Prince Albert, SK -
PRINCE ALBERT - Not even chilly weather conditions and national-calibre competition could stop Sash Broda of Prince Albert in his bid to earn a berth on the provincial Canada Games men's triathlon team.
Broda learned last week that his performance in the Triple Threat Triathlon last Sunday outside Winnipeg has secured him one of the three male positions on the six-member Saskatchewan triathlon team bound for the Canada Games this August in Prince Edward Island.
"It's very exciting," said Broda, a 16-year-old honours student just finishing Grade 11 at St. Mary High School.
With his family watching him swim, bike and run, respectively, Broda overcame the elements to finish the Western Canadian junior championship race at Birds Hill Provincial Park in one hour, nine minutes and 16 seconds.
"It was a pretty cold day," said the elite swimmer from the Prince Albert Sharks. "The lake was 13 (degrees C), so it was pretty cold.
"It takes a little while to get used to it, like in the warm-up, but after that, once I started racing, I didn't notice it as much.
"My feet were kind of frozen afterward, when I was on the bike, because it was just so cold. (But) I was not going to be slowing down for anything. I just kept going as hard as I could till it was over."
That determination served Broda well on a day that began with a 4:30 a.m. wakeup and an 8 o'clock race start.
Broda is part of an otherwise all-Saskatoon team that includes seasoned competitors Joel Howlett and Jeramie Anderson. Howlett and Anderson placed ahead of Broda, a natural athlete but a relative newcomer to triathlon.
"(My time) was maybe a minute or two slower than I've done before, but I think that open water adds a bit of time," said the younger brother of Calgary Hitmen hockey star Joel Broda.
"The other ones that I had done were pool swims, so you don't have all the waves and all that stuff. You're going in a straight line, obviously, in the pool. (The lake setting) might have added most of the time on, and the (five-kilometre) run was a little bit slower."
Broda, six-foot-two and about 175 pounds, was forced to skip the provincial high school track and field championships last weekend in Prince Albert, because the meet conflicted with his triathlon tryouts.
But the smooth distance runner made the most of his Winnipeg trip. He gained the Games berth, along with valuable experience in racing in an open-water environment.
"I wasn't used to the open water as much," Broda said. "You swim and there's a whole bunch of people around you, and you look up to see if you're going straight, (but) it's just people kicking and water all over the place. You can't really see.
"It was something I've never experienced before, but it was good."
In the race within the race, Howlett was the top Saskatchewan finisher, with a time of one hour and seven seconds. Anderson was next in one hour, seven minutes and 23 seconds - less than two minutes ahead of Broda, who finished five minutes earlier than Alex Dolman to land the final berth on the provincial team.
"Sash did very, very well, for his first junior elite race," said Team Saskatchewan coach RossAnn Edwards of Saskatoon.
"But I know that with more races, Sash will get better and better as he goes. He's just going to continue to improve.
"(In last weekend's race), he was nervous, in his first race, and it was cold, so the two combined made it more difficult. But he came out OK."
Edwards said it was "a tough, cold race" for all competitors, including those from other provinces.
"None of our athletes had great swims," she said. "Sash can swim a lot faster. (But) he's not used to a mass start of 35 aggressive 16- to 19-year-olds. It's very intimidating, especially for competitive swimmers. They're used to their space in their lanes. It's a private swim (in a pool). But it's very different (in triathlons)."
With the school year coming to an end, Broda said he'll have more time to practise with his Saskatoon teammates for extended periods.
And he's already gaining more experience, entering a triathlon in Saskatoon this past Sunday and another in Montreal this weekend.
"Sash is a very dedicated athlete," Edwards said. "He's been terrific in terms of following his workout schedule. He came to clinics all year and to Arizona for two weeks (in the winter) for training. That has really helped him."
Team Saskatchewan is holding open-water workouts twice each week at Pike Lake Provincial Park in Saskatoon as it prepares for an ocean swim in the Canada Games triathlon at Summerside, P.E.I.
The team's female triathletes are all from Saskatoon - Abby Miller, Nadine Brenaut and Alecia Lukash.
Two of Broda's teammates from the Sharks - Mitch Robin and Shay-Anne Daniels - have qualified for the Canada Games as part of Saskatchewan's swim team.
jmacneil@paherald.sk.ca
