Indomitable spirit drives para-triathlete to Paris Paralympics Oak Bluff’s Taylor determined to thrive after life-altering accident By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 4:42 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 15, 2024 Last Modified: 6:15 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 15, 2024 Updates

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Leanne Taylor is dominating the race she never planned to start.

The 31-year-old from Oak Bluff recorded her first career international victory at the Americas Paratriathlon Championship in Miami, Fla., in early March. Taylor, the No. 4 para-triathlete in the world, breezed through the course — a 750-metre swim, 18-kilometre handcycle and 5-km (wheelchair) run — in one hour and seven seconds — nearly two minutes faster than No. 3-ranked para-triathlete Jessica Ferreira of Brazil.

The Manitoban’s milestone victory secured a spot in the Paris Paralympics this summer.

“We’ve been chasing this win for so long,” Taylor, who has reached the podium seven times in 21 career races, said in a recent chat with the Free Press.

“So much work goes into it that’s not just mine. It’s (husband Scott Dyck’s) work, and my family and so much sacrifice on the part of so many people. So, it was really exciting. My parents were at the race and (Scott’s) parents were at the race, and to have so many people there to celebrate it with was really special.”

Nearly six years ago — July 7, 2018, to be exact — Taylor’s life was knocked off course.

She was biking through the Bison Butte Trail in southwest Winnipeg, a trail she had ridden on countless occasions, when she hit a bump, gripped her brakes and flew over her handlebars. Despite an awkward fall, Taylor felt no worse for wear — until she tried standing up.

Taylor couldn’t feel her legs, which she later found out was owing to a dislocation between the 10th and 11th thoracic vertebrae in her spine.

She was paralyzed from the waist down for life.

“When I was injured, one of the defining moments I think in the beginning for me was when I was in the hospital. One of the things that I had said is that, ‘I (want) to make a life that (is) so good that when I think about my injury, it’s not this horrendous tragedy, it’s just something that happened. Not what I wanted, but also not this defining moment of when everything went bad,’” Taylor said in a phone interview Wednesday from Florida, where she has trained all winter.

“At this point, it’s been almost six years — even when I reached the five-year mark, I could definitely say that I accomplished that.”

Taylor’s indomitable spirit has been the engine for her success.

Two months after her accident, while still being treated at the Health Sciences Centre, she was approached by a recreation therapist about trying para sports. Intrigued, she went to the indoor track to watch others train. Among them was Paralympian Colin Mathieson, who whisked Taylor to take a spin in a racing chair.

A couple of laps later, she was hooked and began researching which sport she could call her own.

“It was just something that bought me so much joy in the beginning when it was hard to find joy on my own,” Taylor recalled. “There’s so many things that I couldn’t do when I got injured that I really loved before— I played beach volleyball and as a wheelchair user it’s just not feasible. Triathalon really felt like it was one of those things that was right in the grey area of, ‘Could I do it? Could I not do it?’

“I think that was one of the things that made it the most special to me. Every time I went out and I trained, I was doing this thing that I thought I couldn’t do when I was first injured — and then I realized it existed.”

Coach Norm Carrière has trained Taylor in the water for more than four years. Her relentless pursuit of excellence has taken her from a “capable, but technically weak swimmer” to a strong one in a short time, he said.

“She’s a very inspiring athlete,” said Carrière, who has worked with several Paralympic swimmers. “It’s true that she has this indomitable spirit. She has this tremendous strength, not just physical strength but mental strength.

“When I first observed her, she was doing about three minutes per (90 metres) — that’s not terribly quick,” he continued. “In a little over four short years, we have managed to go from three minutes per (90 metres) to about one minute 30 seconds per 100 metres. This is a considerable improvement from the start.”

Taylor has two races remaining before she travels to Paris, which will serve as low-pressure training sessions now that her spot in the Paralympic Games is secure.

Her last tune-up will come at the World Triathlon Para Series in Montreal on July 8, almost six years to the day after her accident.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam