MONTREAL — Canada's Stefan Daniel won a second consecutive race in the World Triathlon Para Series on Friday.
The 25-year-old Calgarian, who owns two Paralympic silver medals in the men's PTS5 classification, capped a three-medal day for Canada as Kamylle Frenette of Dieppe, N.B., took silver and Winnipeg's Leanne Taylor earned bronze in their respective categories.
Daniel, who also runs cross-country for the University of Calgary, was born with bilateral radial club hands with his right arm significantly more affected.
"It was my best race in a few years,” Daniel said in a statement from Triathlon Canada.
“I had a slower start to the year and I’m starting to get in shape now. I was strong across all three disciplines which I haven’t been this year.”
The Canadian clocked in at 59 minutes 10.3 seconds over the 750-metre swim, 22.5k bike and 5k run. Chris Hammer of the U.S. was second in 1:00.12.5 and Filipe Marques of Portugal, who led after the swim, was third in 1:00.20.0 under sunny skies and a temperature of 22 C.
Daniel won two gold and a silver so far this season as he prepared for November's world championship in Dubai. He overcame a poor swim leg with a strong bike to win in France last month.
“My cycling wasn’t quite as good today, but I had a much better swim,” Daniel said. “I set myself a lot better and I had to go hard on the bike but not to last race’s extent.”
In the women’s PTS5, Grace Norman of the U.S. dominated with a time of 1:05:44.9. Frenette earned silver in 1:09:45.4 and Gwladys Lemoussu of France was third in 1:12:23.8.
“Everything went to plan,” Frenette said. "I definitely had one of my best swims and I was able to stay with the leaders but I have some work to do on the bike and run for sure.”
Frenette, 26, finished fourth in her Paralympic Games debut last summer in Tokyo.
Taylor claimed bronze in the women’s wheelchair division in 1:12:39.8 behind winner Lauren Parker of Australia in 1:05:08.1 and runner-up Kendall Gretsch of the U.S. in 1:11.50.
“I finally put together a bike portion I was proud of,” Taylor said.
"It was a solid swim and I always have a good time on the run. I’ve been making a lot of improvements, and this is the first time I’m really competitive with the girls.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2022.
The Canadian Press
