Triathlete Stefan Daniel has a fresh approach to training this season as he moves into an adult level of competition and tackles a duathlon for the first time.
“I’m stepping up,” said the Bearspaw resident, who recently turned 20. “I’m racing all the adults.”
Last year, Daniel – a decorated runner who was born with bilateral radial club hands and competes on the global stage as both a para- and able-bodied athlete – “did a lot of racing” leading up to September’s Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
There, he pushed through a tough course and fierce competition to earn a silver medal in the Games’ historic inaugural triathlon event.
Daniel added the hardware to his stack of awards and distinctions, including a win at the 2015 para-triathlon world championships – and another gold at Canadian nationals in junior triathlon on the able-bodied side the same year.
Olympians like Daniel often work on a four-year schedule, with training intensity rising as the Games draw near and cooling off in the months following the big event.
With the next Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, still more than three years away, the University of Calgary Dinos track team member said he has more time to focus on a less rigorous training regimen.
“Last year, I did a lot of racing … There’s not as much pressure,” said Daniel, adding he
That said, Daniel’s race calendar is already stuffed for this upcoming season. Next month in Ottawa, the athlete will kick off his calendar at the 2017 Canadian Triathlon Championships, with the International Triathlon Union (ITU) world triathlon series in Edmonton in July, the union’s grand final in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in September, and the 2017 ITU Multisport World Championships Festival in Penticton, B.C., in August, where he will participate in the duathlon.
In Ottawa, Daniel will race for the first time in the super sprint and sprint distances as an elite athlete – the designation given to those who are over 20 years old.
His goal is to place in the Top 5, but said he’ll be happy with a Top 10 finish.
“Right now, I’m just really trying to work on my swim, get that a little bit better,” said Daniel, who says swimming is the most challenging aspect of the triathlon for him, since his right arm is about 17 centimetres shorter than his left.
The Penticton duathlon is another premiere event for Daniel, who hasn’t competed in the running-cycling-running athletic race before.
“It’ll be new,” he said. “I think it keeps it interesting and exciting.”
Daniel hits his stride for the Canadian championships in Ottawa on June 17 and 18.
