Upon his urgent return to Canada from racing in Europe, Olympic triathlete Tyler Mislawchuk retreated to his basement for two weeks of mandatory isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Fourteen days of no human contact,” he says from his home in Oak Bluff, Man. “Mom and Dad left food on the stairs and would throw out the plates after.
“I’m a bit of an introvert, so I don’t mind time alone. But I think it’s different if you choose to be alone or if you are forced to be alone. I guess it’s an important social experiment.”
Like so many of us, Mislawchuk ruminates over world events and a personal game plan gone awry.
“The first week was a shock to the system,” says his coach, Jonathan Hall. “We had a lot of conversations and talked about how irrespective of training for the Tokyo Olympics, we were always also training for Paris in 2024.
“We talked about how we can sit at home and be upset about the uncertainty and the differences, or we can make the most of it.”
Mislawchuk is choosing to make the most of it.
Thanks to a smart trainer, he is racing virtually with his Canadian teammates from the comforts of his sun room.
Given the current circumstances, Triathlon Canada is partnering with FulGaz, an indoor training app that allows cyclists to ride some of the most iconic courses in the world via high-quality video imaging.
“In the grand scheme of things, I’m doing okay,” says Mislawchuk, ranked fifth in the world by the International Triathlon Union. “I’m healthy. My family is healthy. Those are the most important things.”
Winner of the Olympic test event last August in Tokyo, Mislawchuk is planning to compete in the Triathlon Canada World Series April 28 to May 10 — on virtual courses that include Beach Road Complete in Australia; Lake Como to Bellagio in Italy; Alpe d’Huez in France; and Going to the Sun Road West in the U.S.
The virtual champion will be crowned at the peak of the Axel Merckx Climb near Penticton, B.C.
