University of Guelph varsity swimmer Myles Zagar has rediscovered his love of triathlon and it showed Saturday.
"The last few years have been pretty tough," the 21-year-old said after being the runaway winner of the Guelph Lake One's 5150 (Olympic-distance) triathlon at and around the Guelph Lake Conservation Area. "I needed to refocus and decide what I wanted to get out of the sport and why I was doing it.
"Most times if you have been doing it for a long time, you do really love to do it and you just need to take a step back and remember that and find that enjoyment again."
Even a disadvantage on the bike, thought to cost about two minutes, didn't keep the Caledon native from being the first to cross the finishing line.
"I was nervous on the bike because I thought some of the guys on a (time trial) bike might be able to put some time on me because I was on a road bike," he said. "But I got into a good rhythm with my legs so I was really happy with my bike."
The cyclist sits a lot more upright on a road bike than on a time trial bike.
Zagar, a mechanical engineering student who'll be entering his fourth year at the U of G this fall, completed the event in one hour, 56 minutes and 59.2 seconds and was more than five minutes ahead of runner-up Chris Van de Water of Toronto.
As it turned out, the bike never hampered Zagar as he added the fastest cycling time to the fastest swim time. He had a lead of almost a minute when he left the lake and extended that to about four minutes on the bike. Then came the run.
"My run started out really well," he said. "I didn't have too good of legs in the middle, but I was able to pick it up near the finish."
Competitors in the event swam 1.5 kilometres, cycled 40 kilometres and ran 10 kilometres. While the race had an early start time, the sun heated up the temperature before the leaders hopped off their bikes.
"It was definitely some of the hotter conditions," Zagar said. "I didn't notice it too much until the back half of the run and it started to get warm, but luckily I just kept drinking water and pouring it on myself and I was able to keep pretty cool."
A bronze medalist in the junior men's class at the national championships in 2014, Zagar found his passion for the sport waning early last year. A little time away, partly due to an abdominal injury, followed by some encouraging results sent him into the winter reinvigorated.
"By the end of the summer I did have a solid string of three races that I was able to put together so I finished the year really motivated," he said.
Top female finisher in Saturday's race was Kristen Marchant of Newmarket who was 16th overall in 2:12:19.6.
Team TPC A won the 5150 relay while Frank Sorbara of Thornhill won the 5150 swim/bike while Alison Kroksoszynsk of Elmira was top female finisher in fourth.
Sasha Menegotto of Guelph won the try-a-tri while first female to finish was Cassandra Dalbec of Brampton, fifth overall.
Guelph Lake One was the second event of the five-event Subaru Triathlon Series. It'll wrap up with Guelph Lake Two on Sept. 3.
