40 seconds longer in the water at Fountain Park Recreation Centre.
He placed sixth in the swim at 10:20, was the top cyclist at 30:43 and was the runner-up in the run at 15:11.
The second-place finisher was his coach, Kevin Clark, at 57:32.
"He beat me out of the water and I had to chase him on the bike. I just wanted to put down a real good bike split and I did that," Loshack said. "We came into transition together and then it was like, 'All right, let's see how fast I can run,' and I took advantage of a good course."
Loshack, 24, used Sunday's race as preparation for a Continental Cup event this weekend in Kelowna.
"I just wanted to go as hard as I could," said the bike mechanic at Pedalhead Road Works. "The sprint distance is a great way to get speed work in. It's so much faster and you have to be more dialed in with things. You have to be better in the transitions and have better form on the run. You really have to bump it up to the next level but retain that form."
Clark was determined to push his prize pupil from start to finish.
"He's got a national race upcoming so we really wanted to push him before he faces real competition," Clark said. "There are not many races where you get a chance to practice with no pressure. We just wanted go fast in some parts to sharpen up for the national race."
Clark was third in the swim, second on the bike and sixth in the run as the No. 1 30 to 39 male.
"I had a slight advantage on Kris in the swim. I had a 10 second head start because I was in heat one and he was in heat two so I kind of knew he had to catch up a little bit. I also had a little bit of good fortune because he swam 50 metres extra, but that's part of the race. You've got to know how many lanes you've done," Clark said. "I deliberately had a faster time trial bike, just to try and push him. It was a non-drafting race so it was a little bit different, but I tried to push him all the way to T2 and then he blasted past me in the run of course."
Several of Clark's 17 academy students did the triathlon.
"I wasn't after final results, I was after them practicing different tactics and not finishing the race dead or exhausted," Clark said.
Loshack is a big fan of the oldest sprint triathlon in Alberta. One of his earliest podium finishes was winning the St. Albert race at age 15.
"There is a little bit of history here for me," Loshack said. "I really like reconnecting. You go and do some bigger races but it's nice to come back to where you've raced as a kid. It's been kind of cool to do it at 15, 17, 19 and now I'm 24 so it's neat to see my progression of almost 10 years over the same distance over the same race course. The course is awesome and so are the race organizers. They always do a great job."
Loshack has been a going concern this year with eight to 10 sprint and Olympic triathlons on tap.
"It's been a cool year with a lot of achievements but the biggest thing is I've just had a great time racing," said the W.P. Wagner High School alumnus. "It was almost two years ago that I broke my [left] ankle in three places. It's been a hard comeback for me. I didn't race for a year and I had to remotivate myself I guess. It's been good to be out there having fun and racing as well."
Last month Loshack placed ninth at a Continental Cup race in Magog, Que. and competed in the World Cup event at Edmonton.
"Magog was my best race of the year so far," said the University of Alberta bachelor of arts student in recreation, sport and tourism. "Racing the Edmonton World Cup, which was a big step up for me, was the highlight of my career. I didn't have the result I wanted but just being able to be there on the course where I watched my heroes race was super, super cool."
There were 182 finishers in the sprint race, 42 in the try-a-tri 250-metre swim, 10-km bike and 2.5-km run and eight teams in the sprint relay.
The fastest female was elite-level racer Chantell Widney of Edmonton at 1:00:28 for sixth place overall.
The first place age-group winners from St. Albert were Mike Gerenscer in 40 to 49 men (1:07:40, 14th overall), John O'Kelly in 60-plus men (1:25:44, 81st overall), Leigh Pinard in 20 to 29 women (1:08:31, 15th overall), Wietske Eikelenboom in 50 to 59 women (1:08:43, 16th overall) and Catherine Roberts in 60-plus women (1:30:23, 103rd overall).
Catherine's husband, Richard, finished his 23rd consecutive St. Albert Triathlon in 1:40:07 for fourth place in 60-plus men and 152nd overall.
Visit www.resultscanada.com for complete results.
